Peloton’s global head of marketing Dara Treseder is leaving the troubled exercise brand for Autodesk amid a larger executive shakeup, in news that was first reported by The New York Times.
Treseder’s exit, which was confirmed by a post on her LinkedIn page, comes just two weeks after Peloton co-founder, CEO of 10 years and executive chairman John Foley announced his resignation. Chief Legal Officer Hisao Kushi, also a co-founder, is on his way out as well.
During her tenure at Peloton, Treseder, who’s full title is senior vice president and global head of marketing, communications and membership, lead marketing efforts through significant pandemic-spurred growth, which was followed by a precipitous drop in sales once the health crisis started to abate. Under her leadership, the brand signed Beyoncé in a multi-year deal for themed workouts. As purchases of Peloton bikes and treadmills started to fall, advertising turned to focus on the brand’s app. One advertisement saw actor Chris Meloni exercising with the app in the nude.
Autodesk COO and Executive Vice President Steve Blum praised Treseder's experience leading companies through transformation in a press release about her appointment as the company’s CMO, effective Oct. 14. The executive also called out Treseder’s track record with high-impact digital marketing as a skill that will be instrumental in her new role at the software company.
Peloton’s executive exodus comes as it continues to cast about for a path forward after experiencing a pandemic-induced boon. As gyms closed, fitness apps saw a 67% jump in installs during the pandemic. Peloton personally saw a 172% increase in sales. However as gyms reopened, Peloton started to sweat and paused production on its exercise equipment. At the beginning of this year, $40 billion had been shaved from Peloton’s market evaluation.