Ebike Marketing Strategy

[FlatSix911]

What color was that bike?

They call it Sterling... Silver?

The Babymaker - Stealth Road eBike With Belt Drive

Leave boring behind. Classic look with modern Ebike tech. Turn heads and crush any hill in style. | Check out 'The Babymaker - Stealth Road eBike With Belt Drive' on Indiegogo.

www.indiegogo.com

 

[Ebiker33]

Hey, I am not complaining
If they do well in supporting those 9000+ customers, they will grow. Supporting those huge number of customers with their wheels, electronics, battery issues, display issues etc will demand a huge effort.
If not, those 9000 customers will turn towards some other company having learned their lesson and we can help them

This is a true comment, how many people even on EBR own a good Ebike but are looking and already on the search for their next Ebike to increase distance, power, speed, torque climbing ability, better brakes and comfort ? These are like Beta Ebikes for the first timers, Ravi and Pushkar will be happy to help them when they graduate to Alpha Ebikes
And then the used after market with much cheaper used Ebikes opens up the secondary market for more first timers, it's not a bad thing at all.

 

[FlatSix911]

It's not a bad move to be honest, depending on who you're trying to attract as a customer base.

YouTube and Instagram celebrities are no joke... they sometimes have followers of millions, and it's a seriously big business.
FLX used an Allstar Competitive Cheerleader named Demi Bagby as well, for FLX Blade video.
She is well known in fitness industry as well as she is one of the athletes of Chris Heria (Youtube Channel: OFFICIALTHENX) with 5.8 million subscribers.

As far as popularity goes, they can smoke EBR (151k subscribers) in terms influence, and attract completely new customer base.
If you ask Court to review your bike, you might get 10k views if you're lucky. (many are in 1k to 5k)
Ask one of the famous YouTube or Instagram athletes and celebrities, you'll be millions, which is at least 100 times (sometimes 1,000 times) more views.

I'm sold... just let me know where to sign and send the check.

Inquisitr- News, Politics, Kardashians, Reality TV & Celebrity

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www.inquisitr.com

 

[Alex M]

It's not a bad move to be honest, depending on who you're trying to attract as a customer base....

As far as popularity goes, they can smoke EBR (151k subscribers) in terms influence, and attract completely new customer base.

So they are trying to attract customers who don't know... anything. God help their customer service department

My alarm bell usually goes off when I see this kind of marketing material - too little info and too obvious attempts to, er... influence. Even if the product is good. When I want a comedy show I turn my PVR on, thank you very much.

 

[grendel]

As i mentioned before, they have a pretty good e-marketing strategy, they're targeting people who don't know a lot about ebikes so i don't think those people will be disappointed since they don't have expectations at all

I don't mind the use of sexy influencers even if it think it's super cheap and she doesn't seem to be super confortable on the bike, i don't mind abundance of ads on youTube or the Bro-attitude.

What bothers me a bit is the fact that they seem to over promise things: those bikes are cheaper, lighter, quite fast (25mph) for a single speed system, confortable etc.

I'm new to ebikes but it seems to me that you can't have it all. So in that sense, yes people may be disappointed

 

[ebikemom]

While consumers would benefit greatly from "open-source" battery designs

I think open source battery designs are an awesome idea! As ebikes get more and more common I think some folks are going to start crying "uncle" about the unrepairability of their bikes. I think there are consumers out there who don't want to keep replacing their bikes. It's great to have a ride you can enjoy for a long time, keep repairing with easily available parts (even if the maker has gone under), etc.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Rad was smart at marketing by using YouTube influencers effectively. Their sales were quite average until 2017 and then they hired some smart marketing people and see where they are now.

Lectric XP upped the ante a little bit and did a great job giving out free bikes to 50+ YouTubers and the end result, they sold 13,000+ bikes in a year.

On the other hand, Trek doesn't spend money on that kind of stuff but specialized is certainly doing more aggressive marketing.

If you had told a bike company executive 10 years go.. " hey, you need to start a YouTube channel... and advertise on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube".... they would have laughed..
Now, it is essential.

FLX bike amassed close to 10 million in funding purely based on aggressive marketing on social media. It is really fascinating to see how the space has evolved ....

 

[FlatSix911]

I would make a case that the Ebike market is a bit more nuanced than trendy T-shirts styles. YMMV
Like Electric Vehicles, there are many market segments and quality levels available in every price range.
Low-end to high-end hub-drives, mid-drives, and superlight carbon builds for every niche... $600-$6,000-$16,000.

 

[Alex M]

I would make a case that the Ebike market is a bit more nuanced than trendy T-shirts styles.

And more expensive, and more complicated item. The comparison to T-shirts is a reach. You don't have performance issues with a T-shirt, or warranty and post-warranty problems, or parts replacement.

 

[FlatSix911]

okay, I kinda agree, T shirt was not a good example

We get your point... sometimes style wins over substance with current Ebike marketing.

 

[grendel]

Style, in most cases, wins over substance in (pretty much everything) marketing and, oh yes, repetition, never forget repetition

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

oh yes, repetition, never forget repetition

This is true.
Some E-bikes companies spend upto $15,000 per week on Facebook and Instagram advertisement. They bombard you with ads everywhere and slowly it makes an imprint in our sub-conscious.
It is well known in psychology that repetition is very important to induce strong response.

 

[byunbee]

This is true.
Some E-bikes companies spend upto $15,000 per week on Facebook and Instagram advertisement. They bombard you with ads everywhere and slowly it makes an imprint in our sub-conscious.
It is well known in psychology that repetition is very important to induce strong response.

Repetition is the quick and easy way to establish a brand vs developing a reputation over time. You hear it long enough and you start believing it's true. Trump is a good example of this brainwashing phenomena.

 

[FlatSix911]

This is true.
Some E-bikes companies spend up to $15,000 per week on Facebook and Instagram advertisements. They bombard you with ads everywhere and slowly it makes an imprint in our sub-conscious.

It is well known in psychology that repetition is very important to induce a strong response.

I.e.... Babymaker, Babymaker...a never-ending stream on social media.

 

[grendel]

This is true.
Some E-bikes companies spend upto $15,000 per week on Facebook and Instagram advertisement. They bombard you with ads everywhere and slowly it makes an imprint in our sub-conscious.
It is well known in psychology that repetition is very important to induce strong response.

Exactly the whole music industry, when Radio was omnipotent, is based on repetition.

 

[TomD]

I'd say integrity is more important than marketing. Look at how FLX is marketing the BM. Note the clip at 1:12 where a rider zooms up a steep hill. This is a misrepresentation of what the bike can do.

FLX has morphed into a company that cares more about selling bikes and hyping themselves than supporting their customers. Their support is so bad the admin of the Ride FLX facebook group just put a moratorium on complaints:

Ride FLX (before becoming Superhuman) | A lot has changed since this group was formed in 2016 and much is still the same | Facebook

A lot has changed since this group was formed in 2016 and much is still the same. The industry has taken off and FLX has shared in that growth. We have had quite the influx of membership the first...

www.facebook.com

If FLX can't support their current customers just wait until people get their BM, it's going to be a total cluster.

 

[grendel]

I'd say integrity is more important than marketing. Look at how FLX is marketing the BM. Note the clip at 1:12 where a rider zooms up a steep hill. This is a misrepresentation of what the bike can do.

I agree, at the end of the day, marketing is mostly positioning and promotion. It's just a tool, nothing more. If you're dishonest about what your product can do you will have issues in the long term.
There's a subtle line you shouldn't cross between inspiring people and lying to them.
It seems to be that FLX is flirting too close to that line.

 

[FlatSix911]

I'd say integrity is more important than marketing. Look at how FLX is marketing the BM.

Note the clip at 1:12 where a rider zooms up a steep hill. This is a misrepresentation of what the bike can do.
FLX has morphed into a company that cares more about selling bikes and hyping themselves than supporting their customers.
Their support is so bad the admin of the Ride FLX facebook group just put a moratorium on complaints:

If FLX can't support their current customers just wait until people get their BM, it's going to be a total cluster.

FLX had to produce a new video on how to climb hills with a Babymaker single-speed... they must have had a number of complaints.

Their brilliant solution is to carry 11+ mph speed before climbing! Too funny

 

[grendel]

Awesome indeed, 1st technique's called "f*ck the stop signs", usually very popular with the police
Don't know if this's been shared, but that's the 1st review that make me questioned the Babymaker

Meet the Babymaker, the terrible e-bike that just raised 4.7 million dollars - CyclingTips

This mediocre bike with an unfortunate name is setting crowdfunding records and spreading across social media like wildfire. So what do we know about The Babymaker? And is it really as bad as it seems? (Yeah, probably.)

cyclingtips.com

 

[Chancelucky2]

I thought their second technique, go downhill at an angle while crossing the road to gather speed, then turn and head uphill, was even more dangerous. I think most of us like e-bikes, because we don't have to resort to tricks like these.

I did notice that theirfixed gear gear ratio is quite high. I assume it was to be able to claim a top speed of 25 mph.

In any case, I agree. They've crossed a line into covering up the fact that their design isn't really adequate for climbing hills. They said 15 percent grade in the video, but I'm not sure it looked that steep. I've seen steeper and longer in Southern California.