Little bird campaign
This is a campaign apparently from the 1980s, which I was able to find on YouTube. It features comedian Lenny Henry as ‘Little Bird’, the Raleigh Heron brought to life in animated style. I’m interested in the way that Raleigh appear to be positioning themselves here. Raleigh obviously did at one stage have an excellent, if not unrivaled, name in high performance bikes (namely from their division built up around Carlton and Special Products division). However, in the minds of cycle enthusiasts today, that association is no longer there. Raleigh’s brand was built on winners by associating the brand with sports men like A.A.Zimmerman right up to Reg Harris and ‘Reg rides a Raleigh’. I’m particularly interested by the copy writing on this advert
‘Always a winner, whatever your age’ followed by the Heron logo and ‘The strength of the name’
Raleigh was ‘The all steel bicycle’ so this last line makes a lot of sense and ties in with what the Raleigh brand; a safe friendly and reliable personality. I also feel that the origins of the Raleigh brand is most definitely tied in with winners; as founder Frank Bowedon appears to have gone to considerable effort in attracting renowned riders of the time. More recently Raleigh have been sponsoring British champion Nicole Cooke but I’m not sure that’s the case today. A little bird told me she was signed with Team Halford’s Bikehut.
Filed under: N.P.D.
Red in the face
Blue Peter presenter Konnie Hoq was the centre of a political row last year when she endorsed the Hovis London Freewheel. The criticism at the time was that Huq was sidelining the neutrality of the BBC by associating herself with Labour Lord Mayor of London Ken Livingston. The Times reported in August 07 that she ‘defied the corporation’ forcing the BBC to apologize to the Conservatives. But in a recent article published in the Daily Mail (brought to my attention by quickrelease.tv) Konnie Huq downplays the brief scandal.
“All I said was cycling is fun and healthy for all the family, and apparently that was political,”
Indeed, under the headline
‘How you can get a body like mine, by cycling-mad former Blue Peter presenter Konnie’
Konnie Huq describes how she has avoided the Gymn choosing instead to cycle and walk. The Mail suggests that ‘Konnie, 32, could even be labeled a cycling activist’. Interestingly, Huq herself appears to believe that she got into the habit whilst attending University in Cambridge; England’s main cycling capital
“At uni you were weird if you didn’t cycle. The police used to auction stolen bikes, which you could buy for £10. People would buy a new bike every term and then just dump it.”
Perhaps not the most shining example concerning sustainability but Konnie Huq (as it has been suggested before by The Times) is a very suitable role model when it comes to female cyclists who’s involvement in cycling represents half compared to men. The Dailymail may have their own pro-cycling agenda of course and the headline would seem to hit the bulls eye in terms of a motivator for more women to cycle. In addition to this Huq talks about her other built in fitness routine; practicing leg lifts whilst concentrating on other activities
“I devised my own technique,” she says. “If you’re chatting on the phone, you just lift and hold your legs – it makes your core stomach muscles really hard. You can do it anywhere. Maybe I should bring out a fitness video.”
Filed under: History | Tags: Gregory H. Bowden, raleigh cranks, tubular fork-crown
Crowns and Cranks
One of the most noted features of the original Raleigh bikes is talked about in Gregory Bowden’s book ‘Raleigh Cycles’. The ‘tubular fork-crown’ owed itself to new technology developed in America which Raleigh had adopted
‘It was introduced in 1892 and consisted of a length of round tube to which the steering post and fork blades were brazed. One of the advantages of the new crown revealed a short time later when the introduction of pneumatic tires necessitated wider crowns and other manufacturers were faced with the expense of scrapping their stocks of castings in favour of a wider new size.’
Another added benefit of the tubular crown fork was that it acted as a distinctive signifier. The tubular crown fork may have meant that a Raleigh bike could easily be singled out in a group of similar looking black bikes.
The other important and long standing feature Raleigh bikes employed was its famed Heron crank. In designing the Heron crank, Raleigh added yet another distinguishing feature to their bike design that is even present in the ‘Chopper’. I would like to trace exactly when Raleigh decided to stop using the Heron crank and what reasons lie behind it. Today, with a lot of bike parts becoming increasingly homogenised, you no longer see the beautifully designed chain wheels that helped distinguish bike brands like Raleigh from other competitors.
Filed under: History | Tags: Bicycle History, John Woodeforde, Raleigh advertising
Magic Carpet Ride
It is estimated, in John Woodforde’s book ‘The Story of The Bicycle’ (1970), that Raleigh controlled three quarters of the bicycle industry in Britain at that time. By that stage Raleigh not only produced bikes with the famous Heron head badge but had also swallowed up many other British cycle companies including Humber, Triumph, Hercules and Moulton. It’s worth noting here that Bowden had been so successful in building Raleigh’s brand in the late 19th century that within 10 years of purchasing it, Raleigh was the largest cycle company in Britain. According to Woodforde’s writing, Raleigh at the time of 1896, was producing 30,000 bicycles annual; a marked improvement on the four a week that its original owners capable of outputting. But far from giving into temptation to cut corners in aid of the bottom line Raleigh’s policy, according to Woodeford, was ‘quality before quantity’.
‘In its advertising Raleigh concentrated on the health aspects of bicycling.’ writes Woodeford before proceeding to talk about how the firm skillfully handles the impinging motor car market.
‘Raleigh went all out to make customers of factory workers, clerks and shop assistants. It was worth saving up, said Raleigh, to buy the means of enjoying “a refreshing weekly ride in the open air”.’
Woodeford then goes onto to provide us with even further insight into how Raleigh presented itself to the public.
‘A glossy Raleigh pamphlet on 1923 begins with the words: “Is your life spent among whirring machinery, in adding up columns of figures, in attending to the wants of often fractious customers?”‘ He goes onto quote the copy further
‘Don’t you sometimes long to get away from it all? Away from the streets of serried houses…only a few miles away is a different land, where the white road runs between the bluebell-covered banks crowned by hedges from which the pink and white wild rose peeps a shy welcome.
Sheltering amongst the trees you see the spire of the village church-beyond it that quaint old thatched cottage where the good wife serves fresh eggs and ham fried ‘to a turn’ on a table of rural spotlessness, for everything is so clean in the country…Rosy health and a clear brain is what Raleigh gives you…’
At a glance, this style of copy writing seems alarmingly innocent compared to the sophisticated styles of marketing and advertising we have today. But the psychology is quite self possessed, first depicting the prison before showing the promise of escape. The style of writing which is deliberately romantic, takes the reader on a journey, not just outside the city walls, but into a carefully constructed past; a past that offers us a less complex and all but forgotten way of life; a false yet familiar environment; eden. And in the last line of text the message is most telling, for what Raleigh really offer their consumer is simply spiritual absolution and enlightenment of the mind – ‘Rosy health and a clear brain’. What’s interesting is its literal style of the ad. Where as in hindsight we would consider this style of advertising to be rather stiff, this predates the television boom.
The advert pictured above, although drawn up some years after the above copy, doesn’t stray too far from this same theme.
Filed under: History | Tags: A.A. Zimmerman, Gregory Bowden, Raleigh, Sir Frank Bowden
Origins of Raleigh
The story behind the Raleigh company begins with Sir Frank Bowden who, after a successful career as a lawyer in Hong Kong, returned to England in poor health and an ‘inactive liver’. He was given only months to live but, determined he would find a way to stave off death, consulted a doctor in Harrogate who prescribed him what was finally to cure him
‘Taking me to the window of his study, he drew my attention to a man who was slowly and steadily driving a tricycle around the Square and told me that the rider three weeks previously could not move his legs.’ (Bowden, Gregory – Raleigh Cycle)
Impressed by this, Bowden himself moved to France and took up cycling, purchasing a trike which he had shipped. Within four months, Bowden found his health to be restored to such a level that he then embarked on a cycling tour of Arcachon; quite a recovery indeed. On returning back to England, Bowden decided to graduate to what was known as the ‘Safety Bicycle’ (standard bike as we know it) and happened upon three bike makers based in a small workshop on Raleigh Street, Nottingham. Bowden was so impressed with the bike that he bought that he then decided to buy the company and involve himself with the industry that saved his life.
Raleigh Cycles was established in 1888. Bowden quickly sought out a new premises in which the company would be allowed to expand. In his book on the history of Raleigh cycles, Gregory Bowden (Sir Franks grandson) gives a detailed account of how the company was first set up
‘In order to be sure of appealing to every sector of the high-quality bicycle market, he decided at an early stage to bring out a wide range of models – a policy which has been pursued by the firm ever since.’
Indeed by 1890, Raleigh exhibited twenty three different models at Stanley Cycle Show in London, a good illustration as the speed and appetite Raleigh had for developing competition. Like now, weight was considered to be an issue and the Nottingham Guardian wrote in a review of Raleigh’s latest offerings
‘No fewer than 12 of these machines are from new designs. They include a tandem safety [...] This weighs 73-lbs but there is also a lighter machine weighing 640lbs on which Messrs. W.C. Goulding and F.T. Bidlake have already ridden 65 miles in 4 hours 5 mins on the Great Northern Road.’
Bowden was quick to associate Raleigh with winning athletes, not only aware that it was a good source of PR but also served to strengthen Raleigh’s winning brand. In 1892 Raleigh had already managed to endorse a selection of the worlds top cycle athletes including A.A. Zimmerman who was considered to be world champion at the time.
Filed under: N.P.D.
False start
Earlier this week I picked up Marketing magazine only to discover an article with the title ‘Sales stuck in low gear’. The article is dealing with how, despite a concerted push by government and local governments to improve on the numbers cycling, sales figures in the bike industry are still ‘flat’ due to cyclists either dusting off their old machines or trying their hand with the second hand market. The irony in all of this is of course that whilst the evangelist of the cycling lobby are preaching about the positive effects cycling will have on the environment, there’s nothing particularly healthy about the amount of bikes being produced in China and India each year and so consumers (it seems) are in fact practicing something much more ecological than cycling itself; re-cycling. The stats that Marketing magazine draws on (in complete contradiction to the stats found on quickrelease.tv) are based on a report published by research group Mintel. A visit to Mintel’s site supplies an introduction to their findings (valued at £1500)
“there remains a strong public perception that cycling, at least on the road, is simply too dangerous. Despite benefiting from the encouragement and investment of government and advocacy groups, the market for bicycles is suffering at the hands of low levels of sporting participation in the UK in general, and this poses a massive barrier to increasing not only market sales but general levels of cycling in the UK.”
So it seems (if we can read into this as some sort of conclusion) that cycling as a sport in Britain hasn’t got the sort of profile needed in order to help encourage other cyclists. Despite the best efforts of London mayor Ken Livingston and the staging of the first leg of the Tour de France last year in Kent, cycling still hasn’t captures the imagination of the British public in the way that the industry or people like Cycle England would like it to.
However, in the side bar under ‘Analyst comment’, James McCombe (Analyst, Enlightenment) writes
‘In Britain the outlook for retailers and manufacturers of bicycles and cycling accessories is good. Each year since 2002, and extra 200,000 people have started cycling regularly, according to TGI. This trend seems likely to continue as pro-cycling initiatives gain traction, particularly in major cities’
He goes onto say however that whilst cycling has increased in the country, in contradiction to these figures, bike owner ship and consumption of bikes has gone down. This, McCombe goes onto say, may be based on a growing trend of committed cyclists spending more money on their bicycles (in excess of £350). His estimate is that the bicycle buying market has shifted into the ‘AB social grades and toward London and the South East’. He concludes by saying that the high end of the market may continue to support the manufacturers in the meantime whilst government initiatives catch up with the growing trend.
However, Mintel may or may not be aware that 2007 was one of the worst summers on record; a fact which deeply effects bike sales. Whether or not this has contributed substantially to slow growth in the industry is of course open to debate but it needs t0 be recognised as a major contributor in the face of this data.
The above graph has been re-produced courtesy of the magazine Marketing and represents (in their words) 638 adults aged 15 + who have bought a new bike in the past 12 months. The source is credited as being GB TGI, BMRB Q4 2007/Mintel
Filed under: N.P.D.
The long and winding road
Whilst researching possible trends that may effect the English Bike market I came across the NCP plan. In 1996 the then Conservative government, lead by prime minister John Major, launched the NCP (National Cycling Plan). The proposed strategy was hoped to
1. Increase cycle use
2. Provide more cyling facilities and better infrastructure for cyclists
3. Improve cycle safety
4. Allow for cyclists to combine their cycling with other modes of transport (i.e. trains)
5. Reduce theft
6. Reward cycle use
7. Raise public awareness
8. Provide proper bicycle parking
The original ambition of the NCP was to double the figures of people cycling by 2002 and to quadruple the number of trips by 2012. In 2005 the NCP was reviewed, these targets had not been met and (as mentioned before) the NCP was replaced with ‘Cycle England’.
“We created Cycling England in 2005 to work with local authorities and
the various cycling groups to devise better ways of improving facilities for cyclists and increasing the numbers of people choosing to cycle.”
Writes Ruth Kelly, Secatery State for Transport in the document ‘A Sustainable Future for Cycling’ (found on the DfT website). There is further detail within this document as to why the government chose to invest so heavily in cycling
“We have decided to make this investment because of the health, environmental and
other positive impacts of cycling; the successes of Cycling England in its first 3 years,
which encourages us to be confident that the new investment is deliverable; and the
high value for money of the proposed programme.”
And the document estimates that obesity in the UK has risen considerably
“Obese people die on average 9 years earlier than those with a healthy
weight. Obesity rates have trebled over the last three decades and now affects
one-quarter of adults and 10% of children”
With this in mind the government are clearly willing to invest the £140 million in ‘Cycle England’ in the hopes of offsetting these figures against potential costs to the health system in the future
“Economic modeling carried out for Cycling England shows that increasing cycling
levels by 20 per cent by 2015 has the potential to save £107 million in reducing
premature deaths, £52 million in NHS costs and £87 million in reduced absence from
work.”
Other targets that the government hope Cycle England might help achieve are:
Climate Change
The Climate Change Bill aims to cut 60% emissions by the year 2050
Air pollution
“Currently estimated to reduce the life expectancy in the UK by 7–8
months with estimated equivalent health costs of up to £20 billion each year2.”
Congestion
“Congestion and the associated consequences for productivity, the environment
and quality of life.”
So the government has fostered long term commitment, hoping to increase the amount of trips made on bike in the UK. In the Quickrelease.tv document on Bike Stats, they theorise on the impact this will all have on the UK cycle industry
“The demand for bikes will likely increase over the next ten years in the UK, especially as the National Cycle Network and government-sponsored cycle friendly initiatives kick in. However, the multiplicity of brands, and the relatively high number of independent cycle retailers and multiples, will mean the cake has to be cut many ways.”
