Josh Kadis is a freelancer and marketing consultant specializing in copywriting, web content, and WordPress production for the bicycle industry.
Posted on 14. Jul, 2010 by Josh in Bike industry, Marketing | No Comments
The bike industry has its faults but at least we’re not just cranking out ads that gush with empty pontifications about American greatness. Let’s compare the 2011 Jeep and Corvette campaigns to one of my favorite sections in last year’s Zipp catalog.
Posted on 14. Jun, 2010 by Josh in Bike industry, Marketing, Sponsors | 3 Comments
Despite the legend of its namesake, Eddy Merckx Cycles NV is a small company. And if you’re small, you do what you have to do to get attention. But is a shock campaign the right approach? Sort of.
Posted on 21. Apr, 2010 by Josh in Bike industry, Marketing | No Comments
There’s a palpable optimism in the bike industry, and much of it is due to a belief in the bicycle as a instrument for positive social change. But in the most ambitious mainstream advertising campaign in the industry’s recent history, that sense of activism is nowhere to be found. Still, the ads are pretty good.
Posted on 29. Mar, 2010 by Josh in Bike industry | 10 Comments
Mark Sanders – the man who brought you the no-spill cutting board as well as some nifty folding bikes – gave this presentation at the Taipei show and it’s worth a look. Although he compares bicycles to everything from iPods to electric shavers, Sanders himself wrote in a comment on BikeRadar that one of his preferred yardsticks is the humble microwave. That, he claims, is what the bicycle should be like: functionally simple, readily available, and designed for everyone.
Posted on 15. Jan, 2010 by Josh in Bike Racing, Bike industry, ROAD Magazine | 3 Comments
The bike industry knows that the overwhelming majority of serious cyclists don’t race, at least not formally. Nonetheless, the common assumption has been that these consumers desire the same qualities in their bikes, components, and accessories as professional racers do. But this assumption is eroding.
Posted on 20. Nov, 2009 by Josh in Bike industry | No Comments
Here’s my take on the soon-to-be-really-really-ugly lawsuit between Trek and Greg LeMond. Once Lance won his first Tour, there was no way that Trek could pursue the massive opportunity of its association with Armstrong without putting the LeMond line on the back burner. That’s what doomed the partnership.
Posted on 22. Oct, 2009 by Josh in Bike industry, ROAD Magazine, Trends | 1 Comment
Here are a few excerpts from my next column for ROAD Magazine. The topic is the new dichotomy in cycling between the hegemonic modernism – driven by the notion that high-end cycling consumers want increasingly high-performance, race-proven equipment – and the new postmodernism – which filters simplicity, camaraderie and iconic elements of cycling’s past through an artistic lens. I’ve also collected a few thoughts about Frank Vandenbroucke’s passing.
Posted on 26. Sep, 2009 by Josh in Bike industry, Trends | 3 Comments
Back in December 2008, I interviewed Puma CMO Antonio Bertone about how that brand has become involved in bike culture on multiple levels. He had less than glowing things to say about the bike industry. So, 9 months later, I was surprised to see Puma exhibiting a fixed-gear at Interbike. My interpretation is that, despite the bike industry’s growing efforts to reach the new urban consumer, Puma sees interest in bikes increasing even more quickly.
Posted on 29. Jul, 2009 by Josh in Bike industry, New Media, Sponsors, Sports Business | 4 Comments
Robert Gourley of Mojave Interactive recently posted this analysis of social media performance during the Tour de France for Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, and Cervélo. What the study fails to address is that Cervélo is a title sponsor of Cervélo TestTeam, whereas Trek, Specialized, and Cannondale are the bike sponsors of Astana, Saxo Bank, and Liquigas. The way I see it, metrics like those used by Mojave are extremely valuable but I think they’re much more useful when tracking single brand’s social media footprint over time.