Peloton & Mizzen+Main share their online retail strategies for Black Friday & Cyber Monday

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Tomorrow kicks off the start of the biggest shopping weekend of the year. By Adobe’s reports, it may very well be part of the most profitable holiday season on record, set to bring in more than $100 billion in online sales.

“One out of every six dollars this holiday season will be spent between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, leading to $19.7 billion in sales,” reports Adobe.

Based on data pulled from a survey of more than 1,200 US shoppers, Deloitte says 91 percent of the people who plan to shop over the next four days will do some or all of their shopping online. Among the people who plan to shop online this weekend, Deloitte says 47 percent plan to do so on Black Friday and 72 percent on Cyber Monday.

With so much holiday revenue up for grabs, we asked two brands — Peloton and Mizzen+Main — about their plans of attack for the upcoming holiday weekend.

Carolyn Blodgett, the head of brand marketing for Peloton, says this weekend represents a big week of sales for the exercise equipment company.

“It is our best deal of the year, and one of the few times we ever have promotions,” says Blodgett, “We know a lot of our members are ready to buy as soon as Black Friday week hits.”

Blodgett says her team spends a lot of the off-season testing channels and tactics so that they are fully prepared to hit the ground running at the start of the holidays.

“As with all of our big campaigns throughout the year, we have a truly integrated approach,” says Blodgett, “Like many brands, Facebook, email, and display are an integral part of our efforts, but we also rely heavily on offline channels like TV, radio, OOH and retail to complement our digital marketing.”

According to Blodgett, last year’s holiday season resulted in roughly a 400 percent increase in sales over 2015. With such incredibly strong growth, the head of brand marketing says she has to make sure the company’s creative and media are equipped to scale along with Peloton’s overall growth.

“For example, this campaign will have hundreds of unique ads that we’ll optimize in real-time to maximize our impact,” says Blodgett about Peloton’s Black Friday promotion, “We also have a heavy focus on offline channels to ensure we’re reaching members where they are and will continue to drive members to our 29 showrooms across the country to drive trials.”

Men’s clothing line Mizzen+Main takes a unique approach to Black Friday compared to other retailers.

“Black Friday and Cyber Monday play a different role for us than most companies,” says Mizzen+Main CMO Jen Lavelle.

“Mizzen+Main does not discount traditionally. We take a firm stance on not having sales. For this reason, in the past, we released new product categories to generate buzz, but this year, we are offering a special bundle price which we have never offered before,” says Lavelle.

Last year, the clothing company launched a new line of chinos for its holiday promotions. This year, instead of a new product line, Mizzen+Main is offering a bundle deal that includes either two dress shirts or a dress shirt and pair of chinos for $200.

“Our Black Friday deal can only be accessed by purchasing more than one product,” says Lavelle.

Mizzen+Main rolled out its Black Friday promotion this week, two days prior to Thanksgiving, and will be running it through Cyber Monday.

“We are using social media and an email blast to prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday,” says Lavelle. The CMO says last year, the brand saw the biggest results on its e-commerce channels because at the time, its product launch was rolled out exclusively via online platforms.

When asked what drove the biggest results for Peloton during last year’s holiday season, Blodgett says she tries not to put too much emphasis on a single channel.

“We know it’s the right combination of channels and messages that makes for effective and impactful marketing,” says Blodgett, “We know our product is a considered purchase and has low awareness, so we look at our marketing strategy in totality, over the course of the year, not just a single week.”

As far as extending promotions beyond the Black Friday-Cyber Monday shopping period, Blodgett says that’s something she tries to avoid.

“It’s funny how Black Friday offers have become four-week-long campaigns. Transparency to our members is important, and we’ve seen so many retailers struggle with a dependency to year-round discounts.”

From our sponsors: Peloton & Mizzen+Main share their online retail strategies for Black Friday & Cyber Monday