Next year................

[hatler]

Ooo. And all this talk reminds me that I failed to hand over my 2013 subs on the Brighton ride, but then I was expecting to see you in the pub.

 

[Dogtrousers]

it's about what your hopes and desires - the ones that might be addressed by a ride on a bike. I'm simply approaching the problem from the other end

Ah! I see. FNRftC

 

[Flying Dodo]

well I've pointed this out any number of times and nobody's ever believed me, which makes it all the more fun to point it out again
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Erhard

it's about what your hopes and desires - the ones that might be addressed by a ride on a bike. I'm simply approaching the problem from the other end

I know I'm not the brightest spark around and I mean this in the nicest possible way, but I think to a large extent, whatever it is you think you've got in your head to do with a branding concept of a bike ride experience, is almost certainly not what the majority of the participants of the FNttC generally think about.

You've got a lot of bemused people scratching their heads!

 

[wanda2010]

No idea what you lot are on about. Just let me know when and where and I'm there.

 

[hatler]

Ah! I see. FNRftC

Ahhhh. With the pub at the start. Very cool.

 

[hatler]

Having the pub at the start of the ride might mean that everyone on the ride would be able to spout the requisite bollocks deemed appropriate for such a stunt.

 

[hatler]

Or is that a bit harsh ?

 

[dellzeqq]

I saw this and thought of this thread:

now you're talking!

And you see the thing about faces - the impassivity of the derny rider's face played against the angle of the banking.

 

[wanda2010]

And what if the instructions for finding the start, or is it finish, are given in similar style? Then where will you be with your laid back attitude?

Then I might be forced to actually engage my brain.............. and ask someone for a translation

 

[dellzeqq]

I know I'm not the brightest spark around and I mean this in the nicest possible way, but I think to a large extent, whatever it is you think you've got in your head to do with a branding concept of a bike ride experience, is almost certainly not what the majority of the participants of the FNttC generally think about.

they don't have to think about it.

Look at this way - The Fridays and/or the FNRttC is a brand. It connotes (you can fill in your own bit here) adventure-lite, romance, good humour, sociability. People think of the product as well-run. Sort of John Lewis meets Brief Encounter. There are some nice images and some nice words, but they don't really bring new people in - by and large it's personal recommendation.

And it is dying on its arse. Because we do not convey what we're about beforehand - you have to come along to find out. It would be nice if we had a means of conveying what we are about - but (and this is the difficult bit) I really do not think you can get across the sweetness of the ride by pictures, videos, words, whatever. If each ride is a story, it's a story that has to be experienced.

So............I might come up with something that was intriguing, enticing, and welcoming. But that probably wouldn't be about the ride as it is. It would be about a different kind of ride, one that is more easily conveyed. So the trick is to do the conveying, come up with the intriguing, enticing and welcoming based on the sweetness we already have, create a brand and then tailor the product to the brand.

Now that really isn't too difficult, is it?

oh - and the original of the video Thom linked to is a nine minute documentary - taster here
http://pixiufilms.com/steher/

 

[gavroche]

Next year.......I will be one year older! .....and at my age, it begins to matter!!

 

[dellzeqq]

on our last ride Eddie bought a round because he had a birthday last year. I think you're up next!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Maybe he wants the Fridays to be Apple-esque rather than Microsoft-ish?

Have a sound product and build a story and some values around it. Build the image to generate a perceived need (or at least a want) then backfill with products that (mostly) meet that need/expectation

Does require constant reinvention/refresh of product though.

The risk is each product generation is slightly less good at meeting the perceived need/expectation than the last, because expectations always exceed realities ability to deliver, no matter how improved each generation is.

Me? I just wanna ride my bike with some nice people and some new people, to some new places on some new routes (and the night makes all things new so the existing destinations are fine) not have to worry about where I'm going, ride on my own in a group if I want to, get where we're going have a few beers and a laugh and not have to think or not think or judge or be judged or do or do not. I just want to be in what I call 'the bubble' that place on a Fridays ride where my heart and the heart of the ride are aligned. Needs a Venn diagram. Or a poem.

 

[hatler]

But what is considered to be a success ?

"Dying on its arse". Really ?

Are we struggling to attract numbers ?
How many is ideal for a ride ?
Is there a desire to run them more than once a month regularly ? (But Friday night and a full moon limit that, surely.)

 

[User10571]

they don't have to think about it.
......Sort of John Lewis meets Brief Encounter........

That does it for me.
Succinctly.
And with a musical score by Sergei Rachmaninov, who could ask for more?