Brompton Bikes, Summaries of Marketing

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Brompton

Bikes

Alisha Attarwala Account Planner and Manager

To, The Marketing Manager, Brompton Bicycle Ltd., Kew Bridge DC, Lionel Road South, Brentford, TW8 9QR.

Executive Summary This report is a proposal for Brompton Bicycle Ltd. According to Mintel, the recent success of Britain in Tour de France and the Olympics, as well as continued rises in the cost of vehicle fuel and public transport fares, has resulted in the popularity of the bicycle industry and has reflected a trend in the premium priced road bicycles. (Fig.1) (Mintel, 2013) This proposal will take you through the client’s agenda, our proposed plan for advertising Brompton bicycles and how we intend to implement the same. Fig.1: UK bicycle market, 2007-­‐2013. Source: Mintel, 2013.

Company History Brompton was established and registered as a limited company in 1976. However, the founder of the company, Andrew Ritchie first started designing the bike in 1975, in his flat, overlooking the Brompton Oratory in South Kensington, London. The design for the first 30 bikes was finalised in 1980 and production began in 1981. In 1982, a basic, 3 speed Brompton cost £211. In 1987, Brompton Bicycle started producing bikes on a full scale and had their first dealer York Cycleworks buy their bikes in 1988. Currently, they are exporting their bikes to over 42 countries such as USA, Canada, Ireland, Israel etc. and selling them at an average of £745 per bike. (Brompton, 2013) Client’s agenda The client’s agenda is to increase the awareness of Brompton Bicycle, and to increase the sales of the Brompton bike accessories. Target Audience According to a survey conducted on Survey Monkey, from the 50 responses that we received, we have established people, both male and female between the age groups of 25 and 34, living in London (60% live in London) are the target audience for this campaign. (Survey Monkey, 2013) According to Mintel, those aged 25 -­‐ 34 could be considered a key demographic for the cycling holiday market, as just under a third cycle as a leisure activity at least once a month. (Fig.2) (Mintel, 2013) Fig. 2: Walking and cycling as leisure activities performed once a month or more, by age, January 2013 Base: 2000+ internet users aged 16+ Source: Mintel, 2013

Fig.3: Responses to the question “How often do you use your bike” Source: Survey Monkey, 2013. Fig 4: Responses to the question “What do you take with you on a bike” Other Research and Evidence

• Brompton has been experiencing good growth in sales in recent years, the company reporting 18.8% growth in unit sales in 2011. (Mintel, 2013)
• According to a 2012 Financial Times report, a stagnation of high street spending in the UK and European slowdown has not hindered 20 per cent year – on – year growth in sales of its niche range of folding bikes. (Financial Times, 2012)
• Cycling has undoubtedly undergone a mini boom in the UK in recent years, with cited reasons varying widely and including Olympic sporting success, the growth of the National Cycle Network and the Cycle to Work scheme. (Bike Radar, 2012)
• Equipment purchase is less common, peaking with cycling, reflecting the fact that it is impossible to do the sport without a bicycle. (Mintel, 2012)

Strategy From the primary research and the other research and evidence, it is clear that most people carry their cell phones when they are riding a bike. The cycling industry is a growing market, where we notice that more and more people are now taking up riding. An ideal accessory to develop would be a small bag that could carry their cell phone, wallet and keys, which would be beneficial, as they would be able to ride light and the wind would not be an obstruction, as compared to other large accessories that cause wind obstruction. Based on the research, the following is the proposed strategy: Our creative strategy is “Customisation and Personalisation.” In conversation with Clare Morrison-­‐Porter, Marketing Assistant at Brompton Bicycle the idea of customisation became apparent. We asked Clare if the company was open to the idea of customising accessories, and her response was positive. The company also customises their bikes such as the handlebar types and the colour of the bars. So, we chose this as our creative strategy. The campaign would be called “The Creative Challenge” (#CreativeChallenge, for use on social media). It will be an integrated campaign (crossing between various media, all intertwining), starting with a competition, where the prototypes of the accessory, will be sent out (in drawing forms) to our target audience. They will be given the chance of customising the accessory, according to their own choice and using that customised drawing, they post a picture on a social media and hashtag #BromptonBikes and #CreativeChallenge

Spending the advertising budget on the above mentioned media is a good idea for the following reasons: Banner Ads

• It is highly inexpensive
• It is very segmented and is defined by the target audience and is very good to find new customers.
• It helps build the brand and raise awareness as the company name and logo pops in front of the consumer. Direct Mail
• It is far more personal, as compared to print ads and posters.
• It is easy to respond to, incase of a competition or an incentive such as a free goodie.
• It is quick to produce. Social Media
• It is extremely interactive.
• It has a wider reach as compared to print ads and posters.
• It will have the same effect in spreading the campaign like ‘word of mouth’ would, as the target audience will share or like the post and it will pop on their friends’ newsfeeds.

Conclusion Ideally, this campaign should start running soon, the aim being June-­‐July 2013. Summer is round the corner and people may be deciding on purchasing bikes and accessories to take with them on a holiday. The fact that Brompton will be all over the Internet will entice people to buy these products and thus guarantee an increase in sales. The timeline to run this campaign would be as follows: Week 1: Creative ideas finalized This week all the designs would be finalized and produced, so that the project can run live. Week 2: Introduction of the competition and banner ad In week 2, the banner ad will go live all over the media. This will be running constantly till whenever the client wishes for it to be live. The competition will be introduced on Facebook and Twitter, so that all the subscribers would be aware that a competition is coming up soon. Week 3: Competition and Direct Mail go live. This week, the competition will begin and the direct mail will be posted to everyone so that they can draw, colour and/or Photoshop it to create their designs, and post it all over Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, thus creating a brand awareness for Brompton Bicycle. Week 4, Week 5: Competition continues The competition will be on for 3 weeks, starting in week 3 and finishing off in week 5. Week 6: Creating a buzz Announcements that the competition has closed, the selection process is ongoing and that winners would be announced shortly. Week 7: Announcement of the winners The winners (1 male and 1 female) would be announced in this week. The above proposal is definitely going to lead this campaign to be a huge success and would surely help in increasing the awareness of Brompton Bicycle, as well as the sales of the Brompton accessories.

12. Morrison-­‐Porter C., 2013, Would the company be open to the idea of holding a competition and customization? [face to face conversation] (Personal communication, 8th^ May).