Cyclr Tales

Written by Kobi Ansong, Cyclr Communications Director & co-founder

Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce you to The Scope, Cyclr’s new social icon. What exactly is a social icon and how the heck is it different from a logo?

Essentially they’re the same: visually-pleasing symbols that represent a brand. The difference comes into usage and implementation. 

Logos are typically the name of the company written in a specific font and stylized to match the company’s aesthetic. Social icons, on the other hand, are usually symbols that can represent the brand apart from the logo.

So what’s the purpose of the social icon? Believe it or not, they are massively important, especially in our digital age when a Twitter/Facebook presence is a necessity for the neighborhood deli. Social media avatars are so tiny that most of the time brands can’t properly fit their names in the boxes. Social icons sum up the logo in one simple figure. Don’t believe me, check out Twitter’s Twitter avatar.  

Great brands are usually really anal about reproduction of their logos and social icons. A fews months back in London, I managed the PR for a Google and Barclays supported charity bike ride and Barclays threatened to retract their donation if they weren’t allowed to review their logo on the rider’s jerseys before the ride started. 

Many brands have strict policies on their logos and social icons and even specify that their logos and social icons never appear next to each other.

Although I’m no designer, I’m a freak for sleek designs. If your designs, products/services, and communications are thoughtful and consistent, your company will give birth to an angelic baby named “Brand Loyalty” or Lilly, I always liked that name for some reason. 

  Written by Kobi Ansong, Cyclr Communications Director & co-founder

  Apparently women don’t like to be objectified

Over the past year I’ve learned a shitload about branding. 

As the freelance communications director for Cyclr, I’ve been leading brand voice creation, communication strategies, and some PR here and there. 

Myself along with a team of passionate designers, web builders, and writers have been building a brand for the past year. And so far, I think we’re doing a pretty decent job. Cyclr is a digital media/ecommerce platform for urban cyclists to discover and purchase products from trendy brands around the world. Our style is elegant, simple, design-forward, and intelligent.

We’re at a place where we know our consumers intimately: what they want, why they want it, and what kind of beer they prefer on summer evenings. But, we weren’t always this familiar. In fact, there was a time — before our team was fully in place — when Gerry and I made a rookie branding mistake that ended up offending a lot of people. 

It was a transitional moment for us. We were changing the name of our company and wanted some fun/quirky ways to do it that would engage our followers. So, what’d we do? We released the above meme.

Some of our women followers were extremely offended and a few even vowed to never visit the site again. The only thing that was in our minds when we made it was “this looks cool”, which is absolutely not a reason in branding. We didn’t think about the consumer, only ourselves. And, the result? Lost customers and embarrassment. It was an unfortunate lesson, but an essential lesson all the same.

Written by Gerry Newton, Cyclr Founder

Reflecting on the Cyclr story never fails to amuse me. Cyclr is pretty much a story of unforeseeable events. Did I ever expect to be based at Google Campus London leading a team of four 20/30 something individuals building a content, community and commerce destination three years ago? Hell no. But thats life for you, thats the beauty of it. Sometimes you just have to #rollwithit. Me and my cousin and co-founder Kobi have a hashtag for nearly all of life's moments, but none are more relevant than #rollwithit - its the mantra for my life.

The million dollar question is how did Cyclr begin?

Well, it all started the summer of 2010. I was waiting outside Levi's Regent Street for my then girlfriend at the time to finish work. Even though separated today, I still consider her a huge inspiration. I doubt I'd be in the position I'm into today if it wasn't for her never say no attitude she installed in me over our three year relationship. Anyway, thats another story for another time, back to Cyclr beginnings. So, I'm waiting outside Levi's and my then girlfriends work colleagues boyfriend rolls up outside. When he pulled up beside me on his bicycle something just clicked - a passion was sparked that would change the course of my life. I'm not sure what it was about this bicycle, but something made me fall in love. When my girlfriend strolled outside minutes later, the first words I uttered were "I need Steve's bike". As fate would have it, a couple of months later I owned Steve's bike and thats when it all really begins.

The first few months were like a fairy tale. I spent copious hours pedalling around London on my new stylish ride. I named my bicycle Doris. I loved her dearly. She invoked a child like passion, I couldn't get enough of my single speed vintage steed. Her curves, her blemishes, her convenience, her practicalities - everything was perfect.

However, this fairytale state I was in wouldn't last long. Two months in to my cycling life, the honeymoon period came to an abrupt end. November 2010 I was involved in a near-death motorbike collision. Doris was no more and my life would take a steep dive for the worse. I missed three months off university, life as I knew it ceased to exist for a while and my dear bicycle was gone.

The recovering period was tormenting. This event pretty much shock up my whole prospective on life. It was as if post accident Gerry could see clearly. Aspirations of being an investment banker disappeared and were replaced with new passions. When I returned home from hospital I decided to start a cycling blog. Knowing I couldn't cycle for a few months encouraged me to continue my love of bikes from the comfort of my bed. I quickly became consumed with finding cool brands and products online. At first it was for self indulgent reasons, then I realised other people might be interested in my findings too. Without realising it, Bicycle Basecamp became an online destination for people to discover cycling lifestyle content and cool brands.

I guess the blog emerged at the perfect time; in London and around the world people were beginning to adopt the cycling lifestyle. At the blog’s peak, it reached over 7,000 cyclists each month. From Rio to Budapest, bike-lovers were being inspired on Bicycle Basecamp.

At the start of 2012, I realised the blog wasn’t enough. Bicycle Basecamp’s visitors were requesting links to purchase the cool products featured on the blog. On the flip side, brands suggested that Bicycle Basecamp should open a shop section.

Ecommerce didn't really interest me. I enjoyed the discovery aspect of Bicycle Basecamp. The way in which it connected people with cool brands and wrote creatively about the cycling lifestyle. We were beginning to create a voice that spoke to people who rode bicycles. Cycling for me isn't this all encompassing hobby. It's an element of your lifestyle - it doesn't have to consume it.

With this idealistic view, I decided to explore something new. Maybe a blog shop wasn't right for me or Bicycle Basecamp, but maybe a new media destination was. I'm of the mind set if you're going to do something, you might as well do it big. Why create ripples when you can create waves. The plan was to develop a new media destination, one where content, community and commerce collide.

Like that, the idea for Cyclr was born. The name Cyclr was thought up one beer fulled evening in Atlanta, GA with my cousin Kobi, now communication director & co-founder at Cyclr.

So 12 months on from June 2012 where is Cyclr now?

The Cyclr team

  After lining our pockets with a bit of angel investor Hugh Chappell's cash, the Cyclr team have been hard at work building the new product at TechHub London. Cyclr is made up of individuals passionate about cycling. We are inspired by the simplistic beauty of a bike: two wheels, one frame, one fork, one handlebar, one saddle and a few additional knick knacks, creating a moving piece of art.

I guess with the beta launch of Cyclr.com a new journey begins. Like with everything in my life to date, regardless of outcome I'll continue to #rollwithit. Never take yourself to seriously, except criticism and enjoy every moment.

  Was Cyclr planned? No not really. Will it be successful? Nothing is certain, but we work damn hard to give it a chance. Have I enjoyed the process? Absolutely!

  From lunch with the PM to investment pitches with multimillionaires, every moment has been enjoyable - what more can you ask for.

  And remember...

Written by Kobi Ansong, Communications Director & co-founder at Cyclr

Ladies love the Kob-Miester.

I am a storyteller. I am a traveler on a laughable budget. I am a geeky fantasy reader. I am a digital media maven. I am a loyal hip-hop fan. I am a thrifty thrift story shopper. And, I am a rockstar (in mentality, not musical talent). 

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. to a Ghanaian father and West Indian mother, I have been on an eclectic journey for most of my 22 years.  Shortly after my birth, my parents, a realtor and a legal secretary, relocated to Marietta, GA, a small suburb 20 miles north of Atlanta, where I grew up in a predominantly white southern neighborhood.  As a child, my imagination was rampant. I wrote and illustrated comic books about karate-fighting aliens; I manipulated action figures to rehearse entire action movies, and; I read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe an alarming amount of times.  

My mom would force me to read all the time and, against my will; I started to actually love books. I never considered a career in writing when I was young. Writing was something reserved for old sophisticated brandy drinkers, not a 17-year-old black kid like me. 

As a freshman in college, I knew I wanted to get into business and possibly advertising, but frankly, I needed to get as far away from math requirements as possible. So, I declared an English major. Best decision ever. Although most of the classic literature and analysis essays were pretty useless and unnaturally boring, the courses provided a strong base for making me a proficient communicator, which is an essential and rare skill in every industry. Plus, I made a life-changing discovery: lazy college kids will pay top dollar for an English major to write papers for them.

Writing has took me around the world. From leading a media campaign throughout West Africa for my alma mater to doing a four month communications internship in London. 

What’s next for the Kobster? 

Written by Gerry Newton, Cyclr Founder 

Even though I love start up life, sometimes I question my sanity. I look at my reflection bouncing of my multiple screens and wonder what I’m doing. Why am I working away at 2am on Wednesday morning at Google Campus, when I have a 10:20am train to catch in a few hours to Manchester. I haven’t eaten anything since 1pm, thats if you can count a muller light as food, and I haven’t stepped outside since 11am.

Times like these should probably result in me questioning why I turned down a well paid grad position in Dubai, right? If you’re saying “yeah of course you should be you dumb arse”, you’d be gravely mistaken. Yes, Dubai is a million miles away from the 5 by 2 desk I currently occupy at TechHub in Google Campus, but honestly I couldn’t be happier right now.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Dubai has some awesome beaches, fine dining and good tailors; but very little in this world can compare to the feeling of being involved in a startup.

Last summer one of our intern’s created the infographic below. It’s a map of my journey with Bicycle Basecamp (now Cyclr) way back in November 2010 to summer 2012. Since this was created I’ve grown heaps and bounds, and so to has Cyclr. The team has grown a lot since last summer, but the objective still remains the same. As a team we have a culture of reinvention, continuous improvement and iteration. We take responsibility for our individual work, take risks where necessary and build towards reinventing a marketplace thats in desperate need of a touch up.

Right now we’re just a bunch of 20/30 somethings developing something cool. Will global domination follow? You’ll have to stay tuned to find out.