Peloton crisis management review

In today’s business market a company’s ability to manage a crisis will determine the longevity of the company. With social media being able to connect hundreds and thousands of people together in an instance, a company could be thrown into a crisis that could potentially end a company’s long-standing image. In today’s business market having a team that can identify a crisis and successfully turn it into a positive narrative or minimize the damage of a mistake is crucial to the company’s success. Many companies are known for being able to maneuver the landscape of social media. A company that have recent failure and success in being able to manage crisis is Peloton. Peloton interactive Inc. is an American exercise equipment in media company based in New York. Peloton is known for its Internet connected stationary bicycles that enable monthly streams directions to remotely participate in classes via streaming media.

An example of Peloton failure in handling a crisis starts after their launch of a treadmill. The treadmill resulted in dozens of injuries and also a death of a child. The first mistake Peloton made was they did not immediately respond or apologize to reports. This is where most companies fail in my opinion because not responding to reports as serious as the ones that were made about the company shows the lack of awareness of the product. Most people like companies that track the performance and safety of their products. A key component of managing a crisis is being on top of it and being able to get ahead of negative reports. Not being able to respond immediately is a serious missed opportunity to have a narrative that views the company in a positive light. Peloton failed to make sure the product was safe and had a slow response to remove the unsafe product. The narrative would’ve probably been a lot better if their leaders had a quicker and more swift response. The slow-moving response to this crisis backfires in a big way. It also helped Peloton to realize that they failed to act swiftly and consider the consequences of not responding fast enough in a crisis. I believe this shows value in a company’s ability to stay aware and be prepared to respond to a crisis.

Later in the same year Peloton had another crisis arise. Peloton gave permission to HBO to use Peloton in the show “Sex in the City” and to Peloton it was only a chance to promote their item in a beloved show. Without informing Peloton, show writers killed off a character after riding a Peloton leading certain customers to think using a Peloton may lead to a similar fate. With the large audience of the show and the help of social media within days of the show airing the company stock plummeted down to record lows.

With knowledge of their response in their last crisis, they responded a lot better and responded quickly by airing a commercial combating the negative view a Peloton at this time by poking fun at the show and bringing the character back to life on the commercial. Their leadership did it in a very funny way and I think it did minimize the blow from the HBO show. The response was quick and effective. Peloton manage that crisis correctly in my opinion and another crisis popped up shortly after the actor in the show and the commercial was accused of sexual assault. Peloton knowing that waiting is not the correct response, stop airing the commercial immediately and is monitoring the situation as it continues to provide new information

Peloton is a great example of both how to and not to manage a crisis because the biggest mistake a company can make is not learning from its own mistakes. Peloton has learned how to navigate crises with a lot more efficiency and understands that waiting is not a valuable answer well handling crises in this day and age.