• by Les Luchter , March 14, 2023

Online fitness brand Beachbody, saying it has abandoned an industry “playbook” based on self-criticism, has rebranded as Bodi, backed up by an ad campaign titled “You Will Fail.”

The campaign features a :60 spot in which Bodi, which formerly invoked physical perfection in its very name Beachbody, now declares, “We’re rejecting the idea of perfection.”

The spot, created in-house, is running on paid social (e.g., Facebook, Instagram), cable networks (e.g., HGTV, CNBC, TBS, AMC) and OTT TV (Hulu, EyeQ).

Simplifying all of Beachbody’s previous offerings onto one $179/year platform and introducing “mindset” programs to its fitness and nutrition offerings, Bodi  launches as “the world’s first complete ‘health esteem’ platform,” Carl Daikeler, co-founder/chairman/chief executive officer of Bodi’s parent The Beachbody Company, told investors and analysts on a fourth quarter earning call Tuesday afternoon.

This new category, he said, fills a “major void” by serving the great numbers of people “who have been left behind by the “failing…legacy fitness and diet industry.”

That failure is apparent, he explained, by the fact that 74% of Americans are overweight or obese, with those numbers climbing. And i has also seen an uptick in mental health problems since the start of the pandemic.

“The legacy industry has concentrated its efforts on convincing prospects of their faults, to motivate them to buy that treadmill or join that gym, and it’s primarily retraining the same cohort of people to move from one solution to the next, over and over,” Daikeler declared. Meanwhile, Bodi will now focus on “how you feel doing the programs versus focusing on the results you achieve in the end."

Bodi "is designed to offer “a comprehensive solution that fits with real life," added Daikeler. "What most adults are looking for today is the support to reduce anxiety in their lives, to feel better, and to improve their self-esteem.”

And, maybe, to eat dessert, since Daikeler also announced an expansion of the company’s Shakeology superfood drink line into the dessert category, representing a “$48 billion market opportunity.” 

In other Bodi developments related to its rebranding, it launched a program called “For Beginners Only” hosted by Lacee Green, a self-titled “curvy girl trainer.”

Bodi has also hired fitness coach turned positive psychology coach Petra Kolber as vice president of personal development and mindset, while launching a whole channel devoted to mindset classes. “One thing I’ve learned after 30 years in the fitness industry is that it doesn’t matter how you look on the outside, if you are not happy with how you feel on the inside,” Kolber said in a statement.

The BODi moniker itself is not new, by the way. Since 2021, it had been the shortened name for the brand’s subscription streaming service Beachbody On Demand Interactive.

As for that earnings call, The Beachbody Company announced  2022 revenues were down 21% to $692.2 million, with fourth quarter revenues plunging 31% to $148.2 million -- but above both company guidance and analyst estimates of $146.3 million.