“This is the f lagship of our culture" April Marshke-Specialized
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Lunch ride “Being a cyclist” is exactly the sensation Paul Santen, sports marketing expert, experienced when he visited the European Headquarters of Specialized Bicycle Components in ‘s-Heerenberg. The purpose of his visit: to undergo the company culture. In fact he only had one mission: he wanted to participate in the lunch ride. The lunch rides are legendary in the headquarters in Morgan Hill (California), people there do them every single day. It is a fix part of the working day, it is deeply embedded in their company culture.
Texture: paul santen Pictures: Martijn van egmond
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pecialized was founded by Mike Sinyard in 1974 and has three main pillars: passion for cycling, entrepreneurial mind and close
cooporation with independent bike dealers. Nowadays, it is one of the worlds largest and strongest bicycle brands, with an extensive collection of bicycles, bicycle parts, apparel and other equipment like
helmets and tires. Sinyard is still the man in charge, and still plays the leading part in the powerful marketing and branding that the brand is famous for. After his school time, Mike Sinyard sold his beloved Volkwagen van –his most valuable possession- in order to make his dream come true as a fanatical road cyclist: a road trip through Europe. With only his bike as a mean of transportation, he discovered cities and countries throughout Europe and he
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talked to the people he encountered. He got used to the European bicycle culture, saw the quantity of bicycles that were used and the quantity of parts that were offered. There was a total offer of product that was much better in diversity and in quality than he had ever seen in his homeland; it opened his eyes. “I knew that there were more cyclists in the USA looking for the high-end products I found in Europe” , Sinyard says. With this conclusion, the remarkable development of
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important German market, in a beautiful landscape, where it is nice to ride. Bicycles and riding them together play a key role in the company. Specialized developed a culture where passion for bikes among the employees is that deep, that a lot of them jump on their bikes around lunchtime and ride 30 kilometers instead of having a lunchbreak.
of Specialized started, always keeping in mind a clear founding principle: making technically advanced products that bring true benefits to the performance of the cyclist in every possible way. All is done with the device ”for riders by riders”, a device that represents more than just a slogan, as I would experience that afternoon. Near to the German border, where the river Rhine flows into the Netherlands, the Specialized men and women ride on the dikes. The lunch ride is alive and kicking among the European representatives of Sinyards philosophy and company culture, just as it is in the Californian hills. I had
THE LUNCHRIDE ISN'T A BONUS, IS WHAT I UNDERSTAND FROM THE PEOPLE. IT'S NOT AN ATTAINMENT.
heard and red about it, I had seen a tremendous YouTube item but I kept asking myself: does this also happen outside California? Well yes, it does, here, close to their European warehouse, close to the
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As soon as we get into the building, we start the office tour. The office lobby is being renovated, just as other parts of the office. The company grows and the office has to be adapted accordingly. Our host, Koos de Boer, marketing representative for Dutch spoken markets, apologizes for all the building materials in the office and states that it is a pity we don’t visit them ten days later to see the new office in full splendor. Koos leads us through the different spaces, and we hear impressive stories before entering the central workspace, an open plan office , where different teams are working. It is an international peloton that fits into a PanEuropean office that deals with countries in Western and Central Europe. Even South-Africa is serviced from there. It is a multicultural environment, an undiscovered jewel in a small town as ‘sHeerenberg. In their in house service center, a training for bike mechanics is being given, the smell of oil belongs here. We visit the Body Geometry FIT room, where riders are measured in accordance with scientific methods in order to avoid injuries and to increase their efficiency. Every year, more than five hundred Body Geometry FIT specialists are trained globally at the
Specialized Bicycle Component University (SBCU), that is used both internally and externally. It is the place where sales- and marketing staff and mechanics get their training. Besides, dealers are invited here to get product updates. After an hour, it is clear to me: Specialized goes for it. Innovation, service and exclusivity are priorities. The people are driven. The speed of the office tour is high, but still I don’t forget the objective of my mission: the lunch ride. I remember my mission when before entering the marketing department, we walk through an open space filled with products from the history of the brand. Tony Martins time trial bike, signed shirts, the first Specialized road shoes and a lot of pictures. We see pictures of employees with sponsored riders. Mark Cavendish with a beaming Silke, who shortly started her job in the marketing department and who participates in the lunch rides, after having been made enthusiast by her colleagues.
Koos presents me to Berry Heuveling, Retail Service Coordinator for Dutch spoken markets. Specialized blood flows through his veins as well. He is one of the many former cyclists in the company. Specialized focuses on a close cooperation with independent bike dealers
EVERY YEAR, HE TRAVELS TO THE HEADQUARTERS IN MORGAN HILL, WHERE HE GETS A VIRTUAL INJECTION OF MOTIVATION.
Even visiting pro rider participate in the lunch ride: Tony Martin, Niki Terpstra and local heroes, they simply participate in the ride where all are equal. Some of the employees ride once a week , a lot of others ride several times a week and the hardcore guys even ride every day. The lunchride isn’t a bonus, is what I understand from the involved people, it is not an attainment. It is an essential part of the company culture, that encourages you to use your legs instead of your brain during lunchtime. Fitness riders, racers, men, women, veterans and relative rookies… after some time, a feeling of competition arises, regardless of the composition of the group. Each rider wants to be the winner in his gruppetto. There is a deep desire to excel. At the end, there is the finish, there are breakaways and the winner enters the locker room with a smile on his face, and stories are told about heroic actions or small tragedies, in other words, pure road cycling! 91
and therefore chooses for a select dealer network, that is extensively supported. Berry plays an important role in this dealer support; he doesn’t enter the dealers shop as a salesman, but as a sales and retail expert. He helps dealers by advising them in their product choice and in their
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dealers, with professional racers and with women who start riding bikes. “The world gets better when people ride bikes” April says, before apologizing; she has to change clothes and to go for the lunch ride, that she calls “the flagship of our culture”. Then, the climax approaches. The ride already starts in the locker room. People laugh, talk and challenge each other. “Today, we go piano” is the opinion, but I feel it is going to explode at a certain moment. A beautiful Specialized Roubaix coming from the Test the Best fleet is waiting for me, exactly in the correct size. Thirteen men and two women women –April and Silke- begin to ride.
"THE WORLD GETS BETTER WHEN PEOPLE RIDE BIKES", APRIL SAYS, BEFORE APOLOGIZING. SHE HAS TO CHANGE CLOTHES FOR THE LUNCHRIDE.
shop design. ore Ā important for Berry is to bring across his passion for the brand. It sounds like a clich Ā and he smiles apologetically ĀI’m Ā practicing my hobby and I think it’s beautiful, really beautiful. Ā Every year, he travels to the headuarters Āin organ Ā ill, Ā where he gets a virtual injection of motivation. Berry praises Sinyards involvement and his inspiring leadership Ā“Mike Sinyard is a source of inspiration. e Ā says hello to you, gives you a hug and has a personal message for you. ou Ā feel a true family member. “ April arshke Ā is the Women Business anager Ā for the Dutch spoken markets, she just came to the east of the Netherlands to reinforce the marketing team. April is a woman with a mission, she wants to get women on bikes, and
indeed, preferably on Specialized bikes. April is a genuine sports woman; the American first dreamed of becoming a professional golf player but then got addicted to bikes. She got a job in Morgan Hill and she recently moved to the Netherlands, to work in the European Headquarters, in her own words “the powerhouse of Europe”. She keeps the European team sharp with an enthusiasm that belongs to a professional athlete; “Think about women, listen to them, talk to them, offer them the right products, the correct service and the correct tone of voice.” April knows what she wants to reach and by talking to dealers and cycling women, she makes her plans concrete. She supervises the Specialized Ladies Night. Her plans are big. Bicycles are the balance in her life and she wants to share her story. With
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Koos comes to ride next to me and tells me who the other riders are and what work they do. Jan-Willem Leunk, Manager Accounting, is one of them. He used to work at KPMG, long hours in expensive suites. Now he wears lycra and feels totally at home. “riding is our internal newsletter” he says; “During the rides we discuss all kinds of topics: work, private, sports. Here we hear things from each other that we don’t hear during the rest of the day, due to lack of time”. There is a lot of pleasant small talk coming out of the progressing peloton. Then, the group turns and attacks the dike. It is windy and the speed increases. The riders stop talking now. The car with the photographer in the trunk passes and the fast guys jump into the slipstream of the car. The heat is on and the group falls apart. The slipstream of the car is only for a couple of riders and the others have to let them go. Small groups are made, all pedaling against the wind. At the end of the dike, all wait for each other and the rest of the ride, the whole group continues as one. Koos tells that lunch rides are also used to test new
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new products. He points at a rider with a new helmet in front of him; “this helmet is tested by our own people”. After the ride, Frank van Dulmen joins us. He is a former professional riding for amongst others the BankGiroLoterij team and the Rabobank team. Now, at Specialized, he is responsible for sales and marketing in the Dutch spoken markets. He is in good company with salesreps as (National Belgian Geert Omloop Champion in 2003), Bas Giling (TMobile), Arthur Rutte and Thom van Dulmen (Rabobank Continental). The European equipe is feared during lunch rides in Morgan Hill. Just like in the Ryder Cup, it is a kind of competition between American and European riders. That race is a real battle.
THE EUROPEAN EQUIPE IS FEARED DURING LUNCH RIDES IN MORGAN HILL. THAT RACE IS A REAL BATTLE.
When talking about knowledge of consumers, Frank says: “We are all consumers ourselves”. He compares the company and his own team with a cycle team: ‘We passionately work together”. The employees in ‘s-Heerenberg have their own cycle team, the Specialized Workfor.ce Team. In its third season, the team this year has 17 members. Lunch rides, training camps in Mallorca, races during weekends; they all do it together. Colleagues and racers, united in their own company team, with their own Facebook site. They look elegant in their nice bikewear on their beautiful bikes. The more they ride, the better leasebike they may choose. An employee can not think of a better motivation. The last man I talk to is Tijs Westendorp. Tijs is as happy as the 24 hours Pharrel Williams video. That smile is not only because of the lunch ride we did. He is happy in his job as the team leader on inside sales. He is happy in the company. 94
“Our Managing Director Eugene Fierkens is the most fanatical rider of the company” Tijs says with a big smile. “Sometimes we play a trick on him during the ride which almost leads to a fight in the locker room. Afterwards, everything is OK. He is the boss, but he is also one of us!” The finish looms up and two guys jump away.
Tijs wins the sprint. I finish third and have a podium place as a guest rider. It is accomplished, I am satisfied. This is such a great group and it gives so much energy. Everyone starts working again with enthusiasm and freshness. A lunch ride with your colleagues: lots of companies should do this!
Paul Santen is an expert in sports marketing and co-owner of HelloHero Sports Branding. After having worked at Nike Europe in international marketing functions for eighteen years, he now works as a consultant for sporting companies and teams and he creates their branding. Last year, he introduced Belkin as the main sponsor for the Blanco Pro Cycling Team and he monitored the whole process.
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