National Bike Summit: 2010

Be sure to mark your calendars for March 9-10 where bike industry takes on Capitol Hill. At the 10th Annual National Bike Summit, we will be discussing some great topics as they affect our lives as we know it. The Summit program is in production but plan on learning more about and working on the following bicycle industry, volunteer and advocacy issues:

• Transportation Authorization - Issues and Goals
• Recreation and Tourism
• Access to State and Local Advocacy Resources
• Youth and the Future of Bicycling
• Building Progressive Cities
• Transit and Bike Sharing
• Principles of Livable Communities
• Industry Initiatives
• Distracted Driving
• Social Media

For more information, be sure to visit the League of American Bicyclists’ Website.

Triathlete’s Are Cyclists Too

Courtesy of Flickr - Plexus Pictures

This last weekend was the Lawrence Ironman 70.3 in Lawrence, KS. Not up to Half-Ironman shape myself, I took the opportunity to go watch a few friends sweat and swelter in the Midwest humidity. I positioned myself at the bike transition area for most of the morning and simply watched the powerful combination of man/woman and machine flying down the road to a running stop for the transition. After several wrecks due to worn out legs, stupid spectators, and stuck shoes, I got to thinking about the enormity of a good cycling leg in a Triathlon and the importance of the machine that is the bike.

As I watched some of the greatest TT bikes ever created rolling down the road, I imagined the thought process each and every Triathlete went through to reach their bike decision. Did they go for comfort? Did they go for weight? Or did they go for style? With over 2000 Triathletes ranging from elite professionals to amateurs fulfilling a goal, we will never know the purchase decision of their trusty bicycling steed. One thing that is certain, is each and every Triathlete wanted optimal performance. With the bike leg being so crucial to the position and time of the overall Triathlon, the bike itself needs to perform at its top level.

With my mind racing, as it always does when I get around competition, I began thinking about the importance of cycling brands catering to these Triathletes. Their not your typical cyclist, but they have a very strong need to find a bike that will give them that extra minute or get them to that next level. With social media and social branding capabilities, companies can now talk to highly segmented, niche markets; even down to the individual. I guess, my thoughts all end with a question…

question.

What is your bike brand doing to communicate with this ever-growing segment of cyclists: The Triathlete? How are you using social branding strategies to communicate to these performance-minded individuals?

Community: Are you building one?

Courtesy of Flickr - kirk_martin

Week 1 is in the books for “The Best Shape Ever Challenge” for my friends and me. It was a week chock full of runs, swims, rides, weights, anything to help me achieve my goals. As a part of the rules of the game, we are using DailyMile.com to log our workouts, talk trash, motivate, and inspire. It’s a fantastic thing to see. Excitement and struggle throughout the entire field. It shows the human aspect of exercising. Being able to see the enthusiasm one might have one day and the utter struggle to get through the workout the next gives us all a connection to each other, whatever our end goals may be.

community.

Throughout the week, I have noticed some great things. We are all vying for The Best Shape Ever Challenge championship, but having each other to lean on and motivate has built a tremendous sense of community. We all feel like we are a part of something that is a life-changing event which, in essence, should be if fulfilled. We communicate with each other, we are accountable to each other, we depend on each other all while being competitors as well as supporters. We know each other’s goals and want to see each other succeed (just not as much success as ourselves). It truly is an amazing thing unfolding right in front of us.

social media.

The great thing about this entire program is that it’s all through social media technologies and platforms. With each individual living in a different place, with different schedules, and different goals, we can stay connected to each other on our own personal time. I can log in every morning and see what happened over the past 24 hours. I can see who I need to congratulate, inspire, motivate, etc. and do so with a few keystrokes on my trusty computer. These conversations have built relationships that once never existed, have strengthened others, and empowered very different individuals to become a part of a very niche community.

the point.

For seven different individuals with different physical backgrounds, we have found social media to build our community and allow us to get on the right track to achieve our goals and have a support network when the hard days come. Communities are like little cults. The bonds created in them are strong and passionate about a specific cause, product, brand, movement, etc. The communication spans both online and offline. Having that feeling of being part of something, gives you a sense of inclusion, secrecy, excitement, and confidence. After all, alone we are just individuals, but together, we can move mountains. The power of community is one that should be feared and awed, for, with community, we can conquer even our greatest personal fears.

where’s your community?

With all the social media communications your company is participating in, can you identify where communities are spawning? What products, services, movements, riders, does your constituency talk about, feel passionate about, bond together about?

#bikebrand: A Conversation About Brand Communications in the Bike Industry

After 15 pages (so far) of conversation from multiple voices within and around the cycling industry, we stand in front of a tricky situation when it comes to brand communication throughout the bike industry supply chain and into the marketplace. Over the past several months, I have been talking about what actually defines the brand at the different levels in the cycling brand hierarchy, who each brand needs to communicate with, and how they could use social media to enhance these communications.

the question heard round the world.

As you can see from the conversation the answer to the question of “Who Own’s the Brand?” is it depends on the individual. The actual definition and positioning of the brand is created in the cyclist’s mind. This definition is based on many characteristics, but the end cyclist takes the information that is relevant to their particular cycling life to build the position of the particular brand.

some comments on communication.

Through this conversation, we can see that the individual behavior of brand definition carries over to the communication realm. There needs to be an open communication throughout the industry (IBD:custy, IBD:OEM, OEM:custy, etc). This communication will allow for complete brand permeation and allow the cyclist to decide and define what products and services, not only fit their cycling lifestyle but also defines them as a cyclist.

keep it going.

This conversation is and will be a major conversation in the years to come. We, in the industry, need to keep it alive and in the forefront to keep the industry growing. If you are on Twitter, feel free to use the hashtag #bikebrand when talking about this.

thoughts?

What are your thoughts on the conversation or the issue?

IBD Brand - NBDA Independent Concept

This morning, waiting for me in my inbox, was the NBDA newsletter. The section about the NBDA Independent Concept Web Tools Store really caught my eye. I won’t go into detail, you can read the entire article here, but wanted to point out one comment that I found extremely interesting.

Yet the fact is that most successful bicycle retailers take a different path, carrying multiple brands representing a “best in category” focus, designed with the needs of customers first. These independent bicycle retailers are THE BRAND in their customers’ eyes. The products they carry are important, but secondary to strong local brand identity, personal relationships within a community, and the products and services that best serve their customers, their businesses and their values.

IBD vs OEM

The fact that the IBD is THE BRAND in the customers’ eyes is an essential argument in the battle of who owns the brand: The IBD or the OEM. I’ve discussed this in detail in the past during the Cycling Brand Relationship Series and have recently put it into presentation form for easier understanding.