Bikes are everywhere. Parked outside your local coffee shop, sliding smoothly through traffic on the morning commute, even sitting in window displays on Rodeo Drive or Park Avenue. Bikes are a modern medium of expression in the urban environment and some companies are embracing that presence by turning bikes into rolling advertisements – that’s Bikevertising! Let’s look at the “hows”, “whats”, and “whys” that make it all worth it.
Credit Source: trojandaily.com
Cost
Advertising is expensive. Billboards, commercials, signage, sponsorships – it costs a lot to get your brand out there and, to paraphrase the founder of Unilever, you know that only half of your marketing is as effective as it should be, it’s just impossible to tell which half.
The Cost of Advertisement
It’s no surprise then that companies are beginning to embrace bikes as an inexpensive way to spread brand awareness. Check how much you spent on local advertising in the last quarter. Take 10% of that and figure out how many branded bikes you could have around town for that same amount (let’s assume $X/bike). For less than the cost of a $6,000 bus-ad in LA , you could have more than 10 bikes circling the city – spreading awareness at your target demo’s favorite watering holes, gyms, and yep, even those same busses and bus stops you’re saving money on!
And the best part? After a month, when your bus ad would get pulled and that money would be gone forever, the bikes keep going! Bikes don’t expire, they don’t re-negotiate rates, they’re yours and the only limit to their versatility is your marketing team’s creativity.
Who Does Bikevertising Attract?
Everyone. Ask your marketing nerds and they’ll tell you that calls to action are a just a small part of overall brand strategy – more important is brand awareness and making sure that when it’s time for your customer to make a decision, your name pops into their head as a viable option. That takes presence.
The same reason product-placement is so valuable in movies and tv shows, anything that makes your brand more widely recognized, closer to the “norm”, tilts your target audience towards picking you when it comes time to buy. That’s one reason bikevertising has been so effective. A branded bike outside the bar or café shows people that you share their interests, it humanizes the brand, and when it comes time to choose between you and Brand X – they’ll choose the “local” option that they’ve seen around town – that’s you!
When you and your colleagues show up at the local charity ride on branded bikes, it sends the message that you care about your community, share in local interests, and the bikes make sure everyone knows who you represent.
It’s no secret that the 75 million millennials are ditching the cars of their parents in favor of cheaper and healthier transport, but that’s no reason to think branded bikes will only reach that demo. The audience for your bikes is as broad as you make it.
How to Bikevertise
Got a while? Our clients are constantly surprising us with their creativity, and there’s been no shortage of brilliant marketing ideas rolled out on the backs of our bikes. It’d take too long to list all the possibilities, but some of the common campaigns include:
· Mobile brand ambassadors (on your bikes) at events, shows, or wherever your target demo is hanging out
· Branded bikes parked at popular local destinations
· Provide a local transportation option at work, for local events, or city-wide
· Bikes used as rewards for Social Media campaigns
· Branded bike rentals for hotels
· Donating branded bikes to school bike programs or other charitable drives
· Providing people with a healthy option on bike-to-work-day
· Using bikes for retail displays
· Host a company-ride to build morale and capture moments that define your culture
· Etc…
The only real limit to what you can do, is what you can come up with.
Where to start
All you need is an idea! Heck, you don’t even need that as long as you have a concept of your target audience and a firm understanding of your brand. We’re happy to help you craft a campaign that’ll meet your needs and leave you with an arsenal of bikes that your marketing team can roll out again and again and again!
Drop us a line to find out how our current clients are creatively using bikes, and how bikes could be helping you drive new business too. We’re happy to help and can’t wait to see your brand on two-wheels.