The new Tread Flex solves two obvious barriers to treadmill ownership: space and price. Peloton’s Miley launch ad somehow makes both easy to miss.

My wife and I are unusually great prospects for Peloton’s new Tread Flex.

We’ve owned Peloton bikes for seven years, and use the system almost every day.

A treadmill would expand what we can do, but we have no appetite for permanently surrendering that much floor space to one.

Then Peloton announced its first folding treadmill.

The new Tread Flex launches October 1 for US$2,195 or C$2,995, making it Peloton’s least expensive treadmill. (I would say “most affordable,” but come on…)

More importantly for folks like us, it folds to reduce its footprint by nearly 50%, has wheels for moving it, a swivelling 21.5-inch screen, speeds up to 12.5 mph and all of Peloton’s familiar instructor-led content.

Peloton even says lack of space has been keeping plenty of customers from buying a Tread.

There’s a legit I Need That value prop here.

A serious treadmill I can use with the Peloton system I already love, then partially fold and roll away when I want the room back. Awesome!

And then I watched the launch commercial.

Miley (just Miley) walks into an enormous dance studio, starts the music on a separate stereo, and unfolds the Tread Flex. She spends a few seconds running on it, then the commercial becomes mostly Miley dancing around a big ol’ mirrored room.

Peloton says the idea is to move fitness away from “high-pressure optimization and data obsession” toward joy, freedom and movement.

Miley is also legitimately a Peloton user, and the campaign ties into her new music and an upcoming Artist Series. 

That all makes sense as a brand campaign. Authenticity and all.

As the launch of this particular product (which Peloton NEEDS folks to adopt), I find it baffling.

The wealthy celeb in the ad has more empty floor space than most of us have in our homes.

We don’t see any reason why her treadmill even folds. Or someone reclaiming a room after a workout.

We don’t even experience the classes, the screen, the personalized pace features or the benefit of having the Peloton ecosystem on a treadmill.

And Miley, who is clearly uber-fit, gets off the product and spends most of the time dancing and flirting with her own reflection. (We ALL do that, right?)

Meanwhile, the product at its core is capable of solving exactly the kind of practical problem Peloton needs to solve.

The company has long been trying to recover from its pandemic boom and subsequent decline.

Its share price remains way below its 2021 peak, subscriptions have softened, and the new treadmill lineup is explicitly intended to broaden Peloton beyond its cycling base.

Investors even responded positively to the launch, with shares rising after the lower-priced Flex was announced. 

And early product coverage has largely understood the appeal. The Verge, for example, focused immediately on the lower price, folding design and suitability for smaller homes. 

That’s the commercial story.

Peloton has a product that blows up two barriers: Where am I going to put it? and Do I want to spend that much?

Those are true buyer objections. They are also wonderfully visual.

Show a couple in a home office unfolding it before a run, then folding it back so somebody can do their job.

Show an existing Bike owner adding indoor running without turning a whole room into a permanent gym.

Show the screen swivelling for strength or yoga after the run.

Or show somebody thinking, YAY! Finally, I can get a treadmill.

Instead, we get an aspirational celebrity in a room where space is obviously irrelevant.

Nothing wrong with using Miley. She brings attention, cultural relevance and music to Peloton.

But celebrity attention is most useful when it amps up the product’s Why.

One of the ideas I explore in I Need That is how good marketing helps buyers recognize their own problem in the product, and see themselves living the solution.

Peloton finally built a treadmill for folks who want one but don’t have a treadmill room.

I wish its launch campaign had shown that.

If you’d like help creating and marketing products people feel compelled to buy, the product marketing consultants at Graphos Product can help.