Schwinn X and Z Marketing Launch
Creative Direction
Strategy
After decades of offering a solid product line of indoor cycling bikes, our innovation team decided it was time to revolutionize not only our Schwinn product line but indoor cycling as a whole. Led by the Schwinn Product Director, the team went to work and the results were the Universal Group Cycling family we’ve come to call Schwinn X and Z.
The biggest challenge we faced in launching the X and Z Bikes was we were in the midst of the Pandemic. What could we do to bring together a global company in understanding the product being launched without it feeling like additional homework for an already beleaguered workforce? Brainstorming with the Product Team and Education Manager we planned a two-pronged internal launch approach.
First, we would launch an internal webpage, hosting a suite of content and collateral to create transparency and educate everyone at Core (from VP to Customer Support) on the Schwinn X and Z Bikes. This also generated excitement behind the global launch, allowing all to feel like the true insiders they were as Core employees.
Second, Schwinn Product Director Ashley Thorne, hosted a virtual launch party with support from a team of the Schwinn Master Instructors. Intrigued by the internal website and excited by everything the X and Z Bikes had to offer, this event was well attended by Core’s international employee base. The party ended with participation in our X and Z Media Flight, which was simply the opportunity for employees to like, comment and share to their own pages the organic launch post shared on Core’s corporate and Schwinn social media channels. The engagement rates were through the roof.
Additionally, we created a comprehensive Marketing + Ad Package to be utilized by internal sales as well as our dealer/distributor network. This interactive booklet included links videos, product sheets and catalogs, The NEW Schwinn Story, email campaign solutions, product and lifestyle images and more.
Launching during the pandemic presented a myriad of challenges, some foreseeable, some not. But through teamwork, intense brainstorming and collaboration, our cross-functional partnerships pulled together to create extraordinary and impactful work.
Product Director: Ashley Thorne
Digital Design: Robert Pallister + Ryan Langston
Graphic Design: Cory Patterson
Marketing Manager: Mackenzie Henshaw
Marketing Ops Manager: James Young
Videographer: Graham Koffler
video content
The NEW Schwinn: We Dare You to Keep Up Product Launch Video was use for the initial product launch in April 2021.
When re-launching in April 2022, the ‘Schwinn X and Z The Next Gen Bikes’ video was used as an organic post on LinkedIn targeting gym owners/operators.
Schwinn Reel
Recognizing the dramatically different audiences Schwinn speaks to on Instagram and Facebook, we created a reel that would engage cycling trainers and enthusiasts.
Come Ride With Us - Z Bike
Come Ride With Us - X Bike
Marketing + Ad Package
Print advertising
For print publication BodyLife - Germany
inside core web launch
Inside Core is an employee based internal website (sharepoint site) that hosts loads of content for employees. The Schwinn X and Z internal site hosted details about the marketing plan for launching the new bikes globally, training tools, product and lifestyle imagery and other content to educate the entire flywheel. This was the first time marketing launched a product internally ahead of a global launch, it was very well received by everyone from Executives to Customer Support.