10/02/2024
Beachbody eliminates the MLM Model - Why?
Well, the reason mentioned by Mr. Mark Goldston, the company's Executive Chairman, is inside the press release.
“Mr. Goldston continued, “We recognize that in light of today’s current market dynamics and consumer preferences, the multi-level marketing distribution model is outdated and unsustainable.”
Some will debate this fact. However, a few years ago, when the DSA (Direct Sales Association) asked in a survey, “What is direct sales (MLM—Network Marketing)?” The average consumer thought she was buying products from Amazon.
So, whether we want to acknowledge it or not, since 2008, when we entered the current PTE (Post-Trust Era), the average consumer has fact-checked everything a marketer says while they say it!
Add to that the amount of regulatory and MLM critics' rhetoric propaganda about how the network marketing community is full of self-serving, predatory, toxic people who only care about their success, and it is a colossal war.
It is a war in which most insiders seem to hope that, like in decades past, the regulators and critics will get tired and go away. NOT!
Since Advocare shared the results of their forensic accountant report, more companies have shifted their business models.
Think about it… if your network has stopped growing, regulators are prowling around, and the top leaders are either sitting back semi-retired or fighting hard but can't get momentum, what should you do?
It comes down to a fiduciary decision: Do we protect the field of independent professionals, risk regulator challenges, and critics slamming the brand, or do we protect ourselves and the company and mitigate the risks?
I've grown up in their wonderful community. Over the last 55 years, I've gone from a 5-year-old carrying my mom’s Tupperware bag to a full-time rep, company executive, equity owner, private advisor, expert witness, hall of famer, SEC-sanctioned, and top 10% of income earners.
But at no time have I buried my head in the sand and denied the fact that regulators and critics generally have solid points of contention.
For at least the last twenty years, we have refused to speak up and hold each other accountable. Instead, we make excuses, put scammers on stage, and pretend we don't know what's happening.
And now we have significant financial institutions like Bloomberg writing articles and shooting documentaries on how predatory this community is towards college kids, single moms, and the elderly—showcasing some no better than motivational cult leaders.
And yet we as a community do nothing to very little…
Then we wonder why Rodan & Fields, Beachbody, and others are killing their MLM channels.
My mentor, Rod Cook, the original MLM Watchdog, warned me that this season would come if we didn't do something. We launched the Distributor Rights Association, aka ANMP 2024. But somewhere along the way, the association stopped fighting for standards, stopped lobbying Washington, and stopped educating the rank and file.
Let’s all stand up and do what we know is morally and ethically right for the consumers and the companies we represent.
If we don’t, we will continue to see top-tier direct sales/MLM/Network Marketing companies convert to DTC (Direct-To-Consumer) companies.
What Say You?
See comments for the BODi press release.
