Authentically Influencing a High Consideration Sale, with Juliet Scott-Croxford, President of Americas at Brompton Bicycle

Transcript

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Lauren Livak Gilbert (00:00):

Welcome to unpacking the Digital Shelf, where industry leaders share insights, strategies, and stories to help brands win in the ever-changing world of commerce.

Peter Crosby (00:22):

Hey everyone. Peter Crosby here from The Digital Shelf Institute. When you are a brand selling products that fuel a lifestyle, there can be often be a ton of education, inspiration and connection that needs to happen with that shopper before they convert the team. At Brompton Bicycles, creator of the Foldable Bike is led in the Americas by Juliet Scott -Croxford. One of the marketing approaches they have refined to achieve that connection is bespoke campaigns with influencers that can attract new consumers and inspire a test drive. She joins the podcast today to walk us through the power of authentic influence and done right, the multiple KPIs it can drive to enhance a brand and accelerate a sale, accelerate bikes. See what I did there? Welcome to the show, Juliet, and thank you so much for being here. We're just thrilled to have you here.

Juliet Scott-Croxford (01:15):

Thank you, Peter. I'm thrilled to be here.

Peter Crosby (01:17):

Today. We get the privilege of diving into the world of Brompton's, foldable bicycles and a company that really helps get people moving. Your website is so inspiring. It made me want to buy one immediately, which I still haven't done yet, but maybe a Christmas bonus will come my way or something. But so much of your strategy, authenticity is so important to the Brompton brand, and so you've made collaborating with influencers and influential people to really help power your mission and the awareness and the connection to your brand. I think that's a pretty strong theme across the industry of finding these authentic relationships that really can drive connection and sales. We really want to dive into that with you and also your new upcoming launch. But we thought we should start just hearing a bit about your background. You've operated across commerce, you've been in media and consulting, and of course now on the brand side. So I think a little bit of background will help our listeners get centered on the brain and the heart that's driving all of this.

Juliet Scott-Croxford (02:29):

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm president for Brompton in the Americas region. You can probably tell from my accent that I didn't originate here, but I arrived in New York 10 years ago just under, and I've really spent the past two decades helping brands grow and transform and connect more meaningfully with their customers and consumers. My background spans leadership roles across media, retail, and lifestyle. I spent a long time at The Guardian and then at Worth Media to my current role now as president of the Americas at Brompton Bicycle. And I think what drives me is building brands with purpose and really helping shape a go to market strategy that not only drives growth, but also creates a positive impact in the world. And Brompton as a brand, I think brings that to life in so many ways, and I do love leading teams through change and unlocking innovation and finding sustainable ways to scale businesses that make people's lives better.

(03:40):

So I think really at the heart of everything I do and Brompton does, is that belief that both commercial success and social value can go hand in hand and that the best brands are built when there's a vision and culture and sustainability come together. And I think that's brought to life through Brompton's DNA, but also the fact that we're a B Corp and that we speak to not only profit, but also people and the planet as well. And then just a little bit before we go into the collaboration and some of the partnership thing, questions you were going to ask me, Peter, I was just going to share a little bit about Brompton. For the listeners that aren't familiar with it, it was established in London in 1975. So Andrew Richie, our inventor, created the first proton, which is this foldable bike originally with 16 inch wheels and it folds into a third of its size in his apartment in London really as a way as a tool to move around the city.

(04:49):

And I like to kind of say that we were the first ever city bike before city bike was even a thing, and we've really been sort of credited for revolutionizing bike manufacturing and mobile transportation, and we manufacture all of our bikes and bike frames in our factory in London. And our riders are commuters, adventurers athletes, and we've really, Brompton really has built this sort of passionate following, obsessed with this balance that the product brings of function and form and quality and style. And now we distribute across 40 plus countries worldwide with every bike still being handmade in London by this kind of quality team of engineers and bras. And it's extraordinary when you see the level of detail that they go into and how this folding system that originated 50 years ago is still really the core part of the product today, even since we've expanded into electric and even since we've expanded to a 20 inch wheel, which is the slightly larger version that we also have today as well.

(06:04):

And alongside brompton.com, which is our e-commerce site where you can purchase Brompton and other accessories. We also have an incredible network of retailers, both independent bike shops and national retailers as well as junction owned retail stores across about 15 key cities worldwide as well. So yeah, I guess maybe the last thing I should say is just a bit about the community. We have a very passionate community of Brompton riders across the world, and I really do think they amplify the brand values and inspire others to rethink mobility and transportation as well as how people can move around cities. And it always makes me smile wherever you go. If I'm on a Brompton, there's always someone that will stop and talk to you.

Lauren Livak Gilbert (07:04):

I love that. And I think everything you talked about is really the core of what brands kind of need to get back to if I think about it, right? All of the brands today that are struggling with profitability or growth or authenticity, they need to get back to the core of who they are. And I love just kind of hearing your description of how you think about the bicycles and the community and all of those elements are just so inspiring to hear about. And I think purchasing a bike is very different than purchasing, let's say shampoo or a new lipstick or something like that. It's more expensive. There's more decisions and questions that kind of go into it. So can you talk a little bit about your consumer journey because I think it might be different than what others experience may be in the food and beverage space or personal care.

Juliet Scott-Croxford (07:53):

Yes, that is an excellent question, Lauren. I mean, first and foremost, we are very actively trying to direct all of our thoughts and thinking and innovation through the mind of our consumer. And anyone in business will know that customer journeys are important because they give that complete end-to-end view of how people actually experience your brand and not just what they buy, but how they feel and how they decide and engage every step in your customer journey. And I think it's also a really nice way to align teams internally if people really understand your consumer journey. And for us, well firstly in the North America market, it's a relatively low awareness brand still, if you compare it to some of the markets that we either originated in IE the UK or where we've seen exponential growth over the last few years, and we tend to look at our market growth city by city as opposed to country by country.

(09:06):

But we know that trial and experience for us is so essential to the consumer journey. And that's why our retail network and our own stores and other activations that we do are really trying to drive with that intention of have a go on the bike. And we also have Brompton bike hire, which is basically a subscription service which does the same thing. So we know that our conversion more than doubles when someone has done a test ride. So from the point of that first connection with the brand and understanding who Brompton is and what we stand for to thinking about, well, is this something I need in my life? And also in each market you're having to break down some of the barriers, which isn't just about price, but about do I feel safe riding in the city that I live in all the way through to, okay, now I want to go into a store and get my hands on this physical thing and try it.

(10:09):

And then in a couple of our stores like DC and New York, we've also done this program called Brompton Borough, which means you can actually experience living with the bike for a period of time. So you're not only doing a test ride like you would with a car where you rock up to a dealership, but you are actually thinking about, well, where would I store it in my apartment or how would I take it to work and where would I leave it then? Or if I was going to go and meet a friend at a restaurant or a bar, which one would I go to? And how receptive are they to that? And it's just a really nice way of consumers getting used to it and thinking of it as a way of life and something that actually makes your life easier. Yeah,

Peter Crosby (10:52):

I was thinking of that as you were talking that it's really not a, oh, should I buy this bike or that bike or this even more specific, this foldable bike or that foldable bike. It's like, do I want to change my life? How get work? And that to me is such a, well, it's an exciting thing to contemplate, but I would imagine the barriers, as you've been saying, can be high and taking them down is a multi phased, multi approach kind of thing.

Juliet Scott-Croxford (11:21):

It is exactly right. And I think that's why we think about how do we activate key cities rather than one size fits all? And why our community, including our retail partners is so important in that journey because they need to obviously understand the cycling footprint of their city and understand what those barriers are more intrinsically in a localized way before you get into all of the technical aspects of the product. And I think obviously there's always some people that have done their research, so I think a lot of people spend some time online, they might have seen people using it on their daily commute or bopping around the city. Then I think a lot of people do their own research online before they then go and test and try it. And at that point, I think is when the more technical aspects of how are you going to be using this product on a day-to-day or a week to week basis?

(12:26):

Is it going to be long distance rides? Are you in a city that's incredibly hilly or actually are you in a fairly flat city where I would ride the tee line in Manhattan, for example, it's fast and I don't need loads of gears, whereas in San Francisco or Seattle you might go, actually no, I need 12 speed. So there is definitely, it is absolutely a journey. And I think kind of taking people on that journey and not going from dating to marriage in one foul swoop is super important. And then I think the other thing is for us, it's really about choice. So that point, however someone wants to purchase, people do like that personalized experience of going into a retailer and also the knowledge that they can take it back if something's not quite right or they need a service. Others just love the convenience of ordering it online and having it delivered direct to home. And I think also that depends on where you live in the country as well.

Peter Crosby (13:31):

It seems like a way to connect with that sort of beginning of the consumer's journey with you. You do make relationships with people who are influential probably who can model that lifestyle and inspire that lifestyle. And we'd love to talk with you about your collaboration with Chantel Martin and how it fits into that overall strategy that you're trying to achieve. What part of the funnel does she sort of represent and how did that collaboration come about?

Juliet Scott-Croxford (14:08):

So a lot of what we are focusing on as well as nurturing our existing community and taking their feedback on how we continuously improve and innovate our products and services is how do we reach new consumers? And we think about our approach to partnerships or collaborations in that way where it allows us to perhaps reach an audience segment or a different audience that we haven't perhaps connected with before or that segment wouldn't necessarily associate with unless they saw it adjacent to another brand that they currently value or use or shop. So first and foremost, it's really for us about reaching a new audience and also I think creating something fresh and newsworthy, but also I think PDU used the word meaningful, and I think that importance of working or partnering with brands that we have a meaningful alignment in terms of values and what we stand for is incredibly important as well.

(15:29):

So we've done a lot of partnerships in the past often because we've come from been born from the UK and we're British, we have partnered with brands such as Barbara and Liberty of London, and then we started to extend it to some other kind of more luxury European fashion houses like Kenzo. And then there was definitely a kind of desire for some of the key regions globally within the Brompton and umbrella to bring suggestions to our central team on. Okay, how about other collaboration examples? And there's some other obvious ones like the Tour de France and Team GB that we've also done just with the association with athletes and cycling. But in September, 2024, we announced our first collaboration with this world renowned artist, Chantel Martin. And Chantel has created this incredible visual world with this very trademark line, black and white line style, which illustrates a flow of storytelling between her subjects and inspiration.

(16:47):

And she's had some real notable successes and works very closely in the education and design and technology space. And we are in December, December 4th, continuing that partnership with Chantel to launch the Brompton Martin P Line, which is one of our super light versions, which as I said, launches on December 4th. And it's really about inspiring you to pedal beyond just the familiar roots and that sense of adventure. And the bike itself is really a tribute to Chantel's imitable spirit and inspiration and to pursue all the adventures and possibilities your mind can imagine with this limited edition prompt. And so it's super exciting that this next launch is coming up. And I think if you've seen her art, it's very spontaneous and she's sort of created some amazing art installations. There was one in Times Square when we launched originally. But yeah, this launch is really about celebrating this shared spirit of creativity and chantel's kind of free hand lines that sweep across the frame and the seat and the fenders assented by this bold pop of pink that energizes the design.

(18:16):

So she's traditionally done this very black and white view, but it's really exciting to include this color aspect to it. And the result is this limited edition bike that really I think can turn someone's daily commute or day-to-day life into this expressive artful experience. And the fact that it's a P line, because previously we'd done something with a C line, which is our more classic style, this is engineered for performance, built for speed, and the P lines lightweight frame and precision handling make it really ideal for modern riders who move through the city with style. So that was really where it was born from and the intention of this upcoming launch.

Lauren Livak Gilbert (19:04):

And I love that she's an artist, right? Because I feel like I think bicycle, I think athlete, that's just the connotation that I think of. But pulling in that creative element, how you were saying, trying to reach new audience and think about your product in a different way, I think that's a really interesting approach. And I'm curious, you talk a lot about community. Was that something that your community clued you into would be a great platform to go to? Or did you hear from them that they wanted more color or creativity? Was there any inkling from your community that this would be a good next step or I'm just curious if there was any connection there?

Juliet Scott-Croxford (19:41):

Yeah, I mean, we've done a lot of work around who without fitting consumers into boxes, segmenting our consumers into who they are and how they use the bite, but also what they stand for and what their values are. And quite often things like travel and art and those sort of cultural aspects that wouldn't necessarily come to mind when you think of a bike came up time and time again. And I think it also leans into that piece around city as well and kind of urban lifestyle. But I think as well brings to life this notion of thinking about Brompton as an extension of your life and a daily hack rather than a separate thing. So it kind of lives with you and allows you to do the things you want to do or be bolder or do more with this convenience of this wonderful stylish looking bike if you,

Peter Crosby (20:48):

Well, there's such a spirit of energy and fun and ambition about her work that, and it's not linear in that, I mean, you have to see it to understand it. So go to brompton.com, but the lines combined with words, it just creates such this sense of being on the go and curiosity. And so that just seems like, to your point, I think earlier, choosing this lifestyle is an adventure. You have to want to shift things up and just change the way you run your day. And I think that takes courage and it takes wanting to be part of a movement to redo it. And I think that this is super inspiring.

Juliet Scott-Croxford (21:49):

Thank you. Yeah, I think so too. And the design is quite arresting. I think a lot of people that are familiar with Brompton and the shape of the bike and those that have been in London or Paris or China will get familiar with seeing it moving around. And then when you layer on this design and this kind creative spirit, and it also I think highlight it highlights the sort of less serious side of biking and Brompton and us as a brand, which is it is about fun and joy and happiness and how can you bring that into our community and into some of the collaborations that we do.

Lauren Livak Gilbert (22:33):

And Julia, when you think about collaborations like this, how do you measure success? I know a lot of listeners are probably thinking about doing something like this or have done something like this, but I think it can sometimes be hard to measure success. So I'm curious how you're looking at that with this new launch.

Juliet Scott-Croxford (22:49):

Yeah, I mean, I think it's a really good question. I think because of that test ride aspect, a lot of the activations that we do now and knowing that that drives such a strong conversion for us, if we are doing a sort of in real life activation, we often use a test ride metric to support understanding what our return and value created is. Certainly with something like Chantelle as well, it's definitely about that additional reach and have we acquired new consumers and we could see with our first partnership that the percentage of new versus existing consumers that purchased the bike was way higher for new. So I think if you've got some quite pointed KPIs around are we trying to acquire new people? Are we driving press perhaps in other publications that we wouldn't have ordinarily got coverage in to create more of a newsworthy moment all the way through to have someone take action, whether it's sharing their email and signing up to our database or actually going through to purchase the bike. So I'd definitely say it's a bit of art and a bit of science, but I think certainly with our digital infrastructure and the focus on performance marketing and search and social, there are good ways now that you can measure the ROI on those types of things.

Peter Crosby (24:28):

And your relationship with your network of bike shops and the end, how do you make sure that you have an open line of data coming back from them? How does all that data happen?

Juliet Scott-Croxford (24:47):

That's a really good question. Not very easily. That's what I was guessing. With a collaboration like this and it's limited editions, there isn't going to be that many of them on sale. But we really try and make sure that we can allocate a percentage of the inventory across all of our channels, whether it's owned and operated or on e-commerce or for our retailers, certainly something like this, which is more limited edition within our retailers. We tier them, so we have a gold, silver, bronze, and when we've got very limited inventory, we tend to skew to our top gold retailers in the key cities that we're really trying to activate rather than kind of open it out to everyone. And then we capture data. It's really about both interests, which tends to be more of a relationship conversation all the way through to, well, what's the sell through been and how many have you sold or what's your inventory? And I'd love to say that that's brilliantly automated and high tech, but I'm afraid it's not. It's often picking up the phone and capturing data as we go. But yeah, I think

Peter Crosby (26:14):

Well, AI will take care of that.

Juliet Scott-Croxford (26:16):

I know. Exactly. Eventually,

Peter Crosby (26:20):

I would like to ask you, if you put your consultant cap back on, when you think of campaigns like this, what is the criteria where a brand can say, this is worth me doing? I'm thinking of you're not doing this for popcorn, I'm assuming, or something. Does it need to be a high consideration product to really warrant the kind of investment that I'm sure you're making? Or how would you advise this as a tool in the toolkit folks?

Juliet Scott-Croxford (26:59):

Yeah, it's a really good question. I mean, I think the way I view these types of collaborations is that it is definitely more of a awareness and reaching new audience play than it is mass volume sales. And I think people often get unstuck when they get backed into a corner when you're doing formal partnerships where you've got a certain sales goal to reach. I mean, we obviously have financial KPIs, so to make sure it reaches a certain or achieves a certain margin. But also there's also this kind of extension of this type of collaboration and the earned media that it allows through PR and press, and also depending on the brand or the person you're collaborating with, they by extension have their own network and reach in order to amplify this that we would've ordinarily had to buy. So there are different ways you can look at it, but I think certainly there's a financial lens.

(28:13):

I think there's also this kind of, I guess from a consulting point of view, we'd almost measure impact versus effort and value creation versus effort and then work backwards from there. The other thing that we have been doing a lot more of recently, because I don't think certainly small to medium sized businesses, many of them are bootstrapped and don't have much marketing dollars at all. So you've got to be really smart with how you spend. And I think the other thing that we've been really thinking about is what's a low lift awareness play where you could almost bolt onto something that's already happening versus having to create it yourself? So we recently did a collaboration with Mark Jacobs, and Mark Jacobs was just about to launch their big brand campaign, all centered around joy in key cities, and it really resonated with the Brompton brand. And for us, that wasn't about masses of marketing dollars in campaign investment, there was obviously an investment in us creating the bikes for that campaign. We did a very limited run of 10 bikes. And the visibility that got and the awareness that drove and the association with some of the other brands in that campaign really I think proved out that you can create value and impact in other ways without having to spend hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars on a marketing campaign.

Lauren Livak Gilbert (29:56):

I love that. And who has that nowadays?

Juliet Scott-Croxford (29:57):

Exactly. I

Lauren Livak Gilbert (30:00):

Wish. I know. Don't we all, Juliet, don't we all? So question for you. You've gone through a couple of different collaborations that you've talked about. So for any brand who is going to try this out, who's going to start a collaboration, what's maybe one learning that you had that either went well or didn't go well and so you would do something differently next time?

Juliet Scott-Croxford (30:22):

I think I'm going to give you two.

Lauren Livak Gilbert (30:26):

Okay.

Juliet Scott-Croxford (30:27):

So certainly the great love it. The most successful ones should feel really authentic and incredibly aligned to both your brand DNA as well as the partner's brand, DNA. And if it feels forced or become or starts to feel really difficult or purely commercial, I'd say step away. Because the ones that I think work are the ones that just naturally feel like they're moving in the right direction. Sure, you're going to have bumps in the way, but I think it shouldn't feel forced and there should be some really genuine authentic alignment. And in the example of Chantel, she was already a Brompton owner and a Brompton fan, which obviously helped a lot as well. I think the other one, if you are a brand trying to enter a new market, so say you are a British brand trying to enter the US market, sometimes there's a tendency to bolt on to other British brands, whereas actually our learning has been to grow awareness in this market. Actually, it's nice to create collaborations with brands that are more well established here and already known here. And then there's that association to help you amplify rather than both of you being less aware. And sometimes those heritage marry apps really make sense and they look great, but I think it really depends on what you're trying to do and whether it's a global collaboration or a regional collaboration also really varies as well.

Peter Crosby (32:06):

Juliet, this has been a fascinating walkthrough both your career, but also just the beauty and the fun and the energy and the brand that you're creating at Brompton and particularly in this market. And so first of all, I just want to thank you so much for coming here and taking the time in the midst of a launch that's about to go to have this conversation with us, you guys. No, no,

Juliet Scott-Croxford (32:32):

No. It's fun. And I like doing this and it's great to talk about it. So thank you so much for having me.

Peter Crosby (32:38):

No, of course. And I have to say to our listeners, I'm sure I would say a fair number of you have already typed Brompton bicycles into your browser, but very definitely on December 4th, go to brompton.com and you'll see the launch of this brand new bike. It's beautiful, full and thrilling, and I'm a lover of contemporary art, or I should be accurate. My husband's really a lover of contemporary art, so I'm surrounded by it all the time, and I've grown to really love the freshness and the coolness and just the mindset of it, which I think is so exciting. And so I would encourage everyone to go to brompton.com on December 4th. This is airing on the first, so you have a few days to get yourself ready. And Juliet, thank you so much.

Juliet Scott-Croxford (33:26):

Thank you so much. And we are actually launching it. We've been doing a little activation the night before in Miami, just leading into Art Basel. Oh,

Peter Crosby (33:36):

Great.

Juliet Scott-Croxford (33:36):

For any listeners that might be in Miami at the time, hit me up on LinkedIn and yeah, we'll be there on the third.

Peter Crosby (33:43):

My husband will be in Miami for Art Basel, so

Juliet Scott-Croxford (33:46):

Well, we should chat, Lisa. There we go. Something

Peter Crosby (33:49):

Might be happening here. Thank you so much, Juliet. Such a pleasure. Thank

Juliet Scott-Croxford (33:53):

You so much. Yeah, really nice to meet you both. Thank you. Have a great evening. Thank you, Juliette.

Peter Crosby (34:00):

Thanks again so much to Juliet for sharing her journey down the bike path of influencer marketing. Topics like this and more are all on the agenda at the Digital Shelf Summit in May in Atlanta digital shelfsummit.com is live with more info. Thanks for being part of our community.