CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 16years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
The poster for the City of Edinburgh Council's employee Bike To Work scheme is bright and eye catching and will undoubtedly attract some people to get a new bike.
But does it also reinforce stereotypes that put other people off? 'Cycling is for young/fit/sporty people who either only cycle when it's dry or don't mind getting wet (no mudguards)'.
At least he's dressed fairly normally, which I think is a big thing...
You mean no Lycra or hi-vis?
That certainly is a good factor.
I'd like to think there is another poster with a woman on a bike with straight handlebars.
BUT that would be another stereotype!!
Is that a fixed? I'd prefer to see a rider without a helmet, of course, for all the obvious reasons. I wonder what message they are sending by not showing his face.
I imagine that they (EBC and/or the CEC) have done their demographic research and established that young, aspirational, reasonably fit males with disposable income are the ones *most likely* to take up cycling in general and hence the Bike to Work scheme.
If they're right, they get maximum sales and maximum bums on saddles, which is the point, right?
The fact that they perpetuate the (dominant?) stereotype is an unfortunate side effect, but if they used a picture of an attractive young lady in a flowing summer frock perhaps the uptake wouldn't be as high. The demographic might broaden, but the uptake would be lower I reckon. Although the poster would be nicer :-)
This must be bread-and-butter stuff in advertising - target the easy converts, or the outliers?
Just a thought.
@effemm
I suspect you are completely correct.
'issue' remains - how DO you get cycling more "mainstream"?
I think they would be better off using images from somewhere like http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/, just ordinary people using a bicycle to get about the place. Rather than trying to aim a small demographic sub group who are likely to cycle anyway.
To get cycling more mainstream, it would help if along side the C2W scheme there were coaching/training available to help those who have either not cycled in traffic before or are nervous of doing so.
It would also help if the cycle maps would stop putting "Dangerous road, avoid if possible" on all the major routes into or across town. It just emphasises the fear of cycling as a form of transport, roundabout cycle routes are all very well if you are cycling as a leisure activity, but not so much use when you want to get to work on time.
OK, so "Dangerous road, avoid if possible" are not the exact words, but I have seen maps produced by the council based on the Spokes map where that is implied. Even the Spokes maps tend towards frighten the novice cyclist off using roads which are perfectly cycle-able where you can use the bus lanes, as "Busy road with fast or heavy traffic". These are mostly the arterial routes, they are the quickest way to get around, they also that 30 mph speed limits and at peak times are mostly at a standstill. The best way to use these roads is by bike. If people sitting in car see ordinary people just like them selves (not just the super fit Lycra types and the cycle courier wannabes) see people like them selves cycling past them, then they will start to think "maybe I could do that". Then we will start to get cycling into the main stream.
I'm a council worker and I only have a bike because of the bike to work scheme - the scheme got me back into cycling after about 25 years of not. And I'm more or less the complete opposite of a young fit sporty male! The council has lots of different posters and leaflets advertising the scheme, not just that one, and I know several other women who've used the scheme in the past few years, so don't worry about the posters.
@Kirst
That's most encouraging - both the idea that the scheme got you cycling again and that there's other promo material.
I think some of the other material even has women in it!
Not the best image for general promo but of course it isn't a general promo but an ad for EBC as well as info for CEC.
EBC has always enjoyed having a slightly left field image - taking the Gill Scott Heron line and changing it to 'The Revolution will not be Motorised'. (BTW you can win £100 voucher if you can dig out the song lyrics on the winter catalogue).
Other images are possible but these go to the other extreme (aka Sustrans-land where families go on holiday by bike and ne'er a car is seen.)
I would do a more social shot. ASL with two people chatting on normal bikes. How about cyclist chatting to pedestrians? I get that but then I cycle a bike that gets comments!
So the answer is...
No fixies, moultons or any other deviant bikes! ; )
EBC didn't always have that rad, happenin' punk 'tude thing going on, though, innit. Before the rebranding in 2001 the image was a little more reserved: respectable greens and greys, more urbane than urban, although there was a nice experiment in self-deprecation in the mid-90s. I blame the modern look on the invention of baggy 3/4s, myself. ;-)
Shouldn't there be a series of posters, rather than just the one? Copenhagenizing it could appeal to a less fraught mindset; knobbly tyres, hills and hyper power lights for the gnarly contingent; roadies need their black pointy bicycles and lycra - as long as they use their plastic bikes for commuting to work half the time.
My employer began a cycle to work scheme this year, and from what I've seen, the demographic for applicants is pretty wide, notwithstanding the price limit. There are people riding folding bikes, commuter bikes, mtbs and road bikes, possibly with a tendency towards the commuting machine (I don't have the facts and figures).
But certainly no deviant bikes. Heh. That would put people right off the idea.
"EBC didn't always have that rad, happenin' punk 'tude thing going on"
Oh it did in '77 when it all started!!
Suspect some of the 'tude reflects the age/ideas of the staff. Although a few of them have been there since the early days, there are many younger ones - being a co-op they all have a say in the business.
Sorry, bike shop ethos in 1977 is before my time! I only remember the changes from about 1988 when I first bought something there.
It's true though - what age group does EBC cater for the most? Maybe 20-35? They can't all be urban warriors though! Can they?
http://cyclingedinburgh.info/2007/01/16/1977-was-a-good-year-for-cycling
I've no idea whether EBC has a demographic that is significantly different from other bike shops.
It will cater for all ages - and there's no doubt that all ages cycle -
http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=53
but there will always be weighting towards younger people.
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