• by Sarah Mahoney , 10 hours ago

Apparel might be new to Katie Babineau, but brand building isn’t. In her first year as CMO of Beyond Yoga, she’s led the premium athleisure company—acquired by Levi Strauss in 2021—through a brand reset aimed at deepening its cultural relevance and reaching new audiences. The result is “Seek Beyond,” a new platform that champions progress over perfection, debuts an outdoor line, and features an original anthem written and performed by actor Issa Rae.

Babineau tells Marketing Daily how she used her background in consumer tech to guide the shift, why vulnerability resonates more than performance, and why the leggings lifestyle is still going strong.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Marketing Daily: What problem were you trying to solve with this brand refresh?

Katie Babineau: When I joined Beyond Yoga last year, I focused on listening, especially to the community. Coming into a new industry from consumer tech—I had been at Snap and Apple—I had fresh eyes. What I noticed was how saturated the category had become. It’s a sea of safeness and sameness. We started asking: How can we show up differently?

The brand has always had a strong product story. But it felt like the promise behind our name—Beyond Yoga—hadn’t come to life yet. And now that we’ve expanded the product line, we have the right to show up in more parts of our customers’ lives.

We also heard a lot about fatigue—about pressure and perfectionism in this space. It felt like an opportunity to tell a different story. That’s how we arrived at “Seek Beyond,” which focuses on joy, progress, and the process, not just performance.

Marketing Daily: How so?

Babineau: It’s an invitation—to explore, to grow, to move in your own way. It builds on our original intent: to support people beyond the mat. Now we can offer more products to meet them where they are.

Issa Rae was a natural partner to bring that vision to life. She already wore and loved the brand, and her voice felt so aligned with our message—intentional, joyful, real. She wrote and performed the anthem for the campaign, and then we built out a broader story with a diverse group of movers from different backgrounds, ages, and modalities.

Marketing Daily: In some ways, a celebrity like Issa is a contrast to the typical wellness brand approach, which often presents that perfect yoga ideal.

Babineau: We wanted to inspire with real stories. And Issa brought so much creativity and honesty to the anthem. But just as important was building out a community of movers—people like Danielle Burnett from Big Girls Who Run, or Evelynn Escobar of Hike Clerb, which helps people of color get into hiking—who embody what “Seek Beyond” is all about. We wanted people to feel seen.

Marketing Daily: You mentioned the brand had been performance-heavy. Why the pivot to brand investment?

Babineau: Yes. We saw tremendous growth during the pandemic through performance marketing. But we hadn’t built brand awareness—we hadn’t moved up the funnel. This is the first time we’ve run connected TV, podcast partnerships, full-funnel social, and broader storytelling. And the early results are really promising. Positive sentiment, traffic, and engagement are all up.

We built a brand health tracker this year to establish new benchmarks, and we’ll measure again over time. Of course, we’re looking at revenue and full-funnel KPIs, but awareness is our North Star this year.

Marketing Daily: You also launched a new outdoor line. That’s a more technical space. How are you approaching it?

Babineau: Outdoor felt like a natural evolution for us, a step beyond yoga. We already saw our community spending more time outside. The new line is built around versatility—pieces you can wear from trail to street. We’ve got things like the Peak Pant and jacket, which you can pack easily, but they also work for travel or everyday wear. The goal was to help people do more of what they love.

Marketing Daily: What did your experience at Apple and Snap teach you that you're bringing to this job?

Babineau: The problems we’re solving are similar across industries. I’ve spent 15 years in consumer tech, building lifestyle brands. What I’ve always loved is finding a cohesive story—whether it’s about a complex technology or a wide line of products. That’s what I’ve brought here.

The other big thing is mindset. In tech, there’s a test-and-learn culture, and I’ve carried that with me. We’re trying new content types, experimenting with formats and platforms, and staying open to what works. I think that’s helped us bring in new customers and cut through the noise.

Marketing Daily: What surprised you most about apparel?

Babineau: I’ve been amazed by how transferable marketing is, as long as you know the product and understand your customer. But my biggest surprise is how much repeat behavior we see. I’ve met people in our stores who have entire drawers filled with dozens of our leggings, in every color. That level of loyalty is pretty unique.

Marketing Daily: What’s next?

Babineau: Expanding retail has been a big focus—we’re opening in markets where we already see strong customer demand. Men’s is another area with a lot of potential. We know right now we’re reaching him through her, and we’re starting to see that shift.