tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191487642024-03-12T21:17:09.621-07:00Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid!A little space for infrequent commentary on the bicycle industry- Marketing/PR, health, growth, advocacy, etc. The goal here is to educate, inform, share, ponder, question and hopefully giggle from time to time. The bicycle is one of the greatest inventions of all time and provides all kinds of potential for people around the world; come share it with us.Tim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-5734360982516532962011-02-25T22:19:00.000-08:002011-02-25T22:22:52.469-08:00The rebirth of cool; Cinelli<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Originally posted on my new main blog; </span></span><a href="http://twowheelsandhalfabrain.tumblr.com/post/3517012815/the-rebirth-of-cool-cinelli"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Two Wheels and Half a Brain</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">)</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(98, 101, 102); line-height: 20px; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Cinelli is one of the iconic brands in cycling, <a href="http://www.cinelli.it/EN/chi_siamo.html" style="color: rgb(245, 91, 44); text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); margin-top: -1px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; ">around since the late 40’s</a> in one capacity or another. Cinelli is responsible for lasting designs and innovations that will be part of cycling’s history and heritage into the next millennia and beyond. The incredible history of the brand is something <em style="font-style: italic; "><strong style="font-weight: bold; ">any</strong></em> company would like to have.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lh7kv5aAvV1qbgar6.jpg" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; max-width: 100%; height: auto; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; " /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">It is not to say that Cinelli has not had its problems and defeats, as well as all those victories. There have been many setbacks along the way, but Cinelli has managed to always smartly find a way to climb back from the abyss and reestablish itself as a brand to be reckoned with.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Cinelli had fallen on some pretty rough times in the 90’s, but then they introduced a very innovative handlebar extension called<a href="http://www.cinelli.it/scripts/accessori.php?Id=4&lang=EN&IdAcc=108" style="color: rgb(245, 91, 44); text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); margin-top: -1px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; "> Spinaci</a>. These clever extensions became exceptionally popular with racers around the globe and at the highest levels of the sport. Sadly, the international governing body of cycling- the UCI- decided they were unsafe and banned them from competition in mass start events. This meant the death of Spinaci and the countless copycat products they’d spawned. This also threw Cinelli back into some rough waters.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">The brand never went away and was never all that close to vanishing, but the image had been dented again and the name was fading from the hierarchy of brands at the top of the sport- despite the best efforts of the products and the engineers and designers at Cinelli.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Ultimately, what saved the brand and has kept it alive to this day, is the brand’s great eye for Italian design. Cinelli has always had a strong reputation for iconic modern Italian design. From the famous winged “C” logo, to the hallmark use of color and an eye for spotting trends. This all lead to Cinelli constantly maintaining a cult following of rabid fans willing to look past mistakes or missteps, eagerly awaiting the next design- whether with glee or morbid curiosity.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">It’s the eye for design and ability to remain “current” with fashionable trends that gave the fans something to love. And those fans have spanned multiple generations. The young fans of today are largely in love with the deigns of the past- and Cinelli has been smart enough to give them what they want. Cinelli has remained relevant by listening to their fans and allowing them to dictate where the brand is going… or returning to.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">The strength of Cinelli today lies in the fact that the brand has been co-opted by the fixed gear/ urban cycling culture. Most of the fans of Cinelli now only know of the brand’s vintage appeal from the aesthetic, as opposed to the long history of race wins and product innovation. They’re drawn more to the cool factor than anything else… and Cinelli has no problem with that at all. Which is a stroke of pure genius.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">In this incredibly cutthroat market for bikes and parts, Cinelli has been able to rise above the fray and retain it’s sense of style and elegance. The Cinelli of today looks a lot like the Cinelli of decades prior because that is what the consumers of today have been begging for. From aligning themselves with arguably the strongest name in the fixed gear subculture- <a href="http://mashsf.com/" style="color: rgb(245, 91, 44); text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); margin-top: -1px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; ">MASH SF</a>- to reissuing the products that originally built the Cinelli name, they have placed themselves in the center of a very visible and vocal segment of the cycling world.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Cinelli stands out as a brand that understands who they are, who they aren’t and who their true customers are and what they want. Unlike many brands who tell their customers what they want- or should want- Cinelli listens and gives their customers what they have asked for. It sounds stupidly easy to do, yet too few companies even bother to try; the idea of letting go of control is too frightening. It isn’t to say that Cinelli simply spits out product by request- they still design avant-garde products that push the edge of being a freak show highlight. It’s this blend of innovation and retro reproduction that keeps Cinelli alive today…</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">… and is likely to keep them alive tomorrow too.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><a href="http://www.cinelli.it/index.html" style="color: rgb(245, 91, 44); text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); margin-top: -1px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; ">Website</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><a href="http://www.cinelli.it/pdf/catalogo_accessori_2011.pdf" style="color: rgb(245, 91, 44); text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); margin-top: -1px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; ">Catalog</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><a href="http://www.cinelli-usa.com/" style="color: rgb(245, 91, 44); text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 226, 225); margin-top: -1px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; ">US website</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Tim Jackson</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Chief Kool-Aid Dispenser</p></span></div>Tim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-26995426315277877742011-02-25T21:58:00.000-08:002011-02-25T22:14:02.839-08:00Kool-Aid is coming back... sorta...Hello... is this thing on?<div><br /></div><div>It's been since October of 2009 since this blog has been updated. Lots of changes have taken place in that time- obviously- and lots of great discussions have been missed. It's been a long time since I last put out a call for guest writers to help keep this thing afloat- and I got a lot of great volunteers... in 2009! </div><div><br /></div><div>So, with that said, consider this a repeat; </div><div><ul><li>I am officially looking for guest writers to help bring this blog back from the dead... again. </li><li>Here's <a href="http://bicyclemarketingwatch.blogspot.com/2009/10/become-member-of-kool-aid-krew.html">the original Kasting Kall</a>.</li></ul><div>To all those who tossed their hat into the ring the last time, please feel free to toss it in again! To those who thought about it before, but held back... here's your chance. AND... for those who are seeing this for the first time, I promise I'm a nice guy and won't be mean as Editor... so send me a sample.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you again (again), </div><div><br /></div><div>Tim Jackson</div><div>Chief Kool-Aid Dispenser </div>Tim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-61233625168336280252009-10-21T20:19:00.000-07:002009-10-21T20:31:34.868-07:00Kool-Aid KallTo all who have sent in writing samples and emailed an interest in joining the Kool-Aid Krew, I just want to say thank you and let you know you will be hearing from me soon- I promise. Frankly, I'm tempted to take all of you on as contributors... and just might! I'm one nutty editor/ Chief Kool-Aid Dispenser.<br /><br />If you haven't already heard from me, you will soon, so please be patient... I <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">do</span> have a day job after all...<br /><br />I'm very excited about the changes and upgrades coming to this site and I thank you for your patience and continuing support.<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispenserTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-81115609499154986692009-10-18T08:38:00.000-07:002009-10-18T09:07:14.323-07:00Become a member of the Kool-Aid Krew!Since November 20, 2005 this blog has been a stop and go project limited mostly by the lack of free time each of the various contributors has available... or in most cases, doesn't have available. Somehow, despite this very sporadic and inconsistent history of posting, the blog continues to hold a readership and I still get frequent questions about when we're going to be updating the blog again. Believe me, that's a far greater compliment to me than you know.<br /><br />From the beginning, the idea of this blog was to create dialog; a dialog between members of the cycling industry, retailers and consumers. The original focus was to cover marketing in the cycling industry and other industries that choose to use cycling to communicate their messages. Over time the focus changed a little and began to cover other cycling related news- with an intended focus being on how that news impacted the industry. I believe it is safe to say that we've covered quite a few different topics over the nearly four years we've been here and it's safe to assume that the focus will remain fairly diverse.<br /><br />Since each of the contributors listed on the right side of this page have very diverse viewpoints, it is clear that things will remain pretty diversely covered within the posts here. And here's where you potentially come in...<br /><br />We're looking for new contributors for the blog. Want to join us? Then send a writing sample (or link to your existing blog, etc) and a brief bio to me at <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">timothyvjackson (at) gmail (dot) com</span>. You don't need to be in the bicycle industry to qualify, since we are looking to keep things diverse around here- varying viewpoints are very much desired. One thing that is required though... a thick skin and a good sense of humor. We don't want or allow sniper attacks on brands or people, so if you have an axe to grind you'll need to grind it elsewhere. We also don't allow sexism, racism, bigotry or political/ religious firebombing. In essence, we're here to be informative, invite discussion that has the potential to move a topic towards change and overall shed light on important topics that tie to the life and health of the cycling world and industry... even if it takes a little searching to find that connection from time to time.<br /><br />So if you've got a burning desire to become a member of the Kool-Aid Krew, drop me a line and let me know. The goal is to have a large enough team of contributors to ensure that the site is updated at least once a week so that the burden does not fall onto any one person's shoulders. If you're a little shy about becoming a regular contributor, listed on the site, feel free to submit a post as a guest contributor as well.<br /><br />Thanks again to all of the folks who have supported and encouraged this sporadic endeavor. We hope to make things a little more exciting around here in the coming months... including a change in the looks of things. Please excuse our e-dust as we do a bit of housecleaning... it will hopefully prove worth the patience.<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispenserTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-39200100064779358332009-10-16T22:15:00.000-07:002009-10-16T22:28:29.731-07:00Tradeshows and the cycling industry...Over the past five weeks, I've attended three separate week-long (for me) tradeshows. Needless to say, I'm fairly worn down and really tired of the seemingly endless cycle of packing and unpacking and packing and unpacking, etc, etc... but that's not the point of this.<br /><br />Over the past few years, the relationship between tradeshows and the industry has been evolving in many different directions. The effectiveness and cost worthiness of tradeshows has been under examination by nearly every person and brand within the cycling industry- from retailer to manufacturer/ distributor to OE supplier and international distributors. The entire cycling goods foodchain has been scrutinizing the changes in the way business is done these days and what the shows all mean or do.<br /><br />Here's one bike nerds view from inside the equation...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Retailers; </span><br />Retailers have really begun to trim back this year, here in the US, due to the weak economy. However, even before the economic downturn (also known as really terrible economic crash), retailers had been cutting back on their involvement with the main tradeshow- <a href="http://www.interbike.com/">Interbike</a>. The Dirt Demo component of Interbike has continued to grow in popularity, as retailers can ride the bikes they are already buying, thinking of buying, wanting to evaluate or just so they can get some competitive comparison against the brands they already sell. By the time Interbike rolls around, the vast majority of retailers have already placed preseason orders with their main suppliers and if they sell Trek, Specialized, Giant and a few others, they've already been out of their shops for regional or private brand tradeshows. All of this leads to a further shrinking of the relevance of Interbike to many retailers and a growing "show fatigue" by the time Interbike rolls around sometime in late September. Unless a retailer is specifically looking to replace a bike brand with another bike brand, there is very little use for Interbike other than to shake hands with suppliers.<br /><br />However, for smaller ticket items like clothing and other accessories, Interbike still holds some <span style="font-style: italic;">limited</span> power. But... in recent years very few retailers have gone to Interbike with the intention of "putting pen to paper" and placing orders. Again, with the strength of regional brand shows and the larger brands becoming increasingly large business partners for many retailers, Interbike's floor show is changing into much less of a tradeshow and much more of a social gathering. That said, Interbike has been savvy in beginning to address this and is looking to add more value for all who attend. The seminars held each year are growing in popularity and usefulness, as are things like the recently added <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_9gJTtBlEY">Urban Legend</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VhJL8aYNl4">Fashion Show</a>. To further cater to the evolving shape of the Interbike audience, there has been a growing acceptance of Social Media and the small but growing importance it now has in the cycling world- giving media credentials to bloggers, Tweeters, podcasters and the like is a big step. Having an impressive media center in the midst of the show floor is an even more impressive step.<br /><br />Eurobike may not have the same level of non-traditional show gimmics, but the show does continue to evolve and was quicker to develop fashion shows for the cycling world (though admittedly mocked by many folks in the industry at first). Eurobike suffers a bit less from the massive drop-off in order writing, as many European retailers do still place orders during the show. More importantly, however, Eurobike has become more of a distributor show- especially since it is now often the first introduction of many new products- a roll once prized by Interbike. Thanks to this explosion of early product introductions, Eurobike also benefits from a growing presence from the media looking to wet the appetites of product crazy cycling enthusiasts around the globe.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Manufacturers; </span><br />If you are a bike brand or a consumer product manufacturer and are trying to reach retailers, tradeshows are becoming harder and harder to justify. The cost of doing tradeshows is astronomical and prohibitive for smaller brands more likely to benefit the most from the extra exposure. Larger brands are shrinking their show presence, if not abandoning altogether, and are focusing the attention on regional private shows- you get the retailer all to yourself with nobody else getting in the way of your sales pitch. It's an intoxicating cocktail for many retailers when they get such special treatment too, so it is hard to find a reason NOT to do private shows.<br /><br />For smaller brands who need the exposure, major shows eat up an entire year's budget and the stress can be nearly suicidal as well. Whether smaller bike brands or an accessory brand, the cost is high and the return is arguably low. But... can they risk not being there? Is being conspicuous in your absence something that will hurt you? Will your competition steal your customers if you aren't there? It's a big risk, as well as a big cost.<br /><br />Most brands who have attended the ever-growing Dirt Demo are seeing that as becoming much more effective for them. In recent years, shows like Eurobike and the smaller Canadian show <a href="http://www.expocycle.ca/en/index.html">BTAC/ Expo Cycle</a> have added demo days to their shows to address this shift in tradeshow appeal. Again, here in the US, there are many brands who attend Dirt Demo only and skip the floor show, or only show up with a very tiny presence. Brands as important to the industry as Specialized and Trek have been a part of this shift. Will it hurt them for not having a full footprint inside the exhibit hall? Not likely- many of their retailers have already ponied up the dough at regional shows and they still get plenty of press attention by being at demo- if not more attention. Let's face it, a fleet of very expensive wonder bikes bombing down trails or blazing down the asphalt says a lot... real or not.<br /><br />Interbike and Expo Cycle both have seen a major drop off in the amount of orders written or new business created. Eurobike has suffered less of a drop off, but still faces the same challenges. The question then becomes "why are we here" for many of the exhibitors at the shows. Well, that all depends on the brands you ask, but it is increasingly becoming about relationships. It's important to be at the show to thank customers for their business and try to convince them to keep growing their business with you... if they haven't already placed that big, mythical "preseason order" already. And most of them have. As an exhibitor for a smaller brand, Interbike still presents a chance and a hope that new business will come our way. We attend both Dirt Demo and Interbike with the hope of seeing existing customers and also seeing potential new ones.<br /><br />Here's the thing though- as I pointed out in my opening comment, tradeshow burnout is becoming a very real thing. Eurobike was just August 31- September 1st for demo and September 2nd - 5th for the show, Expo Cycle was September 9th for demo and 10th - 12th for the show and Interbike was September 21st - 22nd demo and 23rd - 26th for the show... and I just got back from the second edition of Interbike's OutDoor Demo East in Providence, Rhode Island held October 8th - 11th. I didn't attend Eurobike, but I was at the other three of the four events. As a manufacturer, that's an astronomical financial commitment, not to mention the man hours that have to be used for so many events. At what point do manufacturers say "enough is enough"? For global brands, it's very difficult to do that. Granted, at Eurobike and Expo Cycle, my presence at the show is to be there to support the efforts of the distributors we have (or my parent company Haro Bicycles has). All of those shows add up quickly- especially when they are nearly back to back.<br /><br />The addition of the OutDoor Demo East last year "seemed" like a good idea and the initial feedback, minus the grumblings of "not <span style="font-style: italic;">another</span> show", was that it was a success. This year's ODD-E was extended to four days, with the last two days being open to the public- something that much of the industry cringed over. How was the demo this year? Well... spotty at best. Day 1 was great because the weather was great. Day 2 had rain so very few retailers who attended actually rode any bikes in the cool and sloppy weather. Day 3 and 4 were open to the public... but there was also a two day stellar cyclo-cross event going on. And cross is huge in New England... with over 2000 racers signed up for the two days, it seemed like we'd all be busy... but the racers and the folks who came to watch and support them barely touched a demo bike over the two days. The racing was awesome and fun to watch, but that's the problem- <span style="font-style: italic;">I had the time to watch the races</span> because nobody was riding the demo bikes. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Nobody</span>. Will we attend next year's event if it happens? Very hard to say right now. Lots and lots of evaluation is going into that question as we speak...<br /><br />There are other smaller shows- mainly in Europe- but they play a much less significant role in the industry these days. These other shows were once important, but with the shift of dates and locations, they have fallen by the wayside a bit...<br /><br />But, as another wrench in the works, there's the big industry show in Taipei Taiwan for all the OE suppliers, international distributors and bike manufacturers/ distributors. It's another layer of tradeshow commitment that can not be ignored. Which leads to the next tier...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">OE Suppliers; </span><br />OE Suppliers are the folks who make the stuff that has a different name on it. The biggest brands in the world nearly all work with a finite number of manufacturers in Taiwan and China and those brands, kept somewhat in the shadows and away from the consumers, attract their customers in Taipei... or did. The <a href="http://www.taipeicycle.com.tw/">Taipei Cycle</a> show now suffers from a spot on the calendar- in mid March the past few years- that is becoming much less relevant to the bike spec'ing process. Many brands- including the one I am the Brand Manager for- complete and turn in their final spec to their factories at the end of December (if not possibly sooner). So by March now, many bike and accessory brands are in Taiwan to thank their vendors, meet with their International Distributors and then go visit their factories south in Taichung or over in China (mainly). For these OE Suppliers, the show is becoming hard to justify, as the spec process for that given year is already done and many production lines are already churning out the "new" products.<br /><br />Here's where it gets complicated(er); there is now a growing series of mini-shows now mostly combined into one show in Taichung in December (5-13th) called <a href="http://www.taichung-bike-week.com/index.php?p=Home">Taichung Bike Week</a> and <a href="http://www.ride-on-org.com/">Ride-On</a>. The cool thing is that these two semi-competing shows have combined forces to actually altruistically serve the industry better. The December schedule allows product managers one final chance to see anything they need for their bike spec process. The informal format provides for private meetings away from the busier traffic of a full blown tradeshow and the costs are much lower. Plus, being in Taichung where much of the Taiwan bike industry resides, it is very easy to also do factory visits during the week. The growing strength of this new mini-show must be causing the Taipei show organizers to lose a lot of sleep.<br /><br />On the other end of the Taipei show schedule is the <a href="http://en.e-chinacycle.com/InformationPage.aspx?p=3&c=4">China Cycle</a> show in Shanghai, April 27th - 30th. This show now has a place on the map and calendar of growing importance. The date provides an early glimpse into what will be happening in the next round of product spec and takes place in the world's largest manufacturing center. Chinese made cycling products have grown in popularity with many prestigious brands now having their products made in China and the strength of home brands like Giant and Merida only lends to that growth. Giant is the world's largest bicycle maker and Merida is their largest competitor. Giant is a popular global brand of its own and Merida enjoys some strength as a brand in Europe and a few other areas outside of the US.<br /><br />The shift away from Taipei as a spec show is turning it into much more of a show for International Distributors as well as for companies sourcing private label suppliers. Taipei, like all the other established shows, is learning to cater to new customers as the market has evolved.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">***</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">As you can see, it's a complicated picture out there. Retailers have less use for traditional shows, Manufacturers have less use for traditional shows and the OE Suppliers have less use for tradtional shows. Demo events are gaining strength and popularity, so many have suggested that the tradeshows be shortened and the demo days expanded. There are others who say the floor show is a dinosaur and is fading out of relevance. But that really only addresses the shows for retailers.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>What about the other shows? Taipei is really getting the squeeze on both ends of its calendar and the smaller shows are forcing them to really change how they do what they do and there is much talk still about moving the Taipei dates to January... though that may still prove to be too late for most Product Managers.<br /><br />Tradeshows are what many consider to be "a necessary evil"- but how long can we keep saying that to ourselves and justifying the crazy amounts of money all of us spend to make them happen?<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid Dispenser<br /></div></div>Tim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-48698485470677961452008-12-10T00:45:00.000-08:002008-12-11T00:53:09.555-08:00Taichung and the Bicycle IndustryI just returned earlier today from a two week trip to Taiwan. Part of those two weeks was spent visiting the RideOn and Taichung Bike Week mini-tradeshows for the OEM market. If you don't already know, RideOn began about 4 years ago when a small group of OEM suppliers decided to have a small and very informal gathering to allow product managers a chance to get either a first look at upcoming products or a last look at existing products so they could make their spec decisions with the best and most recent information available. Taichung Bike Week began as something of an offshoot of the early success of RideOn. The plan was to provide another option for visiting product managers to Taichung, since they were already in town. Over the past few years, this has grown into a small, informal meeting for the suppliers to the OEM trade and their customers. It has also proven to be quite successful and valuable for the industry.<br /><br />The spec process gets more difficult each year as so many options pop up in the marketplace and as the need to finalize spec earlier each year grows. In the "old days" of just a few years ago, spec didn't need to be finished for bikes until March and you would still get bikes delivered in the late summer time frame- in time for Interbike and the other major tradeshows. However, that is a thing of the past as factory capacities are stretched thin and leadtimes grow and grow. Now, spec is due to factories as early as mid-December if you have any hope of seeing bikes delivered by Interbike. Throw into this mix the fact that many companies like Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo have continued to present new products earlier and earlier ever year as well. All of this combined has made a product manager's job harder and harder each year- not to mention those of purchasing departments.<br /><br />So with all of these various challenges and the timing of product cycles, the <a href="http://www.taipeicycle.com.tw/">Taipei International Cycle Show</a> has become decreasingly important to product managers across the cycling industry. The show is now more important to the International Distributor (ID) business and the various retailers from around the world who like to go to the show to see new products before they show up at the larger shows or who have their own private label products made in Taiwan or China. But, for the OEM trade, Taipei has become less important simply due to its place on the calendar.<br /><br />Because of this and because of the growth of the two Taichung events happening with overlapping schedules in December, many product managers have been making the trip to Taichung. With this growth and activity, the events have caught the attention of the Mayor of Taichung, Jason Hu. Mayor Hu, who happens to be a very funny man with an Oxford education, has created a committee to work with the cycling industry to see how Taichung can better facilitate the work it is already doing on its own. Rumors had been going around the industry for weeks that the Mayor might have plans to create a competing bike tradeshow to rival Taipei International Cycle Show. These rumors were creating quite a bit of buzz among the attendees of the two events. As Taichung is the virtual center of the Taiwan bike industry, some felt that a major tradeshow hosted by the city might shut down the Taipei show altogether- even as the organizers of the Taipei show are now discussing the possibility of moving their own show's dates closer to the time of December/ January to better meet the needs of the OEM trade. Those rumors were put to rest and the uneasiness settled after a few minutes of discussion with the Mayor's liaison to the bike industry, Anna Wang.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1SmlJr0BbWc/SUDSCJ-_jXI/AAAAAAAACgY/z9abpRHQ4sc/s1600-h/Taichung+December+08+111.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1SmlJr0BbWc/SUDSCJ-_jXI/AAAAAAAACgY/z9abpRHQ4sc/s200/Taichung+December+08+111.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278449697759923570" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Mayor Jason C. Hu and Anna Wang of the Industrial Development & Investment Promotion Committee of Taichung City.</span></span><br /></div><br />After asking the representatives of the bike industry for their feedback and a list of their needs, Ms Wang made it clear that Taichung has no intentions to try to put the Taipei show out of business, but truly wants to help the industry go about doing its business. The cycling industry is a major player in the Taichung economy and keeping the industry happy and located in the city and county of Taichung is of vital importance to the Mayor and his team. Ms Wang stated that the city would simply like to help the industry work better and more efficiently and at a reasonable cost for all who attend. As it is now, RideOn happens at one end of the sprawling city and Taichung Bike Week at another. While RideOn offers a demo area to test product, Taichung Bike Week is all centered in the Landis, now renamed Tempus, Hotel. Product Managers are therefore forced to either shuttle back and forth between the two sites or make the choice to select one over the other. Each location has its pluses and minuses, but all seemed to agree that a venue that could handle multiple meeting or presentation areas and still allow a demo would be best. Worst case scenario, having some sort of shuttle service to and from the two sites would be a good starting point.<br /><br />As it is now, there is no real cooperation between the two events and neither event produces a very accurate list of exhibitors and schedules for the attendees- something nearly all felt would be very useful. Another major point given by nearly all in attendance at the meeting was the need to keep the event/ events very low key and informal. Nobody present in the meeting wanted to see the casual event turn into a more structured and rigid tradeshow, nor did anybody want to see it become a marketing extension for any one brand- ie; Taichung Bike Week, presented by SRAM/ Shimano/ Brand X, etc. All felt that it was the low cost, low key, informal format of the events that has made them so successful and allowed them to grow so organically without any real coordination or effort. Taking all of these comments and concerns into consideration, Ms Wang said that she and her counterparts would take the notes and information to the Mayor and begin the process of finding ways to help the industry continue to use the event as a major tool in the product process.<br /><br />Personally, I find this to be a very exciting development for the cycling industry. Having this level of cooperation from the city government is amazing and the cycling industry needs to do all it can to help the city of Taichung with this process. The organizers of the Taipei International Cycle Show, TAITRA, should also be excited by this news as it shows that the city of Taichung is not trying to steal away the show or force them out of business. TAITRA still has the chance to improve the show to benefit the customers it has and address the changes that have taken place over the past few years there. With more and more distributors and retailers attending and fewer and fewer product managers using the show for their final spec process, TAITRA could reshape the show to more accurately reflect the needs of those attending.<br /><br />After the meetings and dinner reception with the mayor that took place in Taichung at the Splendor Hotel on December 9th, many of the attendees felt very optimistic about what the final outcome might look like. Members of both events felt that they had formats they wanted to protect, but both were willing to cooperate to build a better event that served the needs of their intended customers- the product managers and other representatives of bike brands from around the world. I am personally very excited by this time in the history of our industry and I hope that all of my brothers and sisters within the bike industry will work with the Mayor and his office to help them work with us to make the cycling industry an even better one to work in.<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispenserTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-38170237402326876312008-10-12T11:00:00.000-07:002008-10-12T11:02:38.428-07:00Fear and loathing in the global economy.The current rise and fall of the Global Economy is enough to make you reach for some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimenhydrinate">Dramamine</a>. With all the volatility surrounding pricing/ costs and ever-increasing leadtimes, it is enough to make many in the cycling industry wonder about their profession. But even though nearly all indicators look really bad, things might actually prove to be better than <a href="http://bicyclemarketingwatch.blogspot.com/2008/03/bad-news-brewing-for-bike-industry.html">many of us have feared</a>.<br /><br />In a slumping world economy, it is certainly very easy to fear for the worst. After all, our potential consumers have less and less money to spend- if any at all. So why should we remain optimistic for even a second? Well, the economic squeeze has begun to cause a shift in the way people think of bicycles. <a href="http://bicyclemarketingwatch.blogspot.com/2008/04/feeling-gassy.html">I thought for sure that gas prices would have to climb much higher</a> before people began to drive less and ride bikes more, but I am pleasantly being proven wrong there. I continue to hear from retailers and read about how repair business is increasing for many shops because people are pulling old bikes down from the rafters and out of tool sheds so they can drive less. Many retailers are even having a hard time finding replacement parts for older bikes because the demand has gotten so high for them, due to repairs. Those same retailers are also reporting that some of those consumers are coming back after a short while to upgrade the old clunker for something newer, lighter, better designed for their commuting needs. This is something that I personally did not expect to happen this soon. We still don't possess the proper infrastructure to support proper commuting, but people are braving the rough streets to save a little money, improve their health or help the environment.<br /><br />Consumers, who many of us feared would no longer buy bikes when the pricing increases went into effect, do not seem to be as sticker shocked as expected. Let's face it, they are seeing prices go up on all of the things they buy and they have seen the dollar drop value against nearly every other currency, so they have come to expect the prices for everything to go up. It doesn't mean they are happily accepting it, nor does it mean they are making the same planned purchases... but they aren't all storming out the door without making a purchase. On top of it, many new consumers are walking in for the first time. Commuters and city cyclists are sprouting up all over the place. I've heard from retailers who have seen this shift taking place in their shops, seeing many new faces for the first time. Sure, some of these new or returning cyclists need a little more educating but they are walking in on their own and without us (the industry) having to drag them in kicking and screaming.<br /><br />Cycling has also become much more fashionable, with plenty of <a href="http://justjared.buzznet.com/2007/12/21/brad-pitt-bicycle-built-for-four/">celebrity bicycle sightings</a> and an ever-growing <a href="http://rememberdelawareblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/urban-hipster-culture-fixies.html">urban hipster bike culture</a>, it is becoming "cool" to ride a bike for the first time in decades in the US. I'm not trying to pass judgment on whether any segment or niche in the market is some sort of passing fancy or not, people riding bikes for any reason at all is a good thing in my mind (and in the minds of many of us in the industry). I mean, when you have <a href="http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=/photos/2008/tech/news/10-06/gallery-10-06">bikes like this one</a> showing up in the world- you know you've reached a certain tipping point. Many of these consumers will come in and spend a lot of money to look cool and then vanish from the market when they hop on the "next thing", but there will be at least a small amount of retention of these new cyclists- especially if we embrace them and share our love of cycling with them and let them develop their own... even if we don't "get it".<br /><br />As many of us have been screaming for years, cycling is also fun and enjoyable. Remember, in a bad economy, folks still need to have fun and others want/ need to escape their fears and worries. Riding a bike is incredibly good for that. Some of those new consumers might have been planning to buy a bigger car this year and might opt to save some money and buy a bike instead. Or, maybe, they want to escape the worry of their stock portfolio suddenly being worth less than a politician's promises and riding a bike has popped into their heads. It has been seen in the gym/ health club world in the past; when things get tense, people want to work off their frustrations or fears by trying to get into better physical condition. For millennia, humankind has worked out frustrations, fears and anxieties by working up a sweat or taking the time to enjoy the outside world in some fashion. Cycling is an excellent vehicle for that.<br /><br />When you take all the above into account and then toss in a growing global consciousness, things don't look quite so bleak. Many people are thinking very much about the environment and fears of global warming, as well as the impacts of oil demand on sociopolitical issues across the globe. Cycling provides an excellent way to combat these concerns as well as local concerns about traffic congestion, etc. It's an altruism, certainly, that many people say they believe in and don't really- but altruism has also become fashionable... as it has been for countless decades.<br /><br />So what does it all mean? Well, on the very surface it all means that things aren't necessarily as bad as feared. More significantly though, I'm trying to point out that the bike industry sits poised to see growth that is actually sustainable and maintainable. I can not tell you how many conversations I had during <a href="http://www.interbike.com/ib/index.jsp">Interbike</a> this year about the hope many retailers felt about the future. Sure, there were many concerns about the economy, but overall the atmosphere was full of hope- much more so than recent years, by a huge amount. The cycling industry is paying better attention to the birth and growth of niche markets as well as the development of the commuting market. Nearly every bike manufacturer had a fixed gear bike and/ or a commuter bike in their line. And almost all of the clothing and accessory manufacturers had gear aimed at urban cyclists and commuters. I've never personally seen so much energy aimed at these segments of the market and the consumers who use the products. Hell, Interbike even put on the <a href="http://demalagatio.blip.tv/#1343743">Urban Legend Fashion Show</a> with the help of my friends in Canada at <a href="http://www.momentumplanet.com/">Momentum Magazine</a>. When was the last time you saw or felt so much energy in this segment of the industry? I never have and I've been in the industry in one way or another for 26 years now.<br /><br />It might not look or feel like it, as you watch the news and listen to the politicians painting a picture of doom and gloom, but the cycling industry stands on the precipice of fantastic potential if we just listen to our customers and friends. As long as we are aware of what is happening and what they are asking for- even if they don't yet know what it is- we can bring them into our club and they will hopefully bring their friends along for the ride as well. I'm not advocating false hope or idiotic optimism beyond reality, but I do see great potential for cycling in general. The race scene will have its usual ebb and flow and I'll be right there watching it, but the other categories of the cycling market and cycling culture are looking really primed for growth and expansion... and <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">fun</span>.<br /><br />Let's not lose hope too soon, even as worldwide money markets look very frightening. Things look better than expected. Even pricing concerns seem to be diminishing slightly as oil prices come down to match dropping demand and shrinking economies. Strap on your helmets; it's an open road ahead.<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispenserTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-28970287217057899452008-10-11T12:03:00.001-07:002008-10-11T12:13:06.232-07:00Coming back from the dead...Ok, I know I've said this at least a dozen times over the span of the past year or two, but I really am going to try to bring this site back from the dead. With all that is going on in the world economy and in the world of the cycling industry, it is time to find the time to start posting here again.<br /><br />I will be doing my best to come back- even if on an irregular basis- and post commentary on what I believe is happening in the cycling world, specifically for the industry. The original focus of talking directly about the marketing aspects of the industry will become a bit blurred going forward. Speaking only about the marketing side of things seems a little like under serving the isues of the day. As the world economy spirals in a free fall, it is important to talk about the new and heightened rolls the cycling industry can play during this time.<br /><br />So, whether my friends and esteemed contributors here are able to find the time and/ or energy to come here and speak too, you will at least be seeing me from time to time... with a bit more regularity than the past year or so.<br /><br />Don't call it a comeback, because it won't feel like one completely. Call it a slow and erratic re-emergence from the dark little cave of being far too busy to organize my time better. That just sounds more truthful. That said, I'm glad to be back here in this space and I look forward to firing up the conversations and hopefully bringing insight to the cycling industry for those who are in it or just want to know more about it.<br /><br />Thank you for your patience- I'd like to get your readership back!<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispencerTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-9811119805708212672008-05-06T14:30:00.000-07:002008-05-06T14:33:58.852-07:00An image the industry should aspire to?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y3embJ10mTE/SCDOIo-cZmI/AAAAAAAABZA/7w1-SLCPgWM/s1600-h/Paul_Hance-web.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y3embJ10mTE/SCDOIo-cZmI/AAAAAAAABZA/7w1-SLCPgWM/s320/Paul_Hance-web.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197380617819154018" /></a><br /><br />Do we need more of this kind of imagery in our marketing? Discuss.<br /><br />Via the <a href="http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/">Sartorialist</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-7596584936721940732008-05-05T00:13:00.000-07:002008-05-05T00:22:21.684-07:00Your social surplus (and what to do with it)I know what you're thinking, my social surplus? What the heck is that? And what does it have to do with cycling? Well bear with me for a moment as I give you, my fellow humble bicycle retailer, something to think about.<br /><br />In my private time I'm deeply involved in social media, you probably know these things as MySpace, Facebook and other media like it - I'm involved in none of those, preferring <a href="http://fiftyfoureleven.ning.com/">blogs</a> and of late mobile micro blogging services and networks like <a href="http://twitter.com/Spinopsys">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.utterz.com/~r-1/h-spinopsys/profile.php">Utterz</a> for my social media creation/interaction kicks. <br /><br />Now when I try to explain to folks in the bike industry why social media is important and why they should use it in their businesses, they look at me like I'm nuts and always ask "where do I find the time" or alternatively, "I don't have the time" and to be honest I didn't really had a ready answer for them even though I've often thought long and hard about it.<br /><br />The reason I was always struck dumb by this response is that I didn't stop to look hard enough at my own media creation efforts and what it had replaced, but the answer was always there, I had stopped watching television, preferring the stimulation and interactivity of the web. In that I'm like a <a href="http://www.bizreport.com/2008/03/australian_internet_use_overtakes_tv_viewing.html">lot of people</a> today. <br /><br />What I have been unwittingly doing over the past five years is finally putting to use the social surplus created by the time saving tools of modern life, dishwashers, microwaves, fast food, the automobile, urbanism, an efficient roads network, good dentistry, etc, to create something, time I'd used in the past numbly watching Gilligans Island or Seinfeld.<br /><br />Now don't go thinking I thought this up all by myself, it's true that I have been thinking about this, but it took a smart social thinker to contextualise it in terms we can all understand.<br /><br />Here comes everybody! Or more accurately here is <a href="http://www.herecomeseverybody.org/2008/04/looking-for-the-mouse.html">Clay Shirky</a> in a piece that generated a lot of buzz among social thinkers and which put a bit more flesh on the skeleton of that thinking. It's a really clarifying read that makes you realise that you do have the time to create, not only for yourself but for your bicycle business.<br /><br /><blockquote>If I had to pick the critical technology for the 20th century, the bit of social lubricant without which the wheels would've come off the whole enterprise, I'd say it was the sitcom. Starting with the Second World War a whole series of things happened--rising GDP per capita, rising educational attainment, rising life expectancy and, critically, a rising number of people who were working five-day work weeks. For the first time, society forced onto an enormous number of its citizens the requirement to manage something they had never had to manage before--free time.<br /><br />And what did we do with that free time? Well, mostly we spent it watching TV.<br /><br />We did that for decades. We watched I Love Lucy. We watched Gilligan's Island. We watch Malcolm in the Middle. We watch Desperate Housewives. Desperate Housewives essentially functioned as a kind of cognitive heat sink, dissipating thinking that might otherwise have built up and caused society to overheat.<br /><br />And it's only now, as we're waking up from that collective bender, that we're starting to see the cognitive surplus as an asset rather than as a crisis. We're seeing things being designed to take advantage of that surplus, to deploy it in ways more engaging than just having a TV in everybody's basement.</blockquote><br /><br />The best part of the piece is the punchline by the way, because it more than anything else tells you why you should be on the web creating now, your future customers will expect it, in fact I'm betting that you already know this intuitively because you see this behaviour in your kids every day. <br /><br />Now as Shirky says, this takes a bit of re-training if you're not a Gen Y digital native. It is something that's taken me five years to embed, and something <a href="http://masiguy.blogspot.com/">Masi Guy</a> is a natural at, but eventually the process of creating becomes a second skin, something you do naturally and without self consciousness, it's fun and addictive and it will rapidly replace your television viewing once you get into it.<br /><br />So, what better way is there to spend the time you never thought you had than in helping your business to communicate more directly and creatively with your customers? <br /><br />And yes, Maryanne was cuter than Ginger, the pony tails always did it for me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-13289872091433895072008-04-26T21:25:00.000-07:002008-04-28T00:34:56.884-07:00A Twitter exchangeAn interesting exchange between me and one of the folks I follow on <a href="http://twitter.com/">Twitter</a>.<br /><br /><i>Twitterpeep: "Assembling a new bike for Mr6 - I better make sure everything gets screwed on tight!"<br /><br />Me: "You have to assemble a kids bike? Isn't that the job of the retailer?"<br /><br />Twitterpeep: "From a bike shop sure but this was purchased from Toys-R-Us and I trust myself more than I do their staff."</i><br /><br />Question? If consumers don't trust big box staff, why do they trust their products? <br /><br />So what holds folks back from purchasing from an IBD? Is it only price? Is it convenience? Is it just shopping habit? Or is it us?<br /><br />It can't be convenience, because there are more IBD's than big box retailers, we are usually around the block somewhere. Price? How much is a consumers time worth? Is this a calculation? We deliver the bike to consumers assembled to standard and with a higher quality which saves them both time and sometimes frustrating effort. It can't be habit, consumers show very little brand or retailer loyalty these days....maybe they don't trust us either.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-76823937733298672942008-04-17T21:46:00.000-07:002008-04-17T21:44:58.954-07:00Feeling gassy?In recent days, weeks and months many conversations have been had about the current state of the US economy <span style="font-style: italic;">(and the global one for that matter)</span> and the pressures put on Joe Consumer by the high <span style="font-style: italic;">(and climbing)</span> prices of gasoline. Here in California, gas has been over $4.00/ gallon for weeks now and some experts believe that $5.00/ gallon gas will be here by the summer driving months. For stressed out wallets and budgets, that might just mean making some serious decisions about driving habits.<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Here's the thing though: </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">the current high gas prices are not the answer to the cycling industry's prayers</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">. </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Not yet anyway</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">.</span> </blockquote><br />US consumers are far too used to driving their cars. They practically live in them. We have all kinds of luxuries built into them. Our cars have become our sense of self for many of us. $4.00+/ gallon gas isn't going to change that any time soon. There are too many barriers to getting people out of their cars and onto a bike.<br /><ul><li>Lack of infrastructure- this one always raises quite a bit of debate, but in many cases people will not ride their bikes to commute- even for a very short commute- if they do not feel safe. Bike lanes are not the end-all answer, but they sure do help and address the major concerns of most people. This infrastructure applies to public/ mass transit as well- many people live far from their work <span style="font-style: italic;">(I live 40 miles away)</span> and need to combine some form of mass/ public transit with their bike commute. Which means that we also need more commuter stations with lockers, racks, etc.<br /></li><li>Lack of support- there are tax incentives for people to carpool or take public transportation, but none for cycling to work. Plus, how many of us have access to showers at our place of work? Not many, according to most studies I've read.<br /></li><li>The dreaded retail experience- this one raises a lot of debate as well, but the majority of non-cyclists find the Bike Shop experience to be intimidating or downright unpleasant.<br /></li><li>The price of gas isn't "that bad" yet. It is going to take gas prices well over $5.00/ gallon to really make people uncomfortable pumping gas into their cars. It will take gas prices, I believe, nearing $10.00/ gallon for us to reach that critical mass needed to tip the scales in favor of more people commuting.<br /></li><li>The Gub-ment. The price of gas is such a sensitive issue and politically charged enough that it is in the daily discourse of the power holders in our capitol. Even John McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, is talking about putting a temporary hold on the federal fuel tax over the summer to keep gas prices down. Driving is such an important part of our nation's economy that the politicians want to protect driving... not discourage it. The US car makers wield amazing power as well- they have successfully lobbied against legislation to improve fuel efficiency of their cars. We'll reduce federal taxes before we force car makers to improve fuel standards? Insanity.<br /></li><li>The cycling "stigma". In the US at least, bicycle commuting is still widely viewed as something only poor people, convicted drunks with no driver's licenses or "losers" do.<br /></li></ul>I see plenty new large vehicles like Escalades and Hummers driving on the southern California freeways every day. The economy may be hurting, gas might be expensive and "going green" may be getting more popular... but people sure do love their cars. And our government likes it that way.<br /><br />Those folks who are already on the fence, already considering bicycle commuting, might now have the needed incentive to begin commuting by bike. <span style="font-style: italic;">Maybe</span>. An increase in gas prices is not going to be enough to drag the masses out of their heated/ air conditioned, rolling office/ entertainment centers. Not nearly.<br /><br />There is hope though. There are more bicycle commuters now than there have been since the gas crunch of the late 70's. More and more manufacturers are embracing the product category. More communities are getting behind initiatives to get residents onto bikes. More companies are providing incentives to employees to ride their bikes by supplying lockers, showers and bike racks. The lobbying efforts of the industry and advocacy groups are beginning to get the attention of the check writers in DC.<br /><br />All in all, things are improving. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">But</span>... this continued talk about higher gas prices saving the industry from the throws of a bad economy <span style="font-style: italic;">(and rising costs)</span> or being the catapult to move it into a post-Lance renaissance is foolish. We still have a lot of work to do and we still need to find new and better ways to reach out and pull in new consumers <span style="font-style: italic;">(non-cyclists)</span>. Otherwise, no amount of high priced fuel is going to save us.<br /><br />Feeling a little gassy? I know I am...<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispenserTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-19400343099094533762008-04-06T21:34:00.000-07:002008-04-06T21:34:56.719-07:00It ain't all doom and gloom...My post from the other day, <a href="http://bicyclemarketingwatch.blogspot.com/2008/03/bad-news-brewing-for-bike-industry.html">on 3/26</a>, may have inadvertently painted an overly pessimistic picture of what I think is happening in the cycling industry. For sure, the industry faces some very real and serious challenges in the coming year (or more). All of the reasons I pointed to in the post- rising costs of goods, extended leadtimes, a shrinking US economy, etc - are very real and are not going away over night. However, I do see hope...<br /><br />Historically speaking, the cycling industry has ridden out massive changes in the US economy over the years. If the economy dips sharply or even climbs dramatically, the US (and global) cycling industry tends to plug along at roughly the same level of strength (that's both good and bad). We tend to simply float along down river without hitting too many rocks- regardless of the water level.<br /><br />Here are a couple scenarios;<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Good economy</span>- People buy expensive bikes because they have more disposable income. During the dot-com boom, many shops found out that they could actually make some money selling high-end road and mountain bikes. It was a good time for shops that catered to a more affluent crowd. At the same time, many people were beginning to "think green" and the bicycle has always been a favorite of that crowd. More city bikes were beginning to crop up all over the place. Commuters were becoming an important part of the business for many retailers and manufacturers. Then there was that Lance guy who had a penchant for winning 3-week long races in France in July. His first win was in 1999 and it helped to catapult the US road market to new and unheard of heights (even though the mountain bike market didn't do quite as well). The folks at Trek can tell you how good that was for them... and it was good, in case you're wondering. Overall, during a strong economy, the bike industry draws in a few new riders to the fold and the regulars have a little extra coin to spend on a new bike or a few fancy upgrades or accessories. Basically, things plug along nicely and maybe a few folks make a nice little profit, but things don't go up too dramatically.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Not-so-good economy</span>- During a flat, weak or faltering economy, the US bike market doesn't do too much differently than when things are good with the economy. Some of the regulars are no longer in a position to buy an expensive new rig, or maybe make the mega-upgrades so they end up making more conservative upgrades or maybe buy a new pair of $175 bib shorts instead of the $325 bib shorts and a new pair of super-nice carbon-soled wonder shoes. But, in their place walks in the consumer who is maybe giving up on the idea of getting that new Escalade or H2 and still wants to get themselves something unique and special... maybe something like a new full carbon bike with that new SRAM Red group and new Zipp wheels. Still cheaper than a luxury SUV, gets better gas mileage and even feeds the need to lose a few pounds. On that consumer's heels walks in the person who is so mad about gas prices that they have chosen to ride a bike the 5- 10 miles to work. Or maybe they're a starving college student without enough spare money to burn on gas, especially with tuition climbing and books getting more expensive. Essentially, the industry doesn't fall apart and business for a few shops is better than ever while a few others might have a harder time than their competition.<br /><br />So see, it sounds pretty similar either way. Here's the thing- the industry always gets a few new shops each year and loses a few shops each year. New consumers enter the market, for various reasons, and some of the regulars depart. New strong niches show up all the time and the ones that have become saturated with too much product fade out of popularity. It ultimately stays roughly the same, regardless of the major economic swings.<br /><br />Our challenge now is to draw in more people from outside of our existing customer bases. We need to embrace more commuters and Average Joe riders- there are far more of them than there are those guys who are going to walk in and spend a ton of money on a high-end bike. We also need to reach out to the aging population of Baby Boomers. We all know that they represent a huge mass of consumers and they want to remain fit and active. Cycling represents a great activity for them- low impact, great aerobic benefits and something that can be done in small or large groups. On top of that, many people are getting more and more concerned about the health of the planet and the impacts of global warming. Cycling is once again an ideal way for people to help the planet while helping themselves by saving money on gas and improving their health at the same time. BUT... and this is critical... we have to help them find safe places to ride. Without safe roads to use for their commuting needs, many folks will give up on cycling the first time a Starbucks-wielding, cell-phone-talking, distracted driver buzzes by inches from their shoulder.<br /><br />The cycling industry, though faced with numerous challenges, has many ways to grow its health, even while the US economy staggers along like a drunken and penniless frat boy after a night of binge drinking. Sobriety will come in the form of figuring out how to cater to those who still want to buy our products, reaching out to new consumers, embracing the less glamorous commuters/ tree-huggers and working to provide more and safer cycling infrastructure for all. Sure, it won't be easy and it won't even be free, but it will lay the foundation for a stronger industry that can grow even further when the economy does eventually turn around again. "This too shall pass..." But we can do more than simply surviving through the usual status quo- we can grow and create a better future.<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispenserTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-78308912747075659902008-03-26T23:00:00.000-07:002008-03-26T22:53:54.864-07:00Bad news brewing for the bike industry?<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">(Cross-posted over at <a href="http://masiguy.blogspot.com">my other blog</a>...)</span><br /><br />For years now, the bike industry has been riding a wave of popularity not unlike the "bike boom" of the 70's. Not only has this boom been good to the US bike industry, but the entire worldwide bike industry as well. It's been a really good ride, but almost all of us in the idnustry knew it would have to come to an end one day.<br /><br />The world is not going to come to an end for the bike industry or for cycling enthusiasts and consumer, but there is going to be some noticeable change very soon.<br /><br />Bicycle sales, especially in the US market, have been doing very well over the past 10 years. In many markets, that can be traced back directly to that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_armstrong">Lance Armstrong</a> guy and all those <a href="http://www.letour.fr/indexus.html">French bike races</a> he managed to win. At least <a href="http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/">one brand</a> really made out well on that deal, but at the same time many of the rest of us got a boost from their good fortune. Road bike sales climbed to an all-time high during the peak of the boom. Other categories faired pretty well too, in the end, with overall interest in cycling reaching higher levels than ever before. All in all, the past several years have been good to the bike industry.<br /><br />The very competitive nature of the industry has lead to incredible values for consumers. Many years ago, a $1,000 bike was a pretty good bike. Maybe even a great bike. But now, the amount of product and technology present on a $1,000 bike is amazing. It is still possible to buy a bike that is not worth the money you pay for it- at all ends of the pricing spectrum- but it is pretty hard to. Technology and manufacturing have created a time where consumers typically get a very good product for the money they spend- this is especially true of bikes sold in the IBD/ specialty retail channel (ie- not Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us, etc).<br /><br />The down side of all of this pricing competition has meant that many manufacturers (and retailers) have had to operate with incredibly small profit margins- selling at lower than reasonable prices to gain market share. In essence, buying floor space (at the wholesale level) or buying loyalty (at the retail level). Thing is, it's hard to keep a business afloat like that and it is the major reason brands or stores come and go from the bike industry. Worst of all, when you operate on such narrow margins, any kind of increase in costs of goods means an increase in ultimate sell price...<br /><br />... which brings us to my point...<br /><br />Over the past few months, the bike industry has seen the "perfect storm" of circumstances hit it (like much of the rest of the economy); a slumping US and global economy, a massive increase in manufacturing costs, a dramatic jump in labor costs in both Taiwan and China, a sharp drop in the value of the US dollar and an increase in value of nearly every other global currency. The Taiwanese dollar, the NT, has gone from a little over $34NT/ $1US to just barely over $30NT/ $1US in just over 3 years. That may not seem like much, but it adds up quickly and doesn't even take into consideration any of the cost increases- that is just a loss in currency value. When you add in the cost increases for the actual products, it can become significant very quickly.<br /><br />By some estimates, the cost of steel alone is going up as much as 65%! For <a href="http://www.masibikes.com/">my brand</a>, which is heavily biased towards steel these days, that spells some pretty serious sleepless nights. Aluminum is going up. Carbon is going up. Anything petroleum-based is going up- like the materials used to make handlebar tapes and saddles. These costs are increasing leadtimes significantly as well, since many vendors are now unwilling or unable to spend the money to stock vast quantities of materials. This means that they need to order more often to meet their demands, but at least they don't have their capital resources tied up in raw materials.<br /><br />In China, recent laws there are forcing a much needed increase in wages being paid to factory workers- as well as limiting the amount of overtime a worker can work. These are good changes, but they mean an increase in costs just the same. In Taiwan, there is a massive shortage of qualified skilled labor. The bike industry was once one of the best paying in Taiwan, but the rise in power of the tech industries there has drawn in a lot of the once strong work force in the bike industry. So now wages have gone up to compete for and retain good labor. It's a good time to be a factory worker in both China and Taiwan... or at least a better time.<br /><br />In the past few months, I have seen 3 and 4 price increases from the same vendors. Just in the past 6 months- from some of the biggest names in the industry. Some vendors will not even quote a price any longer until they have a firm PO and then the pricing is only good for that one PO. This makes it impossible to accurately forecast the cost of a product and very difficult to create a selling price- when you have no idea if you will be making money on the product in 6 months. For me and <a href="http://harobikes.com/">the other brands at Haro</a>, we print one price list per season and we live with that pricing for the duration of that product cycle/ season. This year though, we've had to issue a price increase to compensate for some of the price increases we've seen recently. We do our best to absorb those increases and preserve the pricing we've created, but when you are seeing double-digit increases, it becomes impossible to swallow all of those costs.<br /><br />What does all this mean? Well, it certainly means there is a lot of nervousness in the bike industry right now. Many of us are very concerned about what the consumer is going to do; will they simply stop buying bikes (partly in thanks to what the economy is doing as well), or will they understand that we (the manufacturers and retailers) simply have no choice if we wish to stay in business? Some of us smaller players even worry if the Big Guys will simply eat the increases in the short term to maintain market strength and wait the situation out/ drive competitors from the market. Most things I have seen and heard indicate that those Big Guys are likely to pass on at least a small increase to their customers too. It would be hard to believe that they can afford such an increase in costs without passing along some of that burden. More to the point, <span style="font-style: italic;">it means that prices for Masi Bicycles are going to increase a little</span>. On some bikes it will seem like nothing, but on others it might be more noticeable- when a bike goes from $700 to $775, it is more noticeable than when a bike goes from $4000 to $4300. Based on percentage, it is much less significant and the typical consumer in that higher price market is not as phased by the increase- generically speaking of course.<br /><br />Bottom line- as much as it sucks, the bike industry is raising prices to slightly compensate for the rapid and painful increase in costs to produce a quality bicycle. I am seeing anywhere from a simple 5% increase to a massive 15-20% increase in my costs... and that's just the ones I know about so far, but that does not mean the retail price (or dealer price) is going up that sharply. In all likelihood... more increases are coming. And coming fast. Does it mean you are getting any less of a bike for the money? No, not at all. It just means that you'll be paying what is a more realistic price for the bike you get. Sure, there will be a slew of new low-spec bikes showing up on the market to keep the perceived necessary price points met. Some manufacturers will undoubtedly find ways to cut spec to keep a certain price (not our plan though). I'm not saying they are wrong to do it and we might find ways to create new models in those sensitive price ranges- <span style="font-style: italic;">it's just going to be a fact of life. </span><br /><br />How long should this last and what does it mean long term? Well, that has yet to be accurately predicted to my knowledge. My guess is that prices are not going to be coming down any time soon. The global economy is still looking pretty volatile and the US$ keeps taking a beating. The Chinese Yuan is getting stronger, as is the Taiwan NT, and the Euro and the British Pound... so it is unlikely the Dollar is going to regain enough strength in the short term to eat up the cost increases. The overall volatility is likely to settle down, but as oil/ gas/ petroleum costs remain high, costs of goods will remain high- <span style="font-style: italic;">as will the costs to transport them</span>. The global demand for raw goods- like steel- isn't going to decrease either. China and India, specifically, are eating up massive amounts of resources of raw goods as their economies expand and their development and growth increase as well. So, yeah... it's not too likely things are going to change any time soon to keep prices where they are now. I do predict that some smaller companies (retail and manufacturing) are going to pay the ultimate price for these increases and will either fade into history or be eaten by healthier competitors.<br /><br />All of this would seem to point to very dark days for the bicycle industry, but things have actually been coming back up a bit after a mild slump in sales the past two years. Road sales have dropped, but are remaining strong- especially at the higher price points- and MTB and BMX are both seeing nice signs of life across the industry. At first glance it would appear that the industry is getting some support from consumers who are seeing the price of their other purchases going up all over the place. Costs of nearly everything across the board are going up... it's just a fact of life right now.<br /><br />So even though buying a new bicycle might not feel as fun, due to the sudden increase in price, you're still getting a great deal on great products and the industry you are supporting is showing good signs of health... which hopefully means I get to keep my job a bit longer... <span style="font-style: italic;">I hope</span>.<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispenserTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-76803095029748058452008-01-28T20:48:00.000-08:002008-01-28T20:58:39.583-08:00Back from the dead... sorta<span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">Ok, so reports of our untimely death have been grossly inaccurate... mostly. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">I know I've been promising more content here and have failed miserably. It is my sincere aim to finally resurrect this little slice of heaven here and will also be trying to create a podcast for the site as the year moves on. <a href="http://themasiguypodcast.wordpress.com/">My other podcast</a> has been limping along, but I love the medium and will be trying to do a special podcast for this site, or at least piggyback onto my existing one. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">All that said, I am stealing a post from <a href="http://masiguy.blogspot.com/">my main blog</a> and bringing it over here because it is something that I feel very strongly about. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">Please chime in with your thoughts and your feedback on this issue because I believe the industry is at a threshold and has the chance to do great things. Let's hope we all rise to the occasion. (And new content will be coming here soon... I swear... I mean it this time...)</span><br /><br /><h3 class="post-title"> BLC and a plea to my industry friends; </h3> The weekend's <a href="http://bicycleconference.org/">BLC</a> conference was amazing. I have never been before and, like my trip to DC last March for the <a href="http://www.bikeleague.org/conferences/summit08/index.php">National Bike Summit</a>, I came away energized and wanting to do more for the industry. You can expect to hear more about this from me in the coming months and years. I left DC last year full of ideas and desire to make a difference and to help enact change... but life caught up with me and time vanished. I am sure some of my drive and desire this time will suffer the same fate, but I am going to make more of an effort to help drive the cycling industry forward on the important goal of advocacy and developing more and safer infrastructure for all cyclists. It is clear to me that we, the cycling industry, can and should do more to support advocacy issues and that we need a far greater level of cooperation between all players in the industry. Two very smart women, Nicole DeHoratius and Robbie Kellman Baxter, were hired as outside researchers to evaluate many things about the industry. One of the major things they learned was that there is an insane level of paranoia and distrust among members/ companies in the industry. Of all the industries they have worked in, they have never seen such a level of distrust and unwillingness to either comment on the record or share information/ data about their businesses. That really hit me hard as I thought about the challenges facing my beloved bike industry. Without a greater level of cooperation and a willingness to share and collect some quantifiable data, the industry is doomed to failure and further erosion of sales growth.<br /><br />I am a very small person within the cycling industry- I just happen to be one of the more loudmouthed. My realm of influence is pretty microscopic, but I can't sit complacently and watch things deteriorate further. I am making a plea to all of my like-minded brothers and sisters in the industry, from retailer to manufacturer, to get involved, share your data with the <a href="http://bpsa.org/">BPSA</a> and drop the paranoia and let's all work to grow this industry to a higher level of profitability and overall health by applying our efforts to increased advocacy. I am making a pledge to do my part- however small- to meet that goal. I will be offering whatever help I can to John Nedeau and the BPSA. I will be getting my hands dirty with advocacy issues. I will be talking about important issues and will be advocating for change. I'm going to do my best to have my actions support my words. If I don't, I have no reason to hope to have an industry to work in 10, 20, 25 years from now.<br /><br />I happen to know that many people within the cycling industry read this silly blog and I am hoping that they will read these words and let a few of them sink in. Without better cooperation among brands and a willingness to do the hard work ahead and dedicate resources to building a better future, we can all kiss this business good-bye. Personally, I want to stay in this business for many more years. Hopefully you will too.<br /><br />Don't hesitate- get involved, volunteer, make a difference.<br /><br />John Burke, President/ CEO of Trek Bicycle Company gave an incredible presentation and "opened the kimono" on his business to a room full of "competitors" in an effort to provoke change. Do I see eye to eye with John or Trek all the time? Hell no. But he was absolutely correct in his plea to get others in the industry involved in working towards a better cycling industry and a better world at large. It was one of the best presentations I've sat through in years and I'm glad I was at the BLC to see and hear it. Trek has launched a program called <a href="http://www.1world2wheels.org/"><span style="font-style: italic;">One World, Two Wheels</span></a>. I recommend that you check it out. I am forced to give John and Trek a big round of applause for the work they've begun with this program. It's pretty impressive and very ambitious. But we have to start somewhere and why not aim high?<br /><br />The bike industry has been my home for the better part of 26 years now. It's all I really know. It's certainly the one thing I have loved the longest in my life and it has, in turn, been pretty good to me. It's my turn (and all of our turns) to give a little something back. So I hope you, my fellow industry members, will join me and get more involved. I know I have a lot to learn from this process and hopefully I can contribute something to the ultimate greater good of the planet, the people who live on it and the bike industry too.<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispenserTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-4962367866568224482007-10-20T19:51:00.000-07:002007-10-20T20:10:36.141-07:00We're not dead yet...Things here have been quite quiet over the past few months- almost totally dead actually. Please don't think that we're gone for good... because we aren't.<br /><br />As is often the case, things get pretty nuts in the business as we get anywhere near the major tradeshows, with Interbike being the biggest for most of us who play in this sandbox of a blog. The weeks (even months) before Interbike can be an absolute hell and then the following weeks (or even months) can be just as bad as you scramble to follow-up on conversations and promises. Seeing as how a fair chunk of the readers here are from the industry in some way or another, you are already painfully aware of this situation- which probably explains why readership here has not vanished entirely.<br /><br />As the Chief Kool-Aid Dispenser here, I wanted to announce that this blog ain't dead yet and that more content will be coming in the coming weeks and on. So, thank you for your readership and patience as we all unearth and regain some semblance of sanity. Hopefully we'll be back more often than we have recently. Hopefully.<br /><br />I'm looking forward to attending the Japanese tradeshow, <a href="http://www.cyclemode.net/index_e.html">Cycle Mode</a>, for the first time in a few more weeks. I'm looking forward to having another show to add to the comparisons of <a href="http://www.interbike.com/ib/index.jsp">Interbike</a>, <a href="http://www.eurobike-exhibition.de/html/en/home/index.php">Eurobike</a>, <a href="http://www.taipeicycle.com.tw/">Taipei's International Cycle Show</a> and <a href="http://www.expocycle.ca/">Canada's ExpoCycle</a>. I hope to do a comprehensive analysis of the season's shows afterwards... hoping.<br /><br />Anyway, long story short- please don't write us off and mark us off as dead just yet. We're coming back and we'll be providing more content in the very near future.<br /><br />Thank you for your continued readership,<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispenserTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-51705821614637559802007-09-20T16:06:00.000-07:002007-10-02T15:03:58.685-07:00U.S. Pro Team Sponsorships<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">A lot has been made about the demise of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team and the impact that may have (or just signify) on our business sector.<?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">It’s surprising how long Discovery and its’ infrastructure survived in this game, and it seems likely that not only had they made their marketing point, but that winning Tour after Tour (even Lanceless) became boring for the VIPs of all parties.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">But have you noticed the developments that are happening?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Three domestic teams are on the rise and maybe even Tour-bound, and for entirely different reasons.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Slipstream Chipotle<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">I wasn’t sure what to make of these hipsters in February. They bore no resemblance to their TIAA-Cref origins. They were well-designed from their socks and armwarmers through the BMW wagons to the cones their mechanics use in team parking. They had catchphrases, nicknames, the best team website with individual blogs… style. And the anti-doping message was consistent and integrated throughout long before the Tour. They backed up the packaging with both solid results and consummate professionalism. Slipstream topped off their season with results at Univest and 2<sup>nd</sup> and 5<sup>th</sup> overall at the Tour of Missouri as well as overall Young Riders jersey. They have signed several huge names (Vande Velde, Backstedt, Millar) for 2008 and may even have a surprise up their sleeve. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">If they represent squeaky-clean marketing dreams and turn up at schools to talk about safety and fitness, there is another squad that debuted this year with very different motives.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Rock and Republic<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">This team was not at the Tour of California, but rolled up to the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 /><st1:city st="on">San Dimas</st1:city> and <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Redlands</st1:place></st1:city> stage races in menacingly pimped Escalades. <st1:personname st="on">Bling</st1:personname> encrusted baseball hats, different team kits for different riders, ink and piercings to the fore. All in the name of $300 jeans that few outside of Los Angeles Denim Bars were aware of or aspired to. Results were not stellar to begin with, but then Rashaan Bahati sprinted for the win at the CSC Invitational in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Arlington</st1:place></st1:city> and showed up on the cover of major cycling publications. Next year the team has also expanded and brought in Frankie Andreu as DS. Rumored new signings include Chris Horner and Freddie Rodriguez.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">If your UPS guy can’t understand how points work in a stage race, or how a rider that did not win a stage won the overall, how about <b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">GOOD</span></b> v <b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">EVIL</span></b>? European cycling was great for a small number of cyclophiles for years – this is the time for domestic racing to take on its’ own identity. And better yet, both teams have a multi-year plan that sees them racing the Tour de France (Slippies this year).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">BMC<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Also noteworthy is Gavin Chilcott’s BMC squad. While Phonak kicked the company in one shin and Astana took them out entirely, the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> side of the operation continues to grow and will also absorb some star names for 2008. Tony Cruz should be there, as will Nathan O’Neill and <st1:personname st="on">Jeff</st1:personname> Louder. Other big names are still in play but looking like BMC candidates. The interesting thing about this for US retailers is having a bike company as title sponsor again. Sure, Trek and Disco were inseperable and there have been other close relations, but not since Huffy have we seen a sellable bicycle as top name on a Pro Tour jersey.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Healthnet, who have represented well for a number of years, are riding off into the sunset, and Kodak Gallery is divorcing <st1:place st="on">Sierra Nevada</st1:place>. We should see Kurt Stockton’s <st1:place st="on">Sierra Nevada</st1:place> in the regional sense again, and it remains a possibility that Kodak Corporate will step in where the Gallery stepped out for <st1:personname st="on">Rob</st1:personname>in Zellner.</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Navigators, the longest-running domestic pro cycling team, are also closing shop.</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">All in all, 2008 looks to be the most exciting season ever for <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place> bicycle racing. For retailers and manufacturers, for racers and for spectators. Now, it remains to be seen if Vs is on the program, but with broadband broadcasting taking over that may not even stand in our way. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:7;">-Jeff Rowe</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-65766934793350996542007-08-05T17:49:00.000-07:002007-08-05T18:13:05.260-07:00The Tour de France is good for cycling<a href="http://velonews.com/race/int/articles/13044.0.html">Velo News</a> has done a rough analysis of the very positive numbers coming out of this years Tour de France - fortunately not the positives we usually think about - it was all crowd numbers, television audiences and print media, all of which appear to have experienced solid increases, and in the case of bike sales there is anecdotal evidence that, doping or not, the Tour is good for anything connected to cycling.<br /><br />I was also very interested in web viewing numbers, knowing that my own blog stats showed some big increases - something I'm sure all cycling blogs experienced.<br /><br /><blockquote>If the numbers are to be believed, the Tour's worldwide audience on the Web rivals that of television. Versus.com is reported that its unique visitors for of its Tour coverage are up 15 percent to 1.4 million, and total page visits grew 8 percent to 3.9 million.<br /><br />At VeloNews.com, unique visitors to the site were up 15 percent to some 4.4 million, with page views up 11 percent to 32 million. Online video views on VeloNews TV grew from 1.1 million views a year ago to 1.3 million views this year. </blockquote><br /><br />I compared my blog (<a href="http://www.spinopsys.com">Spinopsys</a>) stats over the duration of the Tour to a similar period last month (my biggest month ever) and saw raw visits increase 42%, absolute uniques up 47%, page views to 60%, time on site up 11% to over 6 minutes and pages viewed per visit increased 12%. There is more like this when I drill down further.<br /><br />A simple explanation for the increase in interest could be the quality of the live television coverage of the event combined with the broadcast skills of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwan.<br /><br />Cycling is a difficult sport to explain to the ordinary sports fan, and though Phil and Paul may sometimes drive many hard core cycling fans nuts with their commentary, they manage to explain and describe the action in a way that even the most cursory sports fan can understand - they make cycling's complexities accessible and easily digestible.<br /><br />Cycling is also a difficult sport to broadcast technically and ASO has invested heavily in getting that just right. The closeup of the final sprint down the Champs d'Elysées was an awesome display of this and it brought a whole new dimension to the viewing experience. National networks have obliged and taken this quality coverage to the living rooms of general sports fans who now have a greater understanding of cycling.<br /><br />Looking broadly at this expanded media attention not only is the Tour de France good for blogs, networks and newspapers it's great for cycling and impacts on anything related to it, ultimately it looks like more is more.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-15365877928840638172007-07-28T21:29:00.000-07:002007-07-28T22:39:36.278-07:00Just tell me when it's over...I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person in the cycling industry who is kind of looking forward to this year's Tour de France being over. The marquee event in the world of cycling has become the proving ground for new products and a bicycle industry marketing circus. Even companies who have no product in the event benefit from the overflow of attention given to the sport and by extension the industry itself. It's been a great ride, in many ways, for the US cycling industry as well.<br /><br />It began in earnest with Lance Armstrong's first Tour win in 1999 and propelled Trek into the stratosphere as he reached the historic win number 7 on their bikes. But, the rest of the industry also benefited from what was frequently called "the Lance effect". Road sales in the US alone climbed to heights never seen before and retailers rejoiced in selling more expensive and profitable road bikes. Consumers, who wanted to be like Lance, flocked to shops and paid good money for newer, lighter bikes. The industry, as a whole, was propelled and propped up by road sales.<br /><br />Last year's Tour was won by sentimental favorite Floyd Landis, giving the US an eighth consecutive Tour win in spectacular fashion. But the joy was short-lived as the news broke of Floyd failing a drug test. At this time, we all still wait to hear of the results of his arbitration hearings. In the time since the news broke, several other doping scandals have broken as well. The list is too long to go through in detail, but a pair of the highlights is the news that Ivan Basso (riding for the Trek sponsored Discovery Channel team) confessed to involvement in the Operation Puerto doping scandal and then several members of the old Telekom team (now T-Mobile and sponsored by Giant) confessed to a major doping system within the team for several years- including Bjarne Riis, who won the Tour in 1996 and now owns/ directs the CSC team that Basso rode with when his name was first linked to the Puerto case and he was not allowed to race in last year's Tour.<br /><br />Fast forward to the year's Tour... as painful as that is. The riders were "forced" by the UCI to sign an anti-doping pledge before being allowed to compete in the world's most spectacular cycling event. We were to be treated to a totally clean Tour. Heck, the riders had all pledged they wouldn't use any doping techniques. Barely a week into the race, which had been a great race, T-Mobile rider Patrik Sinkewitz crashes out of the race, but while in the hospital news breaks that he had failed an out of competition drug test during a team camp before the race. Roughly a week later, pre-race favorite Alexander Vinokourov crashes badly and soldiers bravely on. After a few very painful days of gritting his teeth and riding through the pain, Vino pulls off a dramatic and emotional time trial win to salvage his Tour. Sadly, three days later, during the second rest day of the event and after Vino pulls off a second win, it is learned that he failed a drug test for blood doping after his dramatic stage 13 time trial win. The second test of the B sample confirmed the first test and the entire Astana team pulls out of the race in disgrace. As if this news were not enough, on stage 16, Italian rider Cristian Moreni of Cofidis (a team that suffered doping drama before in 2004 with David Millar and other riders) is pulled from the race after failing a drug test and the entire Cofidis team abandons the race with him. Later that same day, unbelievably, the yellow jersey wearing Michael Rasmussen is pulled from the race and fired by his team for lying to them about his whereabouts in the month of June when he missed doping tests by his national federation. This wasn't his first missed test and the act of lying to his team and then being revealed to have been in Italy, rather than in Mexico as he said he was, was too much for the team sponsors to accept under the current climate. So, just days before the end of the race, the yellow jersey is out of the race in humiliation after sneaking out the back door of the team hotel.<br /><br />One, two, three and then four separate scandals in one Tour. It's clearly enough to make sponsors rethink their association with a sport that already suffers from a bad public image when it comes to doping. Many rumors have been circulating that T-Moblie and Adidas will be leaving the German T-Mobile team. Word on the local US street is that potential sponsors who were planning to enter into pro team support have already pulled the plugs on any plans that were coming together. Is a mass exodus now going to take place? Will the sport of professional cycling, as we currently know it, vanish? Will US teams suffer as much as the higher profile European teams? Will Johan Bruyneel magically find a replacement for the exiting Discovery Channel? Will the sport of professional road cycling simply whither up and blow away? It's a very scary time for the sport. But look past the sport, will the industry take another hit as well? This year, for the first time in several years, road bike sales actually fell below the previous year's numbers. Will this latest string of bad news deflate sales even further? Here in the US, where Lance is still the king of road cycling even in retirement, the lack of a dominant US rider has certainly created less attention with US fans.<br /><br />Many of us in this industry, myself included, are huge fans of the sport as well as members of the community of manufacturers, distributors and retailers. This constant bad press leaves us defending our beloved sport to our friends, families and the folks who ultimately pay us. It's becoming harder and harder each year to sell the top management on race team or event sponsorships. It's becoming very difficult indeed. The question does become, just how much of this is the public, the sponsors and the bike industry going to be able to stomach before the sport implodes upon itself... for good?<br /><br />The reality, as painful as it is, is that progress is being made. Cycling has arguably the toughest drug testing regime of any sport. Certainly more than sports in the US like baseball, football, basketball and hockey. It's difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel or the silver lining to this all, but it is clear that a change in the sport is coming. Riders and teams are both seeing the need to combat doping- many now recognize that their livelihoods are in serious jeopardy of going away and that actual jail time is becoming a real threat. Doping is becoming less and less attractive and the dopers are being treated as pariahs. The desire to change is there- no matter how bad things look right now (which is really, really bad).<br /><br />So as this year's Tour comes to an end, I now find myself happy to see it conclude, just not for the usual reasons. I still love our sport and this industry. I'll look forward to seeing the rest of the season conclude and I'll probably be excited when next year's Tour rolls around. The next few months and the next season could be pivotal- the fate of the sport and industry could be in the balance.<br /><br />What are your thoughts? My fellow industry members- do we walk away or do we stand and fight? Is professional road cycling, especially on the European stage, no longer worth the expense and agony? Can our industry survive another year like this? I'd really like to know your thoughts on this.<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispenserTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-46470959981422360972007-07-02T21:43:00.000-07:002007-07-06T11:57:21.903-07:00The SWOBO interview; Tim Parr and Sky Yaeger<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.swobo.com/">SWOBO</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> is one of those brands in the bike industry that poses a cult-like following of fanatics. They've pretty much always had that following, even during the 5 years that the brand was gone. SWOBO is known to most people as a clothing brand- which they are- but they are also branching out into a bike brand as well. The brains behind the bikes is none other than Sky Yaeger, formerly the brains behind the bikes at </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.bianchiusa.com/">Bianchi</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> for so many years. Tim Parr, one of the original SWOBO-ites and one of the current owners, was genius enough to hire Sky and bring her in to blend her ideas and the culture behind SWOBO to generate some really fantastic </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.swobo.com/collection.aspx">new bikes</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. As a product guy myself, I'm a tad envious... but this isn't about me. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">At </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.seaotterclassic.com/">Sea Otter</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> this year, I was lucky enough to sneak a quick conversation with Sky on the last day of the event and talked her into an interview, along with Tim Parr. After getting really backlogged at work, it took me a couple months to get my questions together for the two... but I did eventually manage to get my blather put down and off to the Dynamic Duo for their answers. What follows is pure gold... seriously...</span><br /><ul style="font-weight: bold;"><li>Why bikes with a Swobo name? Has it been a project on your mind for years, or just something that sprang organically out of the relaunch of the brand?</li></ul> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoBodyText"><o:p></o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:georgia;" >Tim- The brand has always been about an idea, and not a particular thing. Roskopp and I were pl</span><st1:personname style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">ann</st1:personname><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:georgia;" >ing on doing Swobo bikes….but not to the extent that Sky is capable of doing. Her involvement took a small idea…and made it big.</span></p> <ul><li><o:p></o:p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Had you been thinking of a Swobo bike line before Sky left Bianchi?</span></li></ul> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoBodyText"><o:p></o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Tim- Yes.</span></p> <ul><li><o:p></o:p><span style="font-weight: bold;">The “what’s it like to be a woman in a male-dominated industry” question gets asked of you too often, so I won’t ask that question… </span><i style="font-weight: bold;">BUT</i><span style="font-weight: bold;">… do you believe it is your estrogen levels that allow you a certain fresh perspective because you aren’t a part of the Old Boy Network?</span> <o:p></o:p></li></ul> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Sky- Wait, I thought I was an Old Boy! Not sure what part my gender plays in the creative process. Don’t even know what estrogen is. What is that?</span> <o:p></o:p></p> <ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">How easy or hard was it to reshape Bianchi for the </span><st1:country-region style="font-weight: bold;"><st1:place>US</st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-weight: bold;"> market?</span></li></ul><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoBodyText2"><o:p></o:p><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Sky- For the last 10 years, Bianchi has been owned by a large Swedish group holding 10 other European bike brands. Italians owned by Swedish with a French management component, trying to find economies of scale in design and purchasing, and right or wrong, wanting one global product line. That’s all I will say.</span></p> <ul style="font-weight: bold;"><li>What’s it like to have created such a now-ubiquitous bike like the Pista? Do you feel good or bad about seeing them everywhere? What do you think of people complaining that there are too many of them around now? Is that a compliment?</li></ul> <p style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" class="MsoBodyText2">Sky- I love seeing them. It’s a nice feeling. Nobody has complained to me that there were too many. The complaints I heard were that we never had enough in stock.</p> <ul><li><o:p></o:p><span style="font-weight: bold;">What’s it like to have created one of the newest benchmarks for a fixed gear/ urban bike with the Sanchez?</span></li></ul> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoBodyText2"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Sky- I just realized I better get a frame, as I don’t have one!</span> </p> <ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Had the two of you spent much time talking over the years, prior to discussing working together?</span></li></ul><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="MsoBodyText">Both- Yes.</p> <ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">How has the adjustment been, moving to a small clothing company that also makes some cool bikes, from a large bike company?</span></li></ul><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoBodyText2"><o:p></o:p><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Sky- It was a very hard decision for me to leave Bianchi and the only analogy I have, is that it was like getting a divorce and selling your house at the same time. In college, when I worked in a bike shop, we sold Bianchi bikes; so I had many years of involvement with the brand. I miss a lot of the people I worked with. But I really wanted to do something totally different. I had bike ideas that could not have been realized in a big company. Now that it has been almost one year, I couldn’t be happier.</span></p><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">I may have told you when we spoke at Sea Otter this year that I looked to your work at Bianchi as one of the things that has been a guiding principle for me, since taking the Brand Manager position at Masi. The way you breathed new life into the brand in the </span><st1:country-region style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"><st1:place>US</st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"> was nothing short of astounding. Not to get you to divulge all your “secrets”, but what are the principles in your product thinking? How do you decide to do what you do? As a fellow product guy, it is cool and frustrating how you keep finding ways to raise the bar for us all. The Sanchez is an amazing bike, simply perfect in many ways. Both the Folsom and Otis are pretty kickass too. The functional simplicity and hip factor just kill! Damn you!</span></li></ul> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Sky- There’s no distinction between my job and my so-called life. My interests, background and education are in the arts, not mechanical engineering. Being creative comes naturally. And I think about, read and soak up bike, art, music, industrial design, architecture and car cultures.</span><o:p></o:p></p> <ul><li><o:p></o:p><span style="font-weight: bold;">What bikes brands do you admire now and what brands inspired you or excited you in the past?</span></li></ul> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="MsoBodyText">Tim- Admire now? The brands I admire now (in the bike industry) are for reasons that are only personal to me. That would be Kona and <st1:city><st1:place>Santa Cruz</st1:place></st1:city>. Inspired me in the past? None. My desirable future hasn’t been brought to life yet by anyone in the bike biz.</p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoBodyText"><o:p></o:p><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Sky- I admire people, not brands. Probably the most inspiring for me is <a href="http://www.pegoretticicli.com/">Dario Pegoretti</a>. Fulvio Acquati of <a href="http://www.dedaelementi.com/index.asp">Deda Elementi</a> inspires me, but as a philosopher and teacher, not a maker of bike parts. Tim Parr, who no joke would come up on this list even if he wasn’t sitting next to me, created something 16 years ago that blew a typhoon up the skirt of the uptight bike industry. Tim and I are both inspired by the founder of </span><st1:place style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Patagonia</st1:place><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvon_Chouinard">Yvon Chouinard</a>, who Tim worked with at </span><a href="http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/intern_landing.jsp?OPTION=SAR&assetid=15546&target=%2Fhome%2Findex.jsp%3FOPTION%3DHOME_PAGE%26assetid%3D1704"><st1:place style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Patagonia</st1:place></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">. His book, “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Let-People-Surfing-Education-Businessman/dp/1594200726">Let My People Go Surfing</a>,” is one you should read more than once.</span> <o:p></o:p></p> <ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">How often do you get to ride bikes anymore? Your current bikes or any other?</span></li></ul><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="MsoBodyText">Tim- I ride 8 days a week (in a good week). I’m riding right now in fact.</p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoBodyText"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Sky- To paraphrase what Daniel Powell of Planet Earth said to me, “Some people call it base miles, I call it commuting.” During the week I have the luxury of not being stuck in a car on a commute and on the weekends I have the luxury of riding on </span><st1:place style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><st1:placetype>Mt.</st1:placetype> <st1:placename>Tam</st1:placename></st1:place><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> or West Marin on a road bike or MTB.</span><o:p></o:p></p> <ul style="font-weight: bold;"><li>What do you think of the bike industry in its current form? What do you think about the whole concept store/ single brand philosophy that is growing (sadly)?</li></ul> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="MsoBodyText">Tim- I’ve stopped thinking about the bike industry. For years I preached in many trade rags about the dangers of “marketing to ourselves” and the over emphasis on the 40 something, suburban, white guy. I’m over it.</p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The future of the bicycle is outside of the bike industry. The concept store thing? I don’t care…it will have no effect on what we’re doing, and where we’re going.</span> <o:p></o:p></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Sky- The term “Independent Bike Dealer” seems to have lost it’s meaning, as far as I can tell. </span><o:p></o:p><br /><o:p></o:p><br /></p><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">The </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.howtoavoidthebummerlife.com/weblog/">HTATBL</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> blog is a riot! Stevil Knevil simply rocks! He deserves a 2 case of beer per week raise. How involved with the blog are you guys? Is it a full-blown Stevil project or do either of you have input? As a huge blogging proponent myself, this obviously begs the question of what either of you think about blogging… so what do you think about blogging?</span></li></ul><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="MsoBodyText">Tim- It’s just communication. We’ve always been pretty good at communicating with our people, and blogs are just another tool to make that happen. </p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><o:p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">I worked with Stevil to get the right tone and content flowing, then he has taken it from there. He’s good, and we’re fortunate to have him. He’s been with the brand since back in the early 90’s, so he understands exactly what we’re all about. He’s a good friend with a big heart.</span><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" class="MsoBodyText2">Sky- Blogging is what it is. Steve is our hero, part of our soul. And he looks so sexy in an orange CalTrans prisoner jumpsuit.</p><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p><span style="font-weight: bold;">I exchange emails with Stevil from time to time- the dude rocks- and we were both kind of lamenting the “haters” out there- the people who seem to get all pissed off at you for selling products people want, as opposed to toiling away in the obscurity that they feel benefits their unique coolness. When do you think it became a crime to sell stuff that people actually want? Why is it so evil to tailor a product to a group of people based on style or functionality? Sure, some “scene kids” will buy a Sanchez (or any fixed gear, including my own) and then hang it up after they realize it isn’t quite like riding a beach cruiser. But… many people are buying the bikes, I presume, because they like them- whether they can ride them or not. I mean, why should that be seen as bad? <span style="font-style: italic;">(Oh, and I told Stevil he could tell the little whiners that I said to shut the hell up until they can do a better job.)</span></span></span></li></ul> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="MsoBodyText">Tim- I don’t give any of this much thought. Zero in fact.</p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="MsoBodyText">We’re on a mission….fish or cut bait.</p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoBodyText"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Sky- Now that everyone in the world with a computer has a voice and an opinion, you gotta take the fruits and nuts with the seeds and stems.</span><o:p></o:p></p><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Swobo is one of those brands, like </span></span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.surlybikes.com/">Surly</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"> (or even Bianchi for that matter) with a huge cult following of very rabid fans. The blog and the website both play to that- how much thought goes into what those folks will think of your products, versus developing products you personally think are cool or worthy? As somebody who runs a brand with a similar cult following, I know how hard it can be to satisfy those expectations. Does it ever feel like a burden? Sky, you had that in spades with Bianchi and to a possibly lesser extent now (but I don’t know if that’s true), how does that temper or impact what you do- if at all?</span></li></ul> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="MsoBodyText">Tim- I’m not even sure that it’s what we think is “cool or worthy”. It’s a good question though… it’s broken down into percentages. Some things we make because we think there is demand, some things we make because we think are cool, and some things we make because we just woke up that day thinking it would be funny to bring this “thing” to market. </p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><o:p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">We have no problem making things that may in fact be viewed as “un-cool”. We’re not in the “cool” business….we’re too busy trying to tell a story.</span><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" class="MsoBodyText2">Sky- Everyone was watching us, to see what the bikes would be. There were a lot of expectations, but at the same time a tremendous amount of support from people in the industry. I knew that if we designed bikes that were true to the vision of Swobo, we would hit the target for some people and others we would lose. That’s always the case. If you have to tell people you are cool, you aren’t. I wanted to do bikes that were like none out there, respecting the Swobo esthetic and culture. The challenge of imagining what a Swobo bike line was, considering all the Swobo fans expectations’ meant that we had to have total conviction in the design decisions. As a product manager, it is the ultimate dream assignment – to have a blank sheet of paper – and the total support of your partners, who would be Rob Roskopp and Tim, to whom I bow in their general direction.</p> <ul><li><o:p></o:p><span style="font-weight: bold;">I know you must be getting some crap from some of the “old school” guys because you now have non-wool garments in the line. What are you thoughts on that? Does it matter to you? I mean, I still get people sending me emails that border on death threats for abandoning lugs and custom builds. I have people tell me I should go to hell for spec’ing bikes with anything other than Campy parts. I mean, at what point do you simply tell the “old school” crowd to simply shut up and quit whining?</span></li></ul> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="MsoNormal">Tim- I don’t give the product specific arguments any thought. We’re not a Merino company…it’s a product we started with 15+ years ago to differentiate ourselves with little (to none) marketing dollars. <o:p></o:p></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">I don’t tell our old school guys to ever shut up. They’re the reason I decided to do it all over again, and I owe a lot to all those people. They kept the brand alive when I wasn’t able to.</span> <o:p></o:p></p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span><o:p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></o:p> <ul style="font-weight: bold;"><li>I still have a pair of blue and a pair of black wool Swobo socks from around 1996-or so. Both are now shrunken and threadbare from years of use. I don’t think I’ve put either on in a couple years, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to throw them away. I love them too damned much! I have a sock drawer full of hundreds of socks, but the Swobo socks are still in there. That has to mean something to you about the durability of the brand and how people relate to it. I mean, I work in the industry and have for about 25 years, and there are very few items like those socks <span style="font-style: italic;">(and my Ibis Handjob bottle opener)</span> that I cling to with love. Swobo is that kind of brand to many people. Why do you think that is? And, when are you going to recreate the sock so I can get some new ones finally?<o:p> </o:p></li></ul> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="MsoBodyText">Tim- The Swobo brand is unique. It’s rare that a name can dissapear for 5 years, then come back stronger than it was when it was originally operating. Why? Because we represent an idea within bike culture, and not STUFF within bike culture. There’s a huge difference there that would take awhile to explain….so I’ll leave it at that. Our strategic advantage is that the bike industry (culturally) is fixated on stuff…and not ideas.</p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Socks are on the way.</span><o:p></o:p></p> <ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">What would either of you do if you weren’t doing this Swobo thing, or in the bike industry at all? Is there anything you haven’t done, either in the bike biz, or some other, that you would still like to try?</span></li></ul><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><o:p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Tim- </o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">I’d be a shepherd.</span><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" class="MsoBodyText2">Sky- I’d get an AARP card and a <a href="http://www.airstream.com/product_line/travel_trailers/bambi_home.html">19 foot Bambi Airstream</a>.</p><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">What are your future plans? Where do you want to see Swobo go? Is it going to become a bigger bike line than a clothing line? Are there other bike categories on the horizon? Sanchez fixed gear tandem with disk brakes and aero bars maybe? Just thinking outside the box here…</span></li></ul> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="MsoBodyText">Tim- Future plans are on a need to know basis.<span style=""> </span>I can tell you that what we’ve learned in version 2.0, is that in order to accomplish our goals, we don’t have to play by the traditional bike industry rules. All we have to do is get our ideas to people….in the best, most efficient way possible. </p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Bigger Swobo bike line than clothing line? Who cares…as long as the messages are being communicated about who we are, and what we’re doing….we don’t care about the medium.</span> <o:p></o:p></p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Again…..that’s traditional stuff thinking. Not idea thinking.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p></span> <p style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" class="MsoBodyText2">Sky- Specifically, we will be adding more bikes, yes. We don’t see a need for more road racing or mountain bikes, though. We like the idea of pushing the bike line forward without derailleurs. We love internal hubs.</p><br /><o:p>So there you have it! Straight from the sources! Thanks again to both Tim and Sky for humoring me long enough to answer my questions and get them back. I sincerely appreciate it.<br /></o:p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p>It is no wonder that SWOBO is continuing to grow and increase the reach of it's powerful and vocal cult of followers. With the popularity of the clothing brand, apparent success of the bikes and growing readership of the blog, it is certain that SWOBO has a place at the table set for quite some time.<br /></o:p></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p>Tim Jackson</o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:red;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;" >Chief Kool-Aid Dispenser</span><br /></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:red;"><o:p><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >(PS- Sorry for the weird formatting...)</span></span><br /></o:p></span></p>Tim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-51773949391835680192007-06-14T21:41:00.000-07:002007-06-14T22:17:46.033-07:00Bikes Belong to Launch new tradeshow?The fine folks at <a href="http://bikesbelong.org/">Bikes Belong</a>, the cycling industry advocacy group and trade organization, has <a href="http://www.bicycleretailer.com/bicycleretailer/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003598049">announced that they are in the planning stages of developing a new tradeshow</a> to rival and compete with the hallowed <a href="http://www.interbike.com/ib/index.jsp">Interbike</a>. Sound familiar? <a href="http://bicyclemarketingwatch.blogspot.com/2006/10/eurobike-in-portland-oregon.html">We've covered</a> <a href="http://bicyclemarketingwatch.blogspot.com/2006/11/eurobike-portland-vs-interbike-part.html">this kind of news</a> <a href="http://bicyclemarketingwatch.blogspot.com/2006/11/eurobike-portland-dead.html">a few times</a> <a href="http://bicyclemarketingwatch.blogspot.com/2006/11/eurobike-bait-and-switch.html">here already</a>.<br /><br />Eurobike tried to launch what was dubbed Eurobike-Portland back in October of '06. That ended up getting shelved and then Eurobike teamed up with Sea Otter to create what was being billed as the greatest outdoor cycling event and consumer expo ever known to mankind... <a href="http://bicyclemarketingwatch.blogspot.com/2007/04/sea-otter-07-what-gives-eurobike.html">but it wasn't so much</a>...<br /><br />The thing that is most intriguing about this, is that Bikes Belong actually knows the US marketplace pretty darned well, seeing as to how they are the main trade organization in the US. As such, they have a pretty good idea of what the industry wants and needs, as well as an inside line to the major thought leaders in the industry. Bikes Belong has also been a major partner of Interbike over the years and their banner ad on the Interbike website was still visible at the time this post was being written.<br /><br />According to news I've gotten, <span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">"yeah, it’s pretty exciting stuff! And at this point, the sky’s the limit.... right now it’s just a lot of ideas (really, really good ideas :) And either way, the industry will win."</span> If anybody has the clout and credibility to pull off creating a show to rival Interbike, Bikes Belong is the one group I can think of who can. Thing is, as has proven so far to be the case, Interbike is the established incumbent with a long history of great tradeshows. As we have learned in politics, even an unpopular incumbent has an advantage over a new challenger. If this new show is to come into existence, it'll have its work cut out... just to survive the first few editions, let alone grow to a large enough critical mass to really make a significant impact on Interbike.<br /><br />As was mentioned in previous discussions about Eurobike-Portland, the idea of a competing tradeshow is pretty great, but reality is gonna be hard. Show exhibitors are stretched thin to attend the shows that already exist on the calendar and adding overlapping or identical dates will hurt both shows. If you add a totally new date on the calendar, when is it? Before Eurobike? In between Eurobike and Expo Cycle in Canada, which is just before Interbike? After Expo Cycle? After Interbike? Is it a Springtime show like Taipei? Where does it fit on the calendar? I'm sure I don't know. It poses a very big task and not one I'm sure I could figure out.<br /><br />This news, just like with Eurobike's attempted invasion, is big news that merits lots of discussion and contemplation from within the industry. Do we want or need a new show? Maybe, if it's a better show. But what is a "better show"? Less expensive? Better location? No Teamsters to deal with? All things to consider.<br /><br />I honestly wish Bikes Belong the best with this and I hope to be talking to them more about this, so stay tuned for more (hopefully). I love Interbike, as I've said before, so Bikes Belong (or anybody for that matter) has their work cut out for them if they are going to truly compete with Interbike. Can it be done though? Absolutely it can, so this will prove to be interesting. Bikes Belong has been listening to the conversation for a long time so they know what frustrations retailers and manufacturers have with Interbike.<br /><br />I, for one, will be watching this story very closely and strongly encourage your comments because I know that folks from Bikes Belong will be reading this. Your comments could be influential... so speak up!<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispenserTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-22555344455862431122007-05-05T20:41:00.000-07:002007-05-05T20:46:16.547-07:00The Conversation Age<span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">(Cross posted on <a href="http://masiguy.blogspot.com/2007/05/im-part-of-conversation-age.html">Masiguy</a>)</span></span><br /><br />I have been such a terrible flake/ procrastinator over the past several weeks (ok, months). All of the work and travel and life... blah, blah, blah...<br /><br />In all of my blogging setbacks, I have been forgetting to express my pride, joy and sincere amazement regarding my involvement in the <a href="http://servantofchaos.typepad.com/soc/2007/04/welcome_to_the_.html">e-book</a> <a href="http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/2007/04/heres_to_the_co.html"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Conversation Age</span></a>. This e-book is a project conceived by two astounding bloggers, both of whom I have immense respect for- seriously: <a href="http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/">Drew McLellan</a> and <a href="http://servantofchaos.typepad.com/">Gavin Heaton</a>. Anyway, here's the gist of the project: you get 100 bloggers to write 100 chapters on the topic of conversation in the new digital/ modern word. Each blogger writes a one page (400 word) chapter and then the book is offered for sale online. Judging by the long list of writers (some of the very brightest minds in marketing/ blogging), it is going to be a stellar book... even with <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">my</span> contribution. Here's the kicker- the book is dedicated to the memory of <a href="http://www.ck-blog.com/cks_blog/2007/04/trying_to_find_.html">Sandra Kerley</a>, mother of our dear friend <a href="http://www.ck-blog.com/cks_blog/">Christina Kerley</a> (better known by all as <a href="http://www.ck-blog.com/cks_blog/">CK</a>) and the proceeds go to <a href="http://www.varietychildrenscharity.org/">Variety The Children's Charity</a>. This is such an amazing project- it combines the gracious act of remembering a wonderful woman and supporting our friend with a beautiful charity... and you get a great book written by some of the best experts on marketing/ blogging (and also me). It's a project that I am more than just a little proud to be a part of and more than just a little flattered to have been asked to take part in.<br /><br />Anyway, keep your eyes open for more information about the book and where you can go to purchase it- I will post updates as soon as the project is completed. But for now, just check out the author list:<br /> <p><a href="http://servantofchaos.typepad.com/">Gavin Heaton</a><br /><a href="http://drewsmarketingminute.com/">Drew McLellan</a><br /><a href="http://www.ck-blog.com/cks_blog/">CK</a><br /><a href="http://www.conversationagent.com/">Valeria Maltoni</a><br /><a href="http://www.conformistsunite.com/">Emily Reed</a><br /><a href="http://katiechatfield.wordpress.com/">Katie Chatfield</a><br /><a href="http://gregverdino.typepad.com/greg_verdinos_blog">Greg Verdino</a><br /><a href="http://moblogsmoproblems.blogspot.com/">Mack Collier</a><br /><a href="http://lgbusinesssolutions.typepad.com/solutions_to_grow_your_bu/">Lewis Green</a><br /><a href="http://sacrum-applicant.blogspot.com/">Sacrum</a><br /><a href="http://www.mpdailyfix.com/">Ann Handley</a><br /><a href="http://www.converstations.com/">Mike Sansone</a><br /><a href="http://heehawmarketing.typepad.com/hee_haw_marketing/">Paul McEnany</a><br /><a href="http://blog.creativethink.com/weblog/">Roger von Oech</a><br /><a href="http://theengagingbrand.typepad.com/the_engaging_brand_/">Anna Farmery</a><br /><a href="http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/">David Armano</a><br /><a href="http://onereaderatatime.blogspot.com/">Bob Glaza</a><br /><a href="http://transmissionmarketing.ca/">Mark Goren</a><br /><a href="http://technomarketer.typepad.com/">Matt Dickman</a><br /><a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/">Scott Monty</a><br /><a href="http://www.adliterate.com/">Richard Huntington</a><br /><a href="http://www.chaosscenario.com/main/">Cam Beck</a><br /><a href="http://www.reichcomm.typepad.com/">David Reich</a><br /><a href="http://mindblob.typepad.com/mindblob/">Mindblob (Luc)</a><br /><a href="http://www.craphammer.ca/">Sean Howard</a><br /><a href="http://masiguy.blogspot.com/">Tim Jackson</a><br /><a href="http://www.lonelymarketer.com/">Patrick Schaber</a><br /><a href="http://www.copywritingmaven.com/the_copywriting_maven/">Roberta Rosenberg</a><br /><a href="http://uewhook.blogspot.com/">Uwe Hook</a><br /><a href="http://successfromthenest.com/">Tony D. Clark</a><br /><a href="http://toddand.com/">Todd Andrlik</a><br /><a href="http://www.divamarketingblog.com/">Toby Bloomberg</a><br /><a href="http://www.stickyfigure.com/">Steve Woodruff</a><br /><a href="http://www.sbannister.com/">Steve Bannister</a><br /><a href="http://www.allthingsworkplace.com/">Steve Roesler</a><br /><a href="http://branddna.blogspot.com/">Stanley Johnson</a><br /><a href="http://www.brainsonfire.com/">Spike Jones</a><br /><a href="http://giddlebits.wordpress.com/">Nathan Snell</a><br /><a href="http://simonpayn.typepad.com/">Simon Payn</a><br /><a href="http://rrasmussen.tumblr.com/">Ryan Rasmussen</a><br /><a href="http://marketingroi.wordpress.com/">Ron Shevlin</a><br /><a href="http://www.modernmagellans.com/">Roger Anderson</a><br /><a href="http://middlezonemusings.com/">Bob Hruzek</a><br /><a href="http://gumpdesign.blogspot.com/">Rishi Desai</a><br /><a href="http://makeitgreat.typepad.com/makeitgreat/">Phil Gerbyshak</a><br /><a href="http://www.blattnerbrunner.com/">Peter Corbett</a><br /><a href="http://www.thebuddygroup.com/">Pete Deutschman</a><br /><a href="http://www.nick-rice.com/">Nick Rice</a><br /><a href="http://virtualmarketingandmedia.blogspot.com/">Nick Wright</a><br /><a href="http://www.twistimage.com/blog">Mitch Joel</a><br /><a href="http://marketingmonster.wordpress.com/">Michael Morton</a><br /><a href="http://herd.typepad.com/">Mark Earls</a><br /><a href="http://www.smoblog.com/">Mark Blair</a><br /><a href="http://vellandi.wordpress.com/">Mario Vellandi</a><br /><a href="http://modadimagno.blogspot.com/">Lori Magno</a><br /><a href="http://writenowisgood.typepad.com/write_now_is_good">Kristin Gorski</a><br /><a href="http://www.bizgrowthnews.com/">Krishna De</a><br /><a href="http://crossthebreeze.com/">Kris Hoet</a><br /><a href="http://www.annansi.com/blog">Kofl Annan</a><br /><a href="http://www.squidoo.com/kimberlydawnwells">Kimberly Dawn Wells</a><br /><a href="http://blog.experiencecurve.com/">Karl Long</a><br /><a href="http://innovationecosystem.blogspot.com/">Julie Fleischer</a><br /><a href="http://www.telltenfriends.com/">Jordan Behan</a><br /><a href="http://www.mil-media.com/">John La Grou</a><br /><a href="http://www.happyburroblog.com/">Joe Raasch</a><br /><a href="http://www.jimkukral.com/">Jim Kukral</a><br /><a href="http://indexed.blogspot.com/">Jessica Hagy</a><br /><a href="http://www.marketingideablog.com/">Janet Green</a><br /><a href="http://www.jameyshiels.com/">Jamey Shiel</a>s<br /><a href="http://www.customerthink.com/gurublog/graham_hill">Dr. Graham Hill</a><br /><a href="http://brandopia.wordpress.com/">Gia Facchini</a><br /><a href="http://brandopia.wordpress.com/">Geert Desager</a><br /><a href="http://gauravonomics.com/">Gaurav Mishra</a><br /><a href="http://www.garyschoeniger.com/">Gary Schoeniger</a><br /><a href="http://www.garethkay.com/">Gareth Kay</a><br /><a href="http://farisyakob.typepad.com/">Faris Yakob</a><br /><a href="http://libraryrevolution.com/">Emily Clasper</a><br /><a href="http://www.influxinsights.com/">Ed Cotton</a><br /><a href="http://shakegently.com/">Dustin Jacobsen</a><br /><a href="http://www.directortom.com/">Tom Clifford</a><br /><a href="http://blog.brandexperiencelab.org/">David Pollinchock</a><br /><a href="http://www.mokummarketing.com/blog/">David Koopmans</a><br /><a href="http://www.journamarketing.com/">David Brazeal</a><br /><a href="http://www.marketersstudio.com/">David Berkowitz</a><br /><a href="http://thoughtsphilosophies.com/">Carolyn Manning</a><br /><a href="http://stickyads.com.au/">Craig Wilson</a><br /><a href="http://www.marketinghipster.com/">Cord Silverstein</a><br /><a href="http://www.everydotconnects.com/">Connie Reece</a><br /><a href="http://canuckflack.com/">Colin McKay</a><br />Chris Newlan<br /><a href="http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot">Chris Corrigan</a><br /><a href="http://cedricgiorgi.blogspirit.com/">Cedric Giorgi</a><br />Brian Reich<br /><a href="http://customersrock.wordpress.com/">Becky Carroll</a><br /><a href="http://arunrajagopal.com/">Arun Rajagopal</a><br /><a href="http://www.andynulman.com/">Andy Nulman</a><br /><a href="http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog">Amy Jussel</a><br />AJ James<br /><a href="http://kimklaverblogs.blogspot.com./">Kim Klaver</a><br /><a href="http://www.purplewren.com/">Sandy Renshaw</a><br /><a href="http://www.wf360.typepad.com/">Susan Bird<br /></a><a href="http://ryanbarrett.typepad.com/">Ryan Barrett<br /></a><a href="http://www.troyworman.com/wordpress/">Troy Worman</a></p>Damn! I am <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">SO</span> outclassed by this group... it ain't even funny!<br /><br />Also, while I am here and talking about giving and sharing; please, if you can, help us continue to honor Sandra Kerley by donating to <a href="http://www.habitat.org/">Habitat for Humanity</a> in her name. Please follow <a href="http://www.typepad.com/t/app/public/tj?__mode=tip_confirm&id=1267970&user_id=650712"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">this link</span></a> to a donation site (I'm not smart enough to figure out how to have the great icon and link that all the other smart bloggers involved with this have created). This is a great way to continue the great legacy of a wonderful woman, as well as show support to our dear friend CK.<br /><br />I am really looking forward to seeing this book and I hope you are too.<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispenserTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-7149821684881175072007-04-30T23:15:00.000-07:002007-04-30T23:20:45.440-07:00Follow-up to my DC follow-up; a word from Bikes BelongI have a bit of follow-up dialog to <a href="http://bicyclemarketingwatch.blogspot.com/2007/03/dc-follow-up-and-call-to-cycling.html">my previous post</a> about my trip to DC and my call to advocacy in the cycling industry.<br /><br />I recently had a great conversation with Scott Bowen from <a href="http://bikesbelong.org/">Bikes Belong</a>, regarding their role in bicycle advocacy for the cycling industry. We spoke face to face during the Sea Otter race and then followed up with some emails as well. Since you folks don't get to read my emails on a daily basis, I thought I'd share the great conversation we had (with Scott's approval of course).<br /><br />Here is the conversation, in chronological order...<br /><br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Helvetica,Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-size:12;">Hey Tim,<br /><br />It was good to see you in Monterey and thanks for the great NBS feedback. I will make sure your points get passed along to the League.<br /><br />When we talked, I mentioned that someone forwarded me your blog. Again, it is supper motivating and I’m grateful that you took the time to make such a convincing argument. Without a doubt, those who read it will be moved.<br /><br />There was a comment at the end about Bikes Belong that I wanted to ask you about. You said, “the industry needs to work closely together and form a coalition or trade group that lobbies for change as well”. I’m a little embarrassed because it’s my job to communicate our mission and our accomplishments, and what you said we need is precisely what Bikes Belong is. We are a coalition of bicycle manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers devoted to getting more people on bikes more often. What you participated in (federal lobbying) is only part of what we do. Our work can be broken down into four main components:<br /><br /></span></span> <ul style="font-family:arial;"><li><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:12;">Federal policy and funding (how we got the $4.5 billion for bicycle infrastructure) </span></span> </li><li><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:12;">National leadership (Safe Routes to School National Partnership, Bicycle Friendly Communities, the National Complete Streets Coalition, and key strategic partnerships with groups like Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AARP, and the PTA) </span></span> </li><li><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:12;">A $1.2 million community grants program that helps build new bike paths, lanes, and trails across the nation and leverages the federal money we secured </span></span> </li><li><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:12;">Promotion – sharing the great benefits of bicycling for health and fitness, recreation, community, environment, and so much more with national media like CNBC, The USA Today, and countless others<br /></span></span></li></ul><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Helvetica,Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-size:12;"><br />There is so much more, but that’s it in a nutshell. Take a look at our 2006 Annual Report and our 2007 Plan to see more (they’re both attached) <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">{removed- Ed}</span>. With so many good things happening at Bikes Belong, sometimes we don’t get it all out.<br /><br />Maybe I misunderstood, but either way, I’ll take the chance to share some of our goods :)<br /><br />See you soon,<br /><br />Scott Bowen<br />Membership Development Director<br />Bikes Belong Coalition</span></span><br /><br />----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana,Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-size:12;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">Scott,<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">Dude, it was great talking with you and I look forward to doing it again. I really appreciate you taking the time to put this all together and share with me- sincerely. In fact, I'd like, with your permission of course, to run this as an update to my post. I think many people lose sight of what Bikes Belong is all about and the work you folks do.<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">To my point though, more specifically, my thoughts were aimed at a more unified effort from the industry to promote cycling to the unwashed masses out of the mainstream cycling avenues. I think a group built out of manufacturers trying to get more folks to see cycling as a cool thing to do, is something we need more of. If it duplicates some of Bikes Belong's efforts, then that is ok. It just seems to me that we need to see more non-endemic promotion of cycling in publications like Time, Men's Health, Good Housekeeping, etc. Something that is less associated with the phenomenal lobbying efforts that Bikes Belong does and more geared to gaining new consumers. I think if it comes from the people who make the goods in cycling, it might help. Again, this may fall right in to the work already being done by Bikes Belong, but think of how cool it would be to see "Cycling is Cool" ads in major magazines. With the combined monies of several manufacturers, it might be possible to pull off.<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">Let me know your thoughts and if you wouldn't mind if I posted your comments on the blog.<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">It was great to see you and thanks again for sharing all of this information with me.<br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size:12;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Tim Jackson</span><span style="font-family:Verdana,Helvetica,Arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Masi Brand Manager</span><span style="font-family:Verdana,Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><br /><br />----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Tim,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This feedback is so great and I’m really grateful. Advocacy typically comes second to business priorities. We need to reframe advocacy as a business priority. But whatever the circumstances are, honest and open feedback on what the industry should be using its collective strength to accomplish can be hard to come by.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">And man, we have a lot to talk about. But I’ll try to be brief and we can talk more the next time we see each other.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Before we could do anything as an industry and use our theoretical leverage, we had to unify. Since it’s creation seven years ago, Bikes Belong has found more success bringing the industry together than any other group. That was step 1. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Once we had that collective strength, the board prioritized and went after the “low hanging fruit”. That would be federal funding. Bicycling has so many advantages that resonate with our nation. We invested, we fought, and we won. Step 2.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We have developed major national partners (Robert Wood Johnson, AARP, PTA, etc.) to reach new audiences and find new revenue sources. Step 3.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The grants were designed to give back to communities, to support creative and effective local efforts, and to leverage and focus the federal funds we secured. Step 4.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Alright, now to your point – promotion. Bikes Belong is tasked by the industry to promote bicycling. The attached booklet </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >{removed- Ed}</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> was created to do just that to diverse,</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">non-bicycling audiences. We have distributed over 25,000 copies and been an important tool. But our board has been pushing us for the “Got Milk” campaign for the bike industry. Late last year, we started working with Crispin Porter + Bogusky (VW, Miller Light, Burger King). They created over a hundred creative boards for us. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We have to be realistic with national promotion. As a $6 billion industry, we are not the dairy industry or the RV industry, but no one can deny we have enormous potential! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We have to keep all these balls in the air to be effective. Most importantly, we have to keep the industry united and focused. You and Jill taking the time to come to DC, keeping Haro informed, that’s what we need. We are grateful. Your blog rocks and we appreciate your comments. I think we (the industry) are headed in the right direction.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sorry, this is way to long. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">See ya soon,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Scott</span><br /><br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);font-family:verdana;" >Scott,<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);font-family:verdana;" >Again, my friend, thank you for this great information. I am going to take your two emails and combine that information into one post. I think your comments are great and really do a great job on spotlighting efforts... and they educated me to what has been getting done.<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);font-family:verdana;" >I really believe in the work of Bikes Belong and am looking forward to Haro being involved again. I am also hoping to be able to stand in DC again next year and the years following. I think the work is that important. I am also trying to find ways to get involved locally- that's a direct byproduct of being in DC.<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);font-family:verdana;" >Thank you Scott- I look forward to getting together and talking again soon.<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Tim</span><br /><br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Hey Tim,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">One of advocacy’s problems is that we can be long-winded :)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I’m working on it, but it’s a lot to talk about.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Thanks a ton,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">sb</span><br /><br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />And that is the entire conversation folks (minus the attachments).<br /><br />This does, in my mind, go a long way towards helping to educate me and probably others in the industry to exactly what it is that Bikes Belong does on our behalves. It's pretty cool, really.<br /><br />Thank you Scott for your excellent feedback and for allowing me to use this information this way. I think it is great for people to see the very, very human side of Bikes Belong.<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid Dispenser<br />(PS- Sorry for the weird formatting issues... the cut-and-paste process gets weird with emails.)Tim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-89933982198785406352007-04-18T19:56:00.000-07:002007-04-18T21:26:57.282-07:00Sea Otter '07- What gives Eurobike?<a href="http://www.seaotterclassic.com/">Sea Otter</a> finished up this past Sunday. As usual, there was crazy weather to contend with and all kinds of cool racing and bike nerdery going on. It was exactly what Sea Otter always has been and always will be.<br /><br />The big difference this year is that Sea Otter teamed up with the fine folks from <a href="http://www.eurobike-exhibition.de/html/en/home/index.php">Eurobike</a> (<a href="http://www.messe-friedrichshafen.de/html/en/index.php">Messe-Friedrichshafen</a>) to create what was being billed as the largest outdoor cycling festival and "tradeshow" in the US. In keeping with this incredible new relationship and enhancement of the event, exhibitor space rates went through the roof, as did race entry fees and other associated costs of providing a worldclass event/ exhibit.<br /><br />Thing is... it wasn't any busier, it wasn't any better, it wasn't any <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">different</span> than years past (except for the increase in cost). <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Disclaimer</span>- <span style="font-style: italic;">this was my first time attending the event, so these observations/ comparisons are based off of feedback I received from other exhibitors at the event. </span>If this was supposed to be a premiere cycling event, in terms of being an exhibit/ festival/ tradeshow... it was a flop. As an actual race, it was superb as always. The racers and the people who come to hang out and gawk at the event, really make it what it is- a celebration of cycling (even if that celebration takes place in the rain and tornado-like winds).<br /><br />I know that the race organizers and Eurobike had very little time to pull this together, after making their announcement of joining forces just a few months ago (the end of November). It would seem that once Eurobike realized their proposed <a href="http://bikeportland.org/2006/11/27/eurobike-portland-cancelledfor-now/">"Eurobike-Portland" wasn't going to work</a> and that they were receiving so much negative press, they simply decided to shrink their ambitions for a year and start off a little smaller. Well... can't say it worked. Many people doubted whether or not they would have enough time to create what they were claiming they would. It seems those folks were at least marginally correct. Don't get me wrong, I'd call the event a success, but it wasn't what it was billed to be and certainly didn't merit the incredible cost hikes.<br /><br />Here's another point that may seem like I am just trying to pick a fight; where were the folks from either Sea Otter or Eurobike during the event? During the entire event, neither I nor <a href="http://bikebizbabe.blogspot.com/">Jill Hamilton</a> (our <a href="http://harobikes.com/mtb/index.php">Haro MTB</a> Brand Manager and my partner in crime at Sea Otter) saw hide nor hair of anybody from the event. Many of us in the industry complain about costs and other issues associated with <a href="http://www.interbike.com/ib/index.jsp">Interbike</a>, but at least every year at Interbike I get a visit (or several) from somebody from the show organization thanking me for my business and checking in to see how things are going. It might seem like nothing, but it does make an impression- a little humanity goes a long way. Nobody disputes that the Eurobike shows are great. They are widely regarded as well run, well attended and well respected by exhibitors, retailers and consumer attendees. It's a strong brand with a lot of potential. When they <a href="http://bicyclemarketingwatch.blogspot.com/2006/10/eurobike-in-portland-oregon.html">announced</a> they were coming to the US, many people thought it was a great thing- <a href="http://bicyclemarketingwatch.blogspot.com/2006/11/eurobike-portland-vs-interbike-part.html">including myself</a> (though I argued with the date).<br /><br />It seems that Eurobike has made a series of strange steps all along the way and it really begs the question of whether or not they are serious about coming to the US or if they even understand the US market. The way they handled the announcement and then the <a href="http://bicyclemarketingwatch.blogspot.com/2006/11/eurobike-portland-awol.html">disappearing act</a> they did, were both missteps. Then that was followed up with an overall strangeness in how they dealt with Sea Otter, on down to the lack of any known follow-up with US exhibitors at the event. It just doesn't make them look like they know what they are doing or that they really have the desire to chase the US market. Was Sea Otter just a way to save face after all of the negative press they received over Eurobike-Portland? Nobody appears to know.<br /><br />One other point that needs to be mentioned; kudos to the folks at Interbike! Not only did they handle <a href="http://www.interbiketimes.com/eurobike-usa-new-us-trade-show-on-horizon/">the original announcement about Eurobike-Portland</a> well, but they attended Sea Otter and met with exhibitors. I met with Rich Kelly and a few other folks from Interbike during Otter and they didn't even mention Interbike once. It really did feel like they were simply <a href="http://www.interbiketimes.com/field-trip-sea-otter/">there to see things for themselves and to say hello to friends</a>. Gripe all we want about Interbike, this little touch was not unnoticed by me and surely wasn't unnoticed by many other folks as well. Good job folks!<br /><br />So, what's your take on this all? Exhibitors- Did anybody from Eurobike/ Sea Otter come talk to you? Did the event have more traffic than ever, to match the cost of attending? Am I making too much of nothing? Please share your thoughts...<br /><br />Tim Jackson<br />Chief Kool-Aid DispenserTim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19148764.post-44859461221859429782007-03-29T05:19:00.000-07:002007-03-29T05:51:49.644-07:00A call to advocacyIf you haven't watched it yet, here's Trek president, John Burk, giving a presentation calling for advocacy in the bike industry. It's the best 23 minutes you'll spend today.<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OfRiFylmiS0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OfRiFylmiS0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object></div><br /><br />That's the most inspiring thing I've seen in a long time and I feel it's the beginning of something grand.<br /><br />It's hard to tell if my perspective is just skewed due to the fact that I watch the bike industry so much anyway, but it seems like we are on a verge of a renaissance here in the US. The overall "green" feeling growing across the country. Higher gas prices forcing people to look towards other means of transportation. And now, one of the biggest movers in the industry calling for an move towards bicycle advocacy.<br /><br />For me, the part in the video that stood out the most is when John Burke confessed to not being interested in advocacy ten years ago and consistently turned away people asking for help. That kind of honesty is refreshing.<br /><br />From there, the points about growing the number of people on bikes just a few percentage points will make the industry <em>boom</em> struck me as something I never had considered... but should have!<br /><br />So here's my questions... What can I do? And what can you do?<br /><br />We can give money to advocacy groups... but what else? <br /><br />How do we start getting involved in my community? Where do we start? Should we be burning up the phones calling our local politicians? Or is there something else?<br /><br />I'd love to start compiling a list of resources for people that want to get involved in their community to get more people on bikes. If you have some information, links, tips, ideas, etc etc. Leave them in the comments to get us going.Tim Grahlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06421736441360244379noreply@blogger.com3