When Marketing Spend Misses the Mark

Every day we are surrounded by advertising, from billboards to sponsored posts in our social

media apps. Some campaigns spark emotion, shift perception, and build loyalty. Others simply add to the noise and they aren’t very memorable. I’m choosing to reflect on Peloton and Coca-Cola because they represent two very different categories, connected fitness and beverages, yet both reveal how marketing spend can fall short when it does not align with evolving consumer values around health.

Peloton rose to prominence during the pandemic as the poster child of connected fitness. Its

glossy commercials showed energetic instructors, polished bikes, and the promise of belonging to a digital community. For a moment, it worked. Annual revenue climbed to nearly $3.5 billion in 2022, powered by advertising that once cost the company over $400 million a year. But when gyms reopened and cheaper fitness alternatives emerged, those same ads felt out of step. By 2025, revenue had fallen below $2.5 billion, and Peloton slashed sales and marketing spend from about $170 million to $107 million (Business of Apps, Nasdaq, WSJ). Looking back as a consumer, I remember how constant the ads were, yet no amount of visibility solved the problem of a $2,000 bike. Peloton spent to promote health and wellness, but it did not address accessibility, which limited its equity over time.

Coca-Cola, in contrast, shows how even iconic brands can overspend on familiarity. The

company invests more than $4 billion annually in advertising, from sponsoring the Olympics to rolling out global campaigns like “Share a Coke” (Statista). The storytelling is often emotional and memorable, but in developed markets, the category itself is shrinking. In the U.S., soda consumption has been falling for almost twenty years as younger consumers reach for flavored waters, coffees, teas, and other drinks instead. Coca-Cola’s campaigns keep the brand top of mind, but as a consumer, they rarely persuade me to drink more soda. The ads feel nostalgic, but they fail to reconcile with a growing cultural emphasis on health and wellness.

These brands are very different: Peloton sells a high-cost, technology-driven product designed to improve physical fitness, while Coca-Cola sells a mass-market beverage often criticized for its negative health effects. Yet, both spend heavily on advertising. Peloton’s challenge is affordability and flexibility; Coca-Cola’s is nutrition and well-being. Each show that no matter the category, marketing spend alone cannot create equity if the brand does not evolve with consumer. For Peloton, that could mean repositioning around inclusivity and accessible wellness rather than exclusivity. For Coca-Cola, it might mean devoting more spend to promoting healthier product lines rather than reinforcing nostalgia for soda. As consumers, we respond not to how much a brand speaks, but to how well it reflects who we are. Today, health is central to that conversation.

Link to previous article: https://www.simplypau.com/post/how-netflix-outperformed-blockbuster-using-brand-resonance-principles