Peloton will produce bespoke social content for a partner outside of its owned social media channels. The brand’s TikTok-exclusive content will include select live Peloton classes, an original Peloton instructor series, ongoing creator partnerships, and celebrity collaborations, among other types of content via the #TikTokFitness hashtag, curated on the Peloton hub.  The #TikTokFitness Powered by Peloton hub will be available in the US, UK, and Canada.  On the partnership, Oli Snoddy, vice president of consumer marketing at Peloton, commented, “We collectively recognise the way people engage with fitness is constantly changing. Our team is excited to complement TikTok’s already burgeoning fitness content by introducing the magic of Peloton to new audiences, and in completely new ways.” In the same release, Sofia Hernandez, global head of business marketing at TikTok, stated, “We’re thrilled that this partnership will bring inspirational fitness content and entertain Peloton users who come to TikTok to learn, connect with instructors, share fitness journeys and find community.” Why is Peloton partnering with TikTok? To say the pandemic changed the retail landscape would be a major understatement.  One particular category that experienced extreme shifts in demand was the fitness industry. While consumers were largely working from home, and in some cases, restricted from indoor gym usage, there was a notable increase in sales of home fitness equipment and and athleisure ensembles.  Between June 2020 and June 2021, Peloton – an at-home cycling brand – gained an additional 1.24 million fitness subscribers, accounting for almost half of the brand’s connected fitness subscriber base.  However, as pandemic restrictions loosened up and consumers began to return to work and indoor gyms, Peloton experienced difficulties transitioning to the decreased interest in home workout equipment and struggled to maintain its subscriber count.  Then, in May 2023, the brand suffered from an expensive bike seat recall of over 2.2 million units, incurring a cost of over US$40 million during the quarter.  The brand concluded FY23 with US$1.13 billion in revenue, down 48 per cent from the year prior, and 64 per cent from the year before that.   That is where TikTok comes in.  By tapping into the social media platform’s avid consumer base, particularly among young people, and leaning on exclusive content to drive subscriber growth, the deal reflects Peloton’s attempt to pivot from being a hardware company to one that is more focused on software. Will Peloton’s plans to rebrand itself pan out? Shortly after the announcement of the TikTok partnership, Peloton’s shares jumped by 9.5 per cent in pre-market trading, indicating a positive reception to the news.  Peloton’s exclusive partnership with TikTok follows on the heels of another deal to boost consumer engagement that the brand announced a few months ago.  In September 2023, Peloton and Lululemon joined forces, making Peloton the exclusive digital fitness content provider for Lululemon, while Lululemon became Peloton’s primary athletic apparel partner. The deal was designed to merge the fitness company and athletic apparel brand’s joint 20 million members and customers into one interactive community.  The brand’s recent collaborations are part of Peloton’s long-term plan to rebrand itself from simply a home workout equipment retailer to a thriving digitally-focused company that welcomes a diverse array of consumers.  In May 2023, Peloton reintroduced itself as being for “anyone, anywhere”, expanding its app offering with three new membership tiers, including a basic, no-cost membership called Peloton App Free, which offers more than 50 classes; Peloton App One, a paid plan that offers access to thousands of classes, and the premium-level Peloton App+, for the user “who wants frictionless, unlimited access to Peloton’s vast library.” Leslie Berland, then-chief marketing officer at the fitness company, said at the time, “We’re shifting perceptions from in-home to everywhere, fitness enthusiasts to people at all levels, exclusivity to inclusivity across all Peloton Members present and future.” In December 2023, Peloton announced the appointment of Lauren Weinberg as its new CMO. In communication with the brand’s shareholders from November 2023, Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy noted, “With limited marketing support, we saw more than 1 million consumers download the free version of our app. Our brand relaunch was successful in continuing to resonate with our core demographic, and it also attracted more male, Gen Z, Black and Latinx groups than before the relaunch.”