Frame and Wheel realizes that the Big Three promote their brands by convincing professional teams to ride them. Consumers see the brand ridden by a pro and it becomes desirable. This is the most expensive way to promote the brand. The least expensive way to promote the brand and the most effective is to ride the bike at the local races; this also could include setting up a tent with samples available for inspection and demonstration. This is time consuming and a not so inexpensive proposition (and it makes it hard to race): Frame and Wheel notes that Williams Cycling hired a representitive to staff a tent full of wheels at a cyclocross race in Massachusetts.
Another method is to attend the trade shows in the US and Europe and Asia. Trade shows are very good for promoting the brand with the trade and the immediate public, but they are very costly, and there must be something to show. Frame and Wheel admires the way Ritte Racing uses Internet video extensively to promote its brand: clearly, these guys have extensive cycling culture knowledge, video production expertise in addition to a very fine sense of humour. Their videos include commercials for an energy product and the surreal text to video clips (these are Frame and Wheel's favorites). Internet video must be less expensive than many alternatives and it is highly effective, and Frame and Wheel will certainly use the medium before flying off to Asia, Europe or Nevada for a week (or two).
Another alterntaive is one used increasingly in the fashion industry: it invovles collaborating with another brand. The Wall Street Journal has an article titled Is L.L. Bean Driving the Runway? This article describes how the nostalgia and iconic brands are being rediscovered by consumers for their durability and increasingly emulated by newer designers (so called new-heritiage brands). The main point of the article is that the "classic" brands are forming partnerships with these new-heritage designers to introduce new products inspired by some of the original products from years ago. The example that sticks in Frame and Wheel's mind is the partnership between Woolich and a Japanese designer to produce a wildly more posh version of the heavy cotton shirts Frame and Wheel remembers from years ago. The collaboration alternative is compelling to Frame and Wheel, and something that makes sense if Frame and Wheel is ever to design its own frame (or wheel).
Finally, Frame and Wheel beleives that the most effective and perhaps the cheapest way to promote the brand is to invite all stakeholders (the consumer, independent bike shops, etc.) to submit their ideas for how it should be done. An inclusive open approach is more likely to result in some good ideas (also known as the adjacent possible) than Frame and Wheel pecking away at the computer individually. Perhaps a Facebook account is in order.
Another method is to attend the trade shows in the US and Europe and Asia. Trade shows are very good for promoting the brand with the trade and the immediate public, but they are very costly, and there must be something to show. Frame and Wheel admires the way Ritte Racing uses Internet video extensively to promote its brand: clearly, these guys have extensive cycling culture knowledge, video production expertise in addition to a very fine sense of humour. Their videos include commercials for an energy product and the surreal text to video clips (these are Frame and Wheel's favorites). Internet video must be less expensive than many alternatives and it is highly effective, and Frame and Wheel will certainly use the medium before flying off to Asia, Europe or Nevada for a week (or two).
Another alterntaive is one used increasingly in the fashion industry: it invovles collaborating with another brand. The Wall Street Journal has an article titled Is L.L. Bean Driving the Runway? This article describes how the nostalgia and iconic brands are being rediscovered by consumers for their durability and increasingly emulated by newer designers (so called new-heritiage brands). The main point of the article is that the "classic" brands are forming partnerships with these new-heritage designers to introduce new products inspired by some of the original products from years ago. The example that sticks in Frame and Wheel's mind is the partnership between Woolich and a Japanese designer to produce a wildly more posh version of the heavy cotton shirts Frame and Wheel remembers from years ago. The collaboration alternative is compelling to Frame and Wheel, and something that makes sense if Frame and Wheel is ever to design its own frame (or wheel).
Finally, Frame and Wheel beleives that the most effective and perhaps the cheapest way to promote the brand is to invite all stakeholders (the consumer, independent bike shops, etc.) to submit their ideas for how it should be done. An inclusive open approach is more likely to result in some good ideas (also known as the adjacent possible) than Frame and Wheel pecking away at the computer individually. Perhaps a Facebook account is in order.
Wow uncle fred is that you in the rain biking?
ReplyDeleteYes, Landon. It was the first time up the hill and it started to pour. I thought I would attack because when it rains, the pack tends to slow down. It didn't work. I couldn't get away and I kept trying each time we came to the hill. I ended up getting very tired and very cold. But it was worth it: I got a great picture!
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