#raphacycleclub

source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidcooperstein/2015/04/10/rapha-closet-share/#56fd7e717efa

this article taken from FORBES regarding the strategy that read by david cooperstain about well known cycling apparel brand, RAPHA.

between march and may each year, two important things happen. my birthday forms the start of “pre-spring” in which my antsy-ness to get outdoors kicks off. spring (in new england) defines the end of this period. during this “tweener” stage of early april, the sun and attempt at warmth make me, well, go shopping. and as a self-defined cycling enthusiast, the urgency to get on my bike increases weekly, so i start buying cycling gear. this year i was lucky enough to get a collection of birthday gifts cards to buy gear from rapha, a small british brand that i have watched as they have emerged as a luxury brand in the cycling world. gift certs spent, they triggered a personal email to me to join the brand’s rapha cycling club. since the invite came from their marketing team, it prompted me to connect with them to learn more about the club, but also to find out what makes the brand tick. a few interesting things to note about them:

the brand passion is cycling, not the cycling lifestyle. for any dedicated hobbyist, there is caché to knowing that the brand you love is as devoted to the sport or interest as you are. chefs love le creuset, golfers love titleist and skiers know that kjus and poc are the best because they focus on great gear for the ski slopes. rapha came along to give cycling an honest edge when it was needed the most, and a fashionable stance that was lacking in the multi-logo’d kits of team members and charity riders.

it was an original ‘online first’ company.warby parker, bonobos, and a few others started an online-first branding revolution that has made its way back to the physical world. companies like birchbox, propercloth, and mack weldon now appear ubiquitously in a facebook feed near you. unlike these brands, rapha also has a wholesale strategy currently, where stores with the right experience, like ride studio café here in boston or mellow johnny’s in austin bring the right coffee + clothing + enthusiast vibe that helps build the brand.

share of closet is more important than being in everyone’s closet. some brands expand their repertoire and top line revenue by going into new product lines. the expansion of brands like sketchers or quicksilver into so many different offerings runs the risk of diluting the special nature of the brand. think porsche vs. bmw. for rapha, this means extending the number of purchases that loyal customer make with the brand (for example, i happen to have quite a collection of rapha gear now, both for on the road and après vélo) versus approaching the broader market with offers that bypass the content-driven brand engagement. of course, the former influence the latter, driving growth with loyal customers and expanding the reach of the brand to new customers.

building a brand like this is not easy, as there is a fine line between exclusivity that creates demand, and exclusivity that precipitates obscurity.

to combat this, rapha was early to:

embrace content marketing. content creation – be it garment development for team sky and their post-lance hero sir bradley wiggins or chris froome, to leading unsupported prestige races all over the world – is core to the expertise, exclusivity and elusive brand standard. it serves to engage those who share the passion, and bypass those who don’t.

apply digital-era thinking to the brand growth strategy. using some now common approaches such as on-brand pop up shops in cool districts like the bowery in nyc and clerkenwell in london, the brand built a buzz for those in the know that is the linchpin for luxury brands and biking brands on the rise.

build a virtual community of enthusiasts who help one another. communities form and fail for a variety of reason. in the sports world, nike+, strava, and rapha succeed because they engage the community to sustain itself, and provide the perks and platforms to guide that success.

how do these lessons of a small, high-end brand apply to other marketers? advocacy and focus are the two lessons to learn, whether you are mass-market, B2B, or niche.

know the passion that drives your brand. mass-market items from ketchup to computers have brand enthusiasts. heinz maintains the #1 or #2 position in over 60 markets worldwide. adobe and apple are brands that have unique communities and brand love that drive their success. the message, distribution, and ways to engage all have to align to make that fan base return again and again.

find the hook to bring in new enthusiasts. apple’s latest move – to allow the apple store to take trade-ins of non-apple mobile devices – lures people into the ecosystem without judgment. it helps people feel good about making a change, and provide a brand-relevant intro to the experience.