Winning in the world
of competitive cycling
If you’ve heard of the Tour de France, Vuelta an Espana, and the Giro d’Italia, you know how competitive cycling can be. Pros and amatuer racers push themselves and their equipment to the limit each year in thousands of races, spending on average $12,000 for the best engineered Titanium, carbon fiber, or aluminum frame and gear. Just a few ounces less weight can make the difference in winning or not.
Bike marketing is no less competitive than the sport. With over 100 million bicycles manufactured each year and a global market valuation of USD 59 billion, brands have to be bold and innovative to win at the cash register. We’re proud to have helped some of the world’s top cycling brands do just that.
Litespeed’s innovative engineering of titanium frames produced a level of performance so high that elite riders like Greg Lamond, Robbie McEwen, and Lance Armstrong have ridden them in competition.
So how does the unrivaled leader in lightweight titanium frames launch it’s first aluminum frame? We focused on associating the aluminum frame with the single truth that built the Litespeed brand—speed.
The cheetah became the most successful ad in Litespeed history, selling out inventory almost immediately. What’s more, the cheetah image became an icon that Litespeed enthusiasts continue to purchase to this day.
Ghisalo Launch
Litespeed’s introduction of the Ghisalo titanium frame provided the perfect opportunity to remind a market, distracted by new carbon fiber and aluminum options, that Litespeed titanium engineering was still king.
The two part ad strategy focused exclusively on the bike’s innovative titanium tube engineering. The first ad was a teaser designed to build excitement about the coming of the lightest Litespeed ever. The second ad revealed the Ghisalo but focused 100% on the design and craftsmanship of the frame – no wheels, tires, or components. It was risky, but it paid off. The Ghisalo sold out by the launch of the second ad.
For over thirty years, the Merlin name has been synonymous with quality, elegance, and timeless beauty. Whether machine cutting tubes, TIG welding frames, or polishing finished bikes, every titanium frame Merlin makes receives great attention to detail.
We worked with Merlin’s marketing team to position the Merlin frames as “art” that moves you.
Art that
moves you
Beginning in 1974, Specialized wanted bike riders to get more than a new bike. They wanted riders to get a new sport. This brand ad series reminds us of that legacy—a bike maker dedicated to the sport of cycling.
Specialized turned riding a bike into a sport
From inventing the first triathlon specific bike in 1987 to crafting the first triathlon specific wetsuit, Quintana Roo is the only performance bicycle and swimwear maker dedicated solely to the performance needs of triathletes.
Working with the team at QR, we developed a positioning and brand ad series to make it clear that only one manufacturer is true to the needs of triathletes.
