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Seems like a reasonable move for Trek
Last Post 06/02/2013 07:04 PM by Evan Solida. 8 Replies.
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Ride On
Posts:537
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| 05/27/2013 04:10 PM |
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They have to do something or they risk becoming irrelevant
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/trek-set-to-take-title-sponsorship-role-at-radioshack-leopard-in-2014
Is Specialized the mass market high end brand now? |
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JS
Posts:61
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| 05/27/2013 05:43 PM |
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| TREKs only failing is from a marketing perspective. They mailed it in during the Lance years (because they could) but now they are way off the back. |
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jmdirt
Posts:775
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| 05/27/2013 07:32 PM |
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| I agree with JS (their marketing WAS LA in the LA years). Their recent marketing/advertising is pretty good though. I think that all bike companies should do more "main stream" advertising though. |
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Ride On
Posts:537
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| 05/28/2013 06:15 AM |
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| Yes Specialized has been doing very well on the marketing side. |
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GJanney
Posts:76
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| 05/28/2013 02:39 PM |
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I would add that Trek makes some great high-end bikes. I have a Madone 6.9 as part of my stable of four bikes, and it is every bit as good as my Time and my Cervelo. You are right - they need to do more to get the word out about their product.
Sometimes I wonder if they are "too associated" with Dopestrong that they have a marketing cloud over them. |
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Hoshie
Posts:134
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| 05/28/2013 04:29 PM |
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Well, they tied the brand so strongly to Lance that the diehards said "that's too mainstream, non euro for me" or some type of variant but the new entrant roadies did spend big with that brand. Now that Discover / Postal / Shack is not the hot ticket, Trek does have some work to do because the diehards probably don't cross shop them, and the newbies and ex-LA crowd may have different desires at this point.
Certainly an interesting marketing challenge.
I agree that Specialized seems strong on the marketing front - from Pro team sponsorship, to ongoing product development, looks like a very strong position at the retail level.
I don't follow the numbers, so hard for me to really gauge. I will say that where I live, Specialized is a very popular brand and their ancillary products like shoes have a strong reputation for quality as well so that may skew my belief that they are rising in brand perception and sales.
j
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Hoshie
Posts:134
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| 05/28/2013 04:37 PM |
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Hm...looks like brand sales numbers a little tricky in the bike biz. Perhaps CK has some secret source
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/opinion-analysis/2012/06/20/rick-vosper-whos-number-1
J |
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Gonzo Cyclist
Posts:568
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| 06/02/2013 12:04 PM |
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Spez is the 800lb gorilla in the room, always will be I think, Trek has a faithful following, as does Giant. I think people are not too happy with monster corporate companies such as these, and now prefer to buy something more unique, and not so much mainstream. Spez, Trek, and Giant all make some fine high performance bikes, but to me they are all plain vanilla, no "WOW" factor for there, except for the Venge, but it's still a Spez.
It's so nice to work in a shop where we sell Cinelli, Ciocc, Tommassini, Olmo, and Conago, and Volagi on the road side, and we do quite well. On the MTB side we do Santa Cruz, Ritchey, Turner and Pivot, and we do quite well there also, all are sold before we can even build them and put them on the sales floor, we ask people, do you ant to blend in, or would you rather set your self apart from the crowd? |
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6ix
Posts:485
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| 06/02/2013 07:04 PM |
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Not trying to defend Specialized or Trek, but after taking some time away from the industry and now finding myself thrown right back into the middle of it, I have a new view on things. The fact is that they both make some incredible bikes. The funding they have for research and development is incredible, as is the talented individuals they have on staff. In my opinion, they are the two companies to aim at.
True, Trek put WAY too much into the Lance collection plate. That said, it wasn't like all of Trek's employees were running around saying that the company should fund Lance's team. It's not their fault and they shouldn't have to be punished for something that was beyond their control.
I personally struggle with Trek. My first road bike was a 1992 Trek 1400 (bright freakin' red!!) That was the same year they released the OCLV bikes and I fell in love with the company and their technology. At the time, those bikes were incredible. Even today, I think that the latest Madone is the benchmark road bike on the market. I know a few of the ID'ers in the company and they were seriously talented individuals. Their graphic design team is top-notch.
I would assume the same for Specialized. They value the input of industrial designers, and that's evident in their products.
But getting back to the subject...Trek is here to stay. They are nearly a BILLION dollar company with enough resources to probably fund a manned mission to Mars. Sure, they made some serious mistakes, but those mistakes were made by a few key individuals, not the entire company. Just because a few people chose to go down a dark path doesn't necessitate punishing everyone involved. |
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