Glasgow, brand activation, and your customers’ expectations

Monday, 7 August 2023 Simon Cox

The unique platform that is a 10 day, multi discipline, Worlds – a totally new format which the UCI has brought to Scotland – means there’s plenty to see in and around the racing. For brands, many have made a big play for the attention of cycling fans descending on the event locations. The show around the show is definitely a significant, enriching, part of the overall event experience.

Visiting Glasgow for the UCI World Championships Road Race I had a keen eye on two events taking place around the racing.

Specialized saw the biggest event on the cycling calendar as the ideal global launch platform for the new Tarmac SL8. And this was so much more than a bike launch. The brand took the opportunity to deliver a world class brand activation – an immersive experience rich in story telling and visual wow factor, hosted at the Old Fruitmarket.

Stunning venue.
Amazing, emotion stirring, Hall of Fame like, installation.
Audience interaction and engagement (a wind tunnel no less!)
Powerful brand storytelling, sharing a history of World Champion riders and their bikes
Star power, with the brand founder, and a WorldTour Team principle, in the house

In short, everything that a brand activation should be. The vision, creativity, care, and attention to detail, that it takes build and deliver this kind of emotion evoking brand experience is worthy of the ‘next level’ tag. The venue itself has massive wow factor, the way the space was used by the brand – visuals, lighting, props – all amplified and elevated the experience.

This was definitely a ‘raising expectations’ event, making a powerful brand statement, raising the bar, whilst clearly setting expectations for brand fans (and the competition).

Not more than 10 minutes’ walk from the Specialized event, walking alongside a Road Race course lined with fans, and we arrive at Pedal Power ‘Bike & Art Collective’ experience, hosted at Platform.

The B&A Collective, a 2-day event, set out to deliver ‘an immersive celebration of cycling culture’, offering the opportunity to ‘mingle and ride with some of cycling’s biggest stars, surround yourself with the world’s finest bicycle and apparel brands offering unique and never before seen bicycle collaborations.’

The event host, Pedal Power Cycles, a 40 + year old shop, run by ex-mountain biking champion Jonathan McBain, brought together the brands the store partners with, in a location with real wow factor, delivering a unique ‘festival of cycling’ experience, where food, drink, and live racing mixed with brands sharing their stories, showcasing their products. Add in a sprinkling of star factor with the likes of Chris Hall, Russ Downing, David Millar, Matt Stephens, and a host of others, and this was a truly impressive experience.

Stunning venue.
Brand installations which made for an immersive experience which felt both unique and special.
A collective wow factor showcasing the best of the business to a global audience.

What’s the take away for cycle retailers?

Both Specialized and Pedal Power delivered a truly unique, culture and vibes rich, depth and quality of the experience. Here, it’s important to reflect on how the brands tell their stories when engaging directly with customers and fans, then consider how that compares to the retail experience fans are greeted with when visiting a bike shop.

This is particularly valid when one of the two hosts – Pedal Power Scotland – is a long-standing bike shop.

Into this mix I’ll also add what we recently heard from Lee and Louise at Eat Sleep Cycle, who talked about brands renting space in their locations, also paying to fit out space in their store, creating a true brand experience.

A raising of customer expectation

Brands want to partner with businesses who showcase the wow of the brand just as the brand would. Increasingly, customers expect that this is what they will experience when interacting with the brand, in any and every environment.

Taking an obvious, yet still extremely valuable, example; Rapha launched Clubhouses to deliver a quality of experience which Simon Mottram felt wasn’t delivered by bike shops. Apparel was treated as an afterthought. Merchandising standards were low to non-existent. He knew it could be done better.

19 years on from the launch of a cycle clothing brand which redefined cycling retail, and, in doing so, reshaped customer expectation, retailers have plenty to gain from taking the best of what Pedal Power brought together with the B&A Collective, infused with a pinch of Specialized at the Old Fruitmarket, generously seasoned with more than a little Rapha meets Eat Sleep Cycle, to transform what modern retail really looks, sounds, and feels like, for a bike shop, its staff, and its customers.

Should this feel challenging? Yes.
Does it mean that cycle retailers should look at who they’re recruiting? Yes
Are we encouraging the recruitment of retail skills found outside of cycling? Yes

Secret shop the best of sport and leisure retail – Gymshark, Sweaty Beatty, Lululemon, Rapha, Via Atelier, Velodrom – and see the merchandising standards, feel the vibe, test the customer service.

Invoking emotion is the name of the game. It’s not enough to talk about ‘passion’. Customers need to feel it, see it, breath it, every time they walk through the front door. It’s not enough to talk about ‘experiences’ when the day to day of the business is primarily focused on delivering a price point focused, transactional, service.

Brand expectations are changing – are you onboard?

When brands have invest heavily in creating wow factor, they’re also seeking out retail partners who can deliver this, just as they would. Industry leading businesses already do this. Be it inside or outside of the cycling industry, that expectation has already been created by other (non cycling) businesses which your customers interact with, and buy from.

Within the industry, businesses like Via Atelier, Velodrom, Eat Sleep Cycle, and a host of others, are already showing the way; great examples for any business looking for inspiration in transforming how customers experience their business, and how brands can be drawn to invest in a shared future of mutual benefit and value.