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December 2006: Bike Friday in Kevin Roberts' new book "The Lovemark Effect"
August 4, 2004: Bike Friday Owner Richard Vallens Wins the Prius!
August 1, 2004: Waiting for the results
CLICK HERE TO VOTE Bike Friday: LOVE IT! and you can win a car if you can write a good love letter about any of the 1000 Lovemarks before June 30, 2004 ... but why not make it an ode to Bike Friday?
In the recent international Lovemarks Poll, Bike Friday stood wheel to wheel with the likes of Harley D, VW Beetle, The Beatles, Barbie Doll, Apple Computer ... brands lucky to have not just a bunch of happy owners, not just hardcore enthusiasts, but a brace of out-and-out rabid FANS. Our fans, who are our customer evangelists, love Bike Friday so much, they root for us even when we occasionally goof. Um, even when it's not so occasionally. Now that's a meaningful relationship ...
One of them, Richard Vallens of Irvine, CA, recently distinguished himself by making it to the top 40 Lovemark Letters out of literally thousands of entries from all over the world in this Poll.
Richard goes in the judging to win a Toyota Prius, one of the more eco-friendly cars on the market these days. He and his wife Mary and their two kids own a Family Tandem and a pair of New World Tourists. So if he wins, he'll be able to fold the Tourists, or pop apart the tandem, put them in the trunk and hit the gas pedal with a very clean conscience.
Thanks to folks like Richard, we hovered around #7 of almost 1000 brands as Bike Friday owners rushed to post their love letters. No sooner had we done so, everyone else wised up and started voting for their personal favorite lovemark and knocking us out of the limelight. It's a jungle out there!
We even got a few negative remarks, but that's what it means to be small and innovative - you're lucky if you can please some all of the people most of the time, and judging from the love letters posted on the poll, our positives far outweigh the negatives.
And from a pure awareness standpoint, imagine all those Pringle, Vegemite, Bang & Olufsen and Telly Tubby fans folks out there now saying - what the @#$% is a 'Bike Friday?' They now know it's a folding bicycle - the world's leading performance travel bicycle.
Thanks to all the fans who posted a love letter, and fingers crossed for Richard.
Lynette Chiang, Bike Friday Customer Evangelist
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May 26, 2004: Bike Friday Special Mention
We've really created an impact on the Lovemarks community. Their e-newsletter said: Community is the essence of Lovemarks. Thanks to all the Bike Friday fans who told us their Lovemarks stories - touring, traveling, single and tandem. Go see Bike Friday. Not bad for coming from nowhere to #7 in 5 days, and being a serious competitor to Jesus Christ for a nanosecond ... and you still have til June 30, 2004 to pen a lovemark letter and win a Toyota Prius, which you can fold your Bike Friday into, or sell to buy a few more Bike Fridays! You can write about any of the 1000 lovemarks, but why not save your best effort for your trusty traveling companion. Click on the e-newsletter for some hints.
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May 10, 2004: 138 say Love It, 22 say Lose It
Well, we seem to be holding steady at #6 folks, beaten by Jesus and Apple and Superman - how can that be?
Wow! We are 3 above Google! Just 3 places behind Christ. We are at 6 and Lego is at 16 out of 704 total brands represented? Microsoft is #702, McDonalds is #703, Barbie is #701, and Starbucks is #995! - Alan Scholz, BF Co-founder
This was really fun...most fun I've had on the YAK!. I guess we BF enthusiasts are a passionate bunch about our Bike Fridays and this is good. By the way, maybe Superman would be great on a Bike Friday......"Folds faster than a speeding bullet". - Richard Clarke Longwood Fl SRD (03) NWT (00)
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May 9, 2004: #6 ain't bad!
Well, after a fleeting stint of fame at #6 out of 1000 on the LoveMarks List, Bike Friday has finally been thwarted by the likes of Rebecca St James (who? She shot to #1 so I guess I should know ...) and slipped to #7. Still, not bad when you're up against the likes of brands like Apple, Jesus Christ, Superman and ipod. Thanks to all YAKsters and readers of this column who took the time for this bit of harmless fun. There's a serious side: think of all the millions of folks who went to that page, and thought, 'who the @#$% is Bike Friday?'. We couldn't buy that kind of awareness with small bucks ... some comments from folks:
Richard C on the YAK!:
With a little more effort, let's make a go of it and get in front of Google, Amy Grant, and ipod, but not Superman. Superman's my favorite. [Richard, does Superman fold in 30 seconds, pack into an airline checkable suitcase and ride just like your best bike? Er, don't answer that - Ed]
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May 8, 2004: 85 say Love It, 15 say Lose It
Bejayzus! Thanks to your votes and my bleatings about this poll Bike Friday have jumped to the top 10 of over 1000 brands in the LoveMark List. The Love It votes jumped from 6 to 85 in 3 days. The Lose it votes, however, jumped from 7-15...so we have 8 new voters out there who think our bikes suck. Well, can't please all the people all of the time... thanks for voting Love it!
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May 7, 2004: 64 say Love It, 7 say Lose It
Gadzooks! We've gone from 6 votes to 64 in just 2 days. Thanks for being a real sports!
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May 5, 2004: BIKE FRIDAY IS A LOVEMARK!
Bike Friday has been nominated by a couple of switched-on souls, Two'sDay owner Alfred and New World Tourist owner Harvey, in the annual SAATCHI & SAATCHI LOVEMARKS List.
According to the vote as at May 5, 2004, we have 5 folks who say "Love It" and 6 folks who say "Lose It" - are you gonna let them get away with that? If you love your Bike Friday, please go and click 'I love it'. There's even a place for you to add your rave review ... and if you do you can win a Toyora Prius to fold your BF into.
It's "The Future Beyond Brands", according to the official Lovemarks website. Some products are just products, (a toaster is a toaster, unless it's an iToaster of course), others achieve cult status and practicaly usurp friends, lovers and the family pooch for attention and affection. Of course, some people might get so hooked on the way their Braun toaster expertly scorches their daily bread they start interest groups, web forums, then get together for toast-popping parties, seances and such, and before you know it, the Braun Toaster becomes a Lovemark. Not that this is a good thing - we end up with better toasters all round.
Lovemarks is a term invented by worldwide ideas and advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. Yours truly spent a good few years in the Saatchi & Saatchi fold (view some of my fame and folly). The man behind the idea is an affable Kiwi called Kevin Roberts.
By the way ... Could you use a spare $100,000?
Do you have a new folding bicycle design that folds in 1 second, packs in 1 minute into a Ziploc bag and rides better than the first class seats in the Concorde? Every 2 years Saatchi & Saatchi offer a $100,000 prize in their Global Innovation in Communication Competition.
Judges include the creme de la creme of the way-up-and-out-there set like Edward de Bono, Brian Eno, David Byrne, NASA geniuses - all bar the Mighty Creator Himself (I understand he's being contacted).
Previous winners include a wind up radio for countries without an X-box in every child's playroom, a pedal powered light emitting diode, an endoscopic camera inside a pill you swallow - you get the Idea. See the 2003 Winner.
What are you waiting for? Go vote 'Love It' for your favorite folding bicycle - whatever that may be ...
Pastor Alden Ho is evangelical about his Bike Friday - literally. He uses it as a prop for his sermons in far flung countries. Read about it here. Now where's that photo of the woman who sleeps with her New World Tourist...
RELATED LINKS
Bike Friday in Kevin Roberts' new book
Bike Friday owner wins the contest
The kinds of comments that make Bike Friday a Lovemark
Why Bike Friday is a Lovemark for Pastor Alden Ho
Saatchi's Lord of Lovemarks Kevin Roberts
CustomerEvangelists.com blogs about us
Saatchi & Saatchi Global Innovation in Communication Award
Shortcut to this article: http://bikefriday.com/lovemarks
For more information, follow this link http://www.lovemarks.com/index.php?pageID=20015&lovemarkid=49