A Business History of the Bicycle Industry Shaping Marketing Practices

Through a historical analysis of the bicycle industry, this book explores how the bicycle was developed, manufactured and marketed, from its origins in the late nineteenth century to the present day. The author highlights the contributions made by the bicycle industry to marketing as it is understood today, tracing key innovations in product development and marketing. Addressing a gap in the literature, this book provides an insightful history of marketing practice for one of the most important products of the twentieth century.

Introduction

The introduction outlines the goals, the content, and the structure of the book. It explains why the bicycle industry is a key contributor to the development of marketing practice despite it was almost completely neglected. The book is organized into four chapters and a concluding chapter.

Understanding the bicycle as a product

This chapter introduces the reader with the complexities of the manufacturing of bicycle as an artifact. Specifically, the bicycle is analyzed through its basic components building upon the concepts of product architecture and product modularity. The chapter reconstructs the development of the manufacturing technology since the introduction of the safety bicycle in 1885. This bicycle is generally referred to as the advent of the modern bicycle, which is still alive nowadays. The chapter attempts to outline how the bicycle industry was organized and how it has been developing during the last 130 years. 

Understanding the market through bicycle statistics

The chapter deals with one of the most controversial and yet relevant issues surrounding the bicycle industry, that is, accessing reliable and precise statistics.  The issue of data is relevant to both managers and other stakeholders to make better decisions about the industry. A common trait of the bicycle industry, since its foundation, is that data are usually incomplete, unreliable, and not updated. The chapter  provides  a historical analysis based on main bicycle statistics available in Italy, UK, Germany, and Japan. Such analysis is intended to show gaps and limitations in available statistics and discuss their consequences for both academics and practitioners.

Marketing the bicycle

This  chapter addresses the contribution of the bicycle industry to the development of  marketing practice as we know it nowadays. The chapter is organized around the three main marketing tools used by the bicycle industry since the introduction of the safety bicycle. The first is the market segmentation framework that is used as a basis for developing a set of offerings consistent with customer needs. The second is the introduction of the annual model change to increase the sales of bicycles every year. The third is using sports as a marketing tool that contributed to build the brand identity of bicycle companies. Surprisingly, such tools are still the core marketing strategy of the whole bicycle industry after 130 years and, more importantly, they influenced  and still influence the car industry.

Twenty years of variety marketing in the Italian market: Cannondale 1998-2017

Conclusion

The concluding chapter highlights the main lessons drawn from previous chapters regarding the marketing of the bicycle and offers a potential path for further research on the bicycle industry.