Schwinn is the quintessential American bicycle brand, but by 2010, no one seemed to remember them.
Their goal was to move into mass retail, but the road had been a bumpy one, causing prices to plummet and resentment to build with mom-and-pop shops. Seventy percent dropped the brand. For Schwinn to pull back from the brink of bankruptcy, we’d need to help bring back their luster. They gave us one year to do it.
For a product that relies on sell-in, it was critical to catch the eye of a handful of people: the buyers that controlled the country’s top retailers, like at Walmart and Target. Leaning in to Schwinn’s well-mannered charm, we sent them personalized collateral, like these letter-pressed bike maps of their cities.
Next up: Bike It Forward. This 30-day social media promo asked users to enter one of their friends into a giveaway for a Schwinn bike. That’s right, they couldn't enter themselves, but that only served to pique media interest and ensure twice the number of entries, as guilty pals returned the favor. And of course, in the process, all those folks got a peek at Schwinn’s full product line.
It was a simple, scrappy initiative, but it grew Schwinn's Facebook presence by 3,000%.
TV launched mid-summer, in the cities where our retail buyers lived. As luck would have it, we’d licensed a track that was about to take off across the Billboard Charts, making a bigger impression than we paid for.
And finally, we ended the year by assembling the world's first bicycle bell choir.
Using only their bike bells, the Schwinn Bell Choir played 3 timeless holiday carols: Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls and Auld Lang Syne.
Each of the songs could be sent to friends. And the more carols sent, the more bikes Schwinn promised to donate to the Boys & Girls Clubs.
If you’re curious how we made the bells or want to hear what the Schwinn Bell Choir sounded like,
check out this video:
At the end of the road, our bike maps were featured in the Graphis Design Annual, and the Schwinn Bell Choir was recognized by the FWA, the Webby’s and the AIGA. Schwinn hit their goal of 1MM units sold and most important of all, we had protected the 116-year old brand.
Life’s a ride. (Enjoy it on a Schwinn.)