In this episode of Brand2Brand, Thomas and Veronica throw themselves fully into the spirit of the New Year “weighing in” on two of the most popular - and occasionally controversial - fitness technologies on the market: Noom and Peloton. Thomas and Veronica will discuss the behavioral psychology driving both brands and their attempts to connect with the approximately 45 million Americans resolving to lose weight this year. Your hosts will also examine Peloton’s very public free fall as the fitness brand and the business behind it begin the New Year by making some self-improvement resolutions of their own.

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<span style="color: #444444;">TRANSCRIPTION FROM AUDIO PODCAST:</span>

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What's up everyone?&nbsp; Welcome back. Today on the show we're talking emerging fitness technology. We'll take a look at products like Noom and Peloton to discuss how these brands are shaking shit up. Alright, limber up. Let's kick things off.&nbsp; Oh my gosh, I feel like I just woke up from a nap.

Well, we've been gone for like a month. So I think that would be a coma technically.

Okay. All right. Well, that explains the hangover. So why are we here today?

Existentially or, like physically right now?&nbsp;

Oh my God, okay. It's a new year V. It's that time where we're getting back to business. The holidays are over. Gone are the excuses and it's time for those New Year's resolutions. And today we're looking at fitness, something I imagine a lot of us listening have resolved to do better in 2022.

Yeah. And today, we're also talking about how you can be comforted by the fact that big tech is here to track all of your movements, your heartbeat, how hard you're working. And of course, there's a payoff. There's a benefit having that kind of technology integrated with some of these fitness tools.&nbsp;

It's, I mean, it's kind of like Santa Claus. You know, he knows when you sleep. He knows -&nbsp;

...when you're slacking off on a workout.

He tells your neighbor when you didn't get off the couch for goodness sake. Do you use any of this fitness tech?

No, I like - I like - working out prison-cell style where you just do push ups and crunches. I don't need any fancy shit.

You know what? Maybe today, I can be convinced.&nbsp;

I mean, it's all about results. We're gonna talk about that today. Should we - should we get a yes - we got some new music for the new season.&nbsp;

OK, I'll do Noom then. That sounds good. That sounds good.

Because it's a digital platform that's filled with automation, gives you a personal connection and an impersonal world. We've all had tough times through COVID. And this is a brand that has figured out a way to get into our subconscious and motivate us to be our best selves. And there's something beautiful about that.

Okay, well...I have...I could be a better version of myself. I guess.

Hey, Peloton is more than a bike. I'm defending Peloton. Oh, it's more than a bike, it's a community, a lifestyle..

Listen, I know nothing about Noom - I don't even know what it is. And I purposely because I knew you were taking this brand did zero research. So educate me, Thomas.&nbsp;

&nbsp;Okay. All right, let's bring it to some brand architecture, the messaging strategy tagline stop dieting, get life long results. How's that sound?

I mean, that sounds pretty good. But like, is this an app?

it's an app, you put it in your pocket. You can take it anywhere you want to go. And it's got all these push notifications, reminders, check ins. It's like one of those log what you eat throughout the day. I know it sounds boring, but they incentivize you, they get you excited, and they connect you with a peer group to monitor your progress. So not only does it feel like you have a cheerleader with you the whole time. But it incentivizes you to eat healthy, to eat right and to get exercise.

And you still have that accountability of knowing other people or yes, you're hitting your goal.

A grandmother in Ohio might hit you up midstream and say hey -

You think after one season of practice, anticipating when I'm gonna swear with the bleep button, we'd have it down. But I know I'm a wild card and you're slow to the draw.

I might just do it, you know, sporadically. People get the message. It's - it's some level of proactive. Maybe not exactly timely. But I think there's something beautiful about this digital movement technology in so many ways. We think about Facebook, we think about Instagram, we hear all of this dialogue that's happening at the national stage. People are saying how tech is here pushing us apart. We've never been further apart. People say, right? They said Noom is bringing people together. How about you?

Well, I'm not buying a Peloton, but the first introduction to Peloton that I ever remember was just the horrible ad scandal of Peloton launching that ad that was basically like, oh sad, like get your wife a Peloton because she's unhappy because she's not at her target weight. And then he gets her a Peloton for Christmas. It's just such a weird thing, "Honey, like, here's something for you to look better for me" and I know of course, fitness and all of these personal goals are about you personally feeling better. Unfortunately, that's not the messaging that they used to grab a lot of people - it's like "Hey, you have insecurities. We're gonna play into them".

Play up to those fears. We don't do that on this show. Should we play the clip?

We don't do that on this show? Shall we play the clip?

<strong>Audio Clip - Talk Show Host</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Peloton talking to you. The indoor exercise bike company released a new holiday commercial that's caused an uproar on social media. Now some people on social media accused the ad promoting an unhealthy marriage dynamic and peddling negative body images. If I was Peloton I would not get engaged in this - this seems much ado about nothing if the guy I really do believe - if the guys had given a bike to his wife and she was overweight, we'd be complaining about that. So just because she's healthy doesn't mean that it's an insult to her.”

Oh boy, the court of public opinion is rough. And just to set the record here this was in 2019 - this is December 2019. Pre-pandemic and both of these brands have seen an absolute explosion.

I will say that makes a lot of sense and it seems like Peloton has definitely taken off but&nbsp; have had another hit recently with - well, first of all if people aren't aware of what Peloton even is I think most people do at this point. But their whole mission statement is Peloton uses technology and design to connect the world through fitness. Just like Noom it's all about connecting the world and empowering people to be the best versions of themselves from anywhere. Their tagline being: You can reach your goals at home or on your own time. So it does feel like both of these brands have completely leaned into home. Or wherever you are or you don't need a gym. You can do this all on your own but not really because you need our help and you need to pay us.

There's something seductive about that, right? I mean, you see the story play out across the board - the future of work, people working from home, people fitness from home, everything from home - pajamas from home. I mean, this all speaks to this huge increase in the market for fitness tech.

It does make sense. And yeah, for fitness tech, but also with this world of people working remote. I mean, it's that same thing of like during the COVID. You could wear sweatpants on a Zoom call and no one would know. You can pedal on your Peloton on a call and no one will know - probably wouldn't be doing like major uphills or people would probably be like, "Why are you really breathing on this conference call?". But it makes those things so accessible where people can better kind of mix a workout or nutrition or health into their routine. And that seems like that's the biggest part of it is there's a convenience element to it. Noom, like you said, in your pocket, Peloton in your home.

"Atomic Habits" - a book that came out in 2018. A book I believe you've read.

I actually have not read "Atomic Habits", but I listened to a podcast with the author. Awesome.

Very nice.&nbsp; Well, the big big part of all of this right,&nbsp; what gets us off of our ass and into the gym. It's the habits. It's the cycle. Noom uses psychology to help you break your bad habits. I think a lot of this is positive reinforcement, right? They say in marketing sometimes, there's a rule of seven - you have to see something seven times. I've even seen like 11 times, right? You need to see something a number of times to take action. If a dry cleaner can get you to stop by on your way to work X number of times, all of a sudden it becomes a routine. Boom - that dry cleaner has you and a lot of us that maybe aren't going to work as much whatever we're seeing, we're finding new ways to use that routine in the day. Maybe we're seeing more money in our pocket because we're not going to Starbucks every day. Noom is playing on that and rewiring brains for people and helping them think different about their relationship with food. This is probably the time to just claim I've never used Noom and I'm on a junk food diet.

NOOM VS. PELOTON: Fitness Tech Revolution