Peloton enlists Scrooge in its biggest campaign yet

Peloton is embracing a classic for its holiday campaign this year. In a new push, the fitness brand retells Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol"—yet this time, it is a Peloton bike, not some Christmas ghosts, that convinces Scrooge to mend his ways. A series of three spots show Scrooge portrayed by Brett Gelman, an actor known for portraying curmudgeonly, unsavory characters on popular shows including “Stranger Things” and “Fleabag." The brand’s budget for this year’s holiday marketing is the largest advertising spend to date for Peloton, according to a spokeswoman. The new campaign, “When Your Workout Is a Joy, It’s a Joy to Work Out,” highlights Peloton’s bike and treadmill products. It’s the first holiday work from Adam&Eve, which began working with the company last year on an Olympics campaign, following a pitch. Dara Treseder, senior VP and head of global marketing and communications at Peloton, noted in a statement that the campaign shows more of the Peloton experience. “It taps into the core insight that Peloton makes fitness, which can sometimes feel like a chore, enjoyable and fun,” she said. The Scrooge campaign is certainly different from another memorable holiday campaign, Peloton’s 2019 work, which was created with a different agency (Mekanism) and internal marketing team. The brand was widely panned for its “The Gift That Gives Back” spot, which showed an already quite trim woman trying to get skinnier at the apparent behest of her husband. Though the ad’s criticism did not ultimately impact sales, Peloton shortly thereafter saw revenue skyrocket as homebound consumers invested in bikes during pandemic lockdowns. Sales rose so much that Peloton pulled back in marketing. But now, Peloton is turning up the marketing, as it strives to boost new products like the treadmill, which was recently rereleased following a safety recall, and persuade customers to stick with home products versus returning to gyms. On a late August earnings call with analysts, executives said sales and marketing expenses for the fourth quarter were 25% of total revenue, compared to 14% in the year-earlier period. “We are planning fiscal 2022 as an investment year in marketing our products,” said Jill Woodworth, chief financial officer, on the call. At the time, Peloton reported fiscal 2021 revenue of $4 billion, more than double 2020’s $1.8 billion. Peloton reports first-quarter earnings later today. Register for Ad Age Next: CMO at AdAge.com/NextCMO.

Peloton enlists Scrooge in its biggest campaign yet

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