Company Background Known as Mark’s Bike Shop for nearly 40 years, Bluestone Bike & Run was rebranded in 2015 when the business began to integrate shoes and cycling accessories. The shop sells a wide range of bicycles such as Santa Cruz, clothing brands such as Altra, and various running shoe brands (The Shop, n.d.).
Objective To increase overall brand awareness and consumer loyalty in the Shenandoah Valley by 25% over the next 3 years. This will be accomplished by producing promotional materials such as engaging print and transit ads.
Target Audience
VALS
• Geographic: Young, active families (aged 24-35) living in the Shenandoah Valley.
• Thinkers are motivated by ideals. They value quality, order, knowledge, and responsibility. They look for durability, functionality, and value in the products that they buy (Strategic Business Insights, 2009-2019).
• Behavioristic: Values exercise, the community, staying healthy, and being outdoors. Spends money on products and services that will last or will be beneficial to their long-term well-being such as Patagonia or L.L. Bean. • Media usage: Average to low.
• Experiencers are motivated by self-expression. Their energy finds an outlet in exercise, sports, outdoor recreation, and social activities. (Strategic Business Insights, 2009-2019).
Competition Shenandoah Bicycle Company, Rocktown Bicycles, Mole Hill Bikes. Other brands focus on just the sheer transaction. They are more profit-driven whereas Bluestone cares about building brand loyalty, which is seen through personalization and creating a one-on-one experience (Mark. D, 2013).
Mindset Current: The “friendly mom and pop” bike shop is known for being kind, knowledgeable, and having great prices; it is known as the “go-to bike shop” for many locals (Jay, 2019). The customers value the friendliness and helpfulness of employees and appreciate the shop’s unique services such as shoe customization and cycling tours (Mark, 2013). Desired: The customers know that the shop is very knowledgeable about bike-repair in addition to being a one-stop-shop for healthy lifestyles based on its products and services. They will also be aware about its exclusive and safe experiences in the Valley to demonstrate the shop’s devotion towards community.
Big Idea
Evidence
To inform active families in the Shenandoah Valley that living a healthy lifestyle can be convenient and enjoyable with the fitness resources that Bluestone Bike & Run provides.
• • • •
Mandatories
Tone
Phone: (540) 434-5151 | Web site: Bluestonebikerun.com
Honest, friendly, knowledgeable, idealistic, adventurous.
Bluestone running- 5k training, custom GAIT analysis Bike shop and repairs Gear swap, trade-in, kids grow-up trade-in Bike Tour- guided tours, cycling trips, breweries and wineries, mountain shuttle service
Print Ad Rationale: Media ▪ Media: Daily News Record (Harrisonburg, VA)
▪ The DNR represents a market estimated to be worth
$5 billion in spendable consumer income. The DNR also has the greatest reach of any medium in the central Shenandoah Valley, making it an ideal medium for an awareness campaign aimed at young families in the valley.
Design ▪ Headline: “Cage-free. Grass-fed.”
▪ This headline uses both parallelism and irony to
attract the reader, and maintain their attention. The rhythm of the parallel phrases encourages the reader to engage. The irony of the headline applying to kids and healthy foods maintains the reader’s attention. ▪ Subhead: “An active lifestyle starts at home. Get your kids out of the
corrals and onto a custom bike from Bluestone Bike & Run today. Help your kids live healthier than their food.” ▪ Logo: “Bluestone Bike & Run” ▪ Mandatories: “(540) 434-5151” “www.bluestonebikerun.com” ▪ Layout: Picture Window
▪ This layout is best when you want the reader to
participate in the photo. Our target audience, the Thinkers, are motivated by ideals. This layout also uses spacing to emphasize the overlaid text. This layout will attract extra attention in its chosen medium, a broadsheet newspaper. ▪ Typography: Gilroy
▪ This is a sans serif font, which will stand out around
large white space. The font has gradual curves in its glyphs, offering a calm and peaceful tone in the message it projects.
▪ Colors: Earthy colors with bright colors on the products
▪ The trend of the adventure industry is based in
nature, making earthy tones and beautiful landscapes an obvious choice. The products on the individuals in the ad are saturated to emphasize the products that Bluestone Bike & Run offers.
Transit Ad Rationale Media ●
HDPT Transit Bus Bus advertisements are a great way to increase brand awareness within a local audience by constantly reminding them of your business (Adverta). Placing this ad on HDPT transit buses targets Bluestone Bike & Run’s audience: bikers in the community have surely encountered them around town, if not on their bikes then in a car or as a pedestrian. It also covers a large geographic area- hence the term “mobile billboard.”
Design ●
Headline
Cage-free. Grass-fed.
Keeping consistent with the other advertisement, this headline uses parallelism and a tongue-in-cheek nod to the trend of buying organic, all-natural, sustainable foods. Paired along with the image, it implies that either the child or the bike, or perhaps both, are “cage-free” and “grass-fed,” and creates a connection between Bluestone Bike & Run and a healthy lifestyle. ●
Subhead
None
Because the headline can stand on its own, subheads aren’t a necessity, and by leaving them out the focus remains on the headline and keeps the ad simple. ●
Logo
“Bluestone Bike & Run”
●
Mandatories www.bluestonebikerun.com For advertisements on the outside of any vehicle, there are usually only a few seconds in which the target will be exposed to the ad. Cluttering an advertisement with elements that are unimportant, unmemorable, or noisy will lessen the chance that it grabs people’s attention, let alone sticks with them. For this reason, we decided to limit the mandatories for the transit ad to the website- it’s much easier to remember than a full phone number, and provides more detailed information about the brand.
●
Layout Keeping a bus ad simple, eye-catching and concise is the key to making it effective. Using a bus wheel as the back tire of a bicycle isn’t something many people would expect, and that unusual detail prompts the audience to find out more. By using a fair amount of white space, we emphasized the few core elements within our transit ad (headline, image, logo and website) so that it was both readable and legible. The eye
movement follows the boy’s bike, pointing upward in a wheelie position, to the headline, then arcs back downward to the logo and mandatories in the bottom right corner. The line of grass creates consistency across the bottom that unites the elements above, guiding the eye across the page. ●
Typography: Gilroy Light Gilroy is a clean, modern sans serif font. The glyphs are thin, round, and match the aesthetics throughout the rest of the ad. Using the “light” version of the typeface helps to deliver the brand’s message in a calm, friendly tone.
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Colors: ○ Blue Blue is not only the color of Bluestone Bike & Run’s logo, but a word within the name of the business, so obviously using these colors within the ad helps its recall. Blue is also associated with trustworthiness, dependability, and reliability in branding, and can help position the brand to families who are looking for honest and knowledgeable service. ○ Green Green in branding is often associated with health, energy, growth, and nature, among many others. It stimulates harmony within the brain and communicates an overall positive message. Since our main goal through this campaign is to emphasize healthy living, adding a pop of green- especially grass or leaves- refreshes the audience and helps draw connections to nature and the outdoors.
Sources: Adverta Media Experts. (Unknown Date.) Why Bus Advertising? Retrieved from https://www.adverta.co.uk/why-bus-advertising/
References Big Bear Vacations (n.d) Boy riding bicycle [digital image] Retrieved from https://www.pexels.com/photo/boy-riding-bicycle-3030746/ Chander R. (May 1, 2019) Man running by the water [digital image] Retrieved from https://unsplash.com/photos/AtfA8NDgpKA Mark D. (2013, September 23). [Review of Bluestone Bike & Run]. Yelp. Retrieved from https://www.yelp.com/biz/bluestone-bike-and-run-harrisonburg-2 Jay F. (2019, June 26). [Review of Mark’s Bicycle Shop]. Yelp. Retrieved from https://www.yelp.com/biz/marks-bicycle-shop-rancho-cucamonga-2 Macrovector. (2010- 2019. Modern City Bus Realistic advertising template… [illustration vector] retrieved from https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/modern-city-bus-realistic-advertising-template-sideview-front-rear-white-background-isolated-vector-illustration_4358637.htm#page=1&qu ery=modern%20city%20bus%20realistic&position=11 Jogger running on a racetrack [digital image] (2019). Retrieved from https://www.storyblocks.com/stock-image/jogger-running-on-a-racetrack-bmw4ocufewj4 ibn0gh Mountains in Slovakia: Beautiful landscape in summer [digital image] (2019) Retrieved from https://www.storyblocks.com/stock-image/mountains-in-slovakia-beautiful-landscape-insummer-rcxrwlx6zbj3dzcsna Full length of cute young sportswoman running on terrace at sunrise [digital image] (2019). Retrieved from https://www.storyblocks.com/stock-image/full-length-of-cute-young-sportswoman-runni ng-on-terrace-at-sunrise-suhtcombnej0qk6nir Bluestone Bike and Run logo [digital image] (2019). Retrieved from https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/51464192e4b04055d308b06a/141822726 4843-IAJY4EL1KED64IPKBCEP/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kPJXHKy2-mnvrsdpGQjl hod7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1 z5QHyNOqBUUEtDDsRWrJLTmihaE5rlzFBImxTetd_yW5btdZx37rH5fuWDtePBPDa HF5LxdCVHkNEqSYPsUQCdT/image-asset.jpeg?format=750w
Grass landscape field [digital image] (2019). Retrieved from https://pikwizard.com/photo/grass-landscape-field/387edb19c0335db3e9d7a5211501b4fd The Shop. (n.d.). Retrieved from ​https://www.bluestonebikerun.com/the-shop