On today's episode, a special edition of Authentic Influence: a deep-dive into what happens when a brand attempts to fabricate authentic moments in marketing, sparked by the recent backlash to Peloton's 2019 holiday ad.

The episode features three perspectives:

• Andrew Essex, former CEO of Droga5; current CEO of Plan A, a creative holding company
• Peter Horst, founder of CMO Inc.; former CMO of Capital One / Hershey / Ameritrade
• Mike Shields, CEO of Shields Strategic Consulting; former advertising journalist for BI, WSJ, and AdWeek

Today, you'll learn:

• The context of the Peloton ad, and the general reaction to and backlash surrounding it
• Perspectives on peers and consumers as the gold standard of authentic messaging
• Why, despite those perspectives, brands are continuing to pump millions into faking authentic
• Thoughts on "critic culture": an increasingly sensitive public which comes together in "piling on" to things it dislikes
• The juxtaposition between the Peloton and the viral parody it inspired
• Outlook: how could brands feature more real consumers going forward?

Be sure to stay subscribed for more content and thought leadership like this, and do please leave a rating and review on iTunes if you like what you hear.

Reach out to Adam Conner on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjconner/ or via email at adam.conner@govivoom.com with suggestions for guests, content, or general interest/feedback.

Find more at https://www.podcast.vivoom.co/.

Enjoy!

Music: "Streetview" by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA 4.0)