Opinion / Apple, Peloton and China’s Keep are disrupting fitness and apparel markets – and their platform model with continuous engagement threatens Nike, Adidas and Lululemon’s more transactional approach
- Peloton instructors like Jess King, Kendall Toole and Robin Arzon are now celebrities, and CEO John Foley aims to grow to 100 million subscribers
- Chinese fitness platform Keep has gained 300 million users in six years and, together with Peloton and Apple Fitness+, may one day kill off physical gyms
This article is part of Style’s Inside Luxury Column
We are living in a world accelerating at an accelerating rate. While most brands are still operating traditional business models, some brands are disrupting entire industries. One model with extremely powerful disruption potential is the platform model.
Platforms allow customers to interact with a brand on a regular basis by consuming a variety of services and experiences. The potential of well-designed platforms is not only limitless, they also offer the potential to disrupt entire product categories and change business models from one-time transactions to continuous interaction.
Take the Chinese fitness platform Keep. Launched in 2015, it now has more than 300 million users. In six years, Keep became the world’s largest platform for all things fitness. Whether you are looking for a running buddy in Shanghai or want to join a class with a world-renowned personal trainer, Keep will offer you anything you can imagine to stay healthy and fit.
Their app does not only offer customised exercise sessions, but has also become a massive marketplace for fitness equipment, from treadmills to personal exercise bicycles, apparel and fitness nutrition. When hundreds of millions of people meet daily to pursue their exercise goals, a platform like Keep completely changes the game.
The sheer number of Keep’s subscribers makes the US fitness darling Peloton almost look like a small start-up; however, Peloton is about to disrupt the luxury apparel market at a speed that should make companies like Nike, Adidas and Lululemon nervous. Peloton was founded in 2012, three years before Keep, and started as an alternative to spinning classes that became more and more popular through the success of SoulCycle’s studios in the US.
Peloton initially sold a fitness bike with classes live-streamed through a large screen mounted on the handlebars. The company then expanded to selling connected treadmills, weights and co-branded apparel. Peloton instructors like Jess King, Kendall Toole and Robin Arzon have reached celebrity status similar to that of Hollywood movie stars with millions of fans and followers. The popularity of the platform changes the fitness game.