Learning from the brand of Champions

A cornerstone of the Trek brand is summed up in four words: “Best in Class. Period.” This brand philosophy and company-wide commitment originated through Trek’s nearly decade-long partnership with Lance Armstrong. Armstrong brought to the company an intense and focused approach to developing the best possible products that help him win races on a global stage.

Learning from the brand of Champions
Branding + PR Column
By: Al Krueger

On a somewhat cool morning in mid-February I drove my car out of Milwaukee and to the west. After suburbia faded away into my rearview mirror, I exited Interstate 94 and headed north on the rural road that takes me to the small, working-class town of Waterloo, Wisconsin: population 3,237.

Having grown up in this area, I had no trouble finding the world headquarters of one of the top bicycle brands in the world, Trek Bicycle. The facility is modern and sleek, which sits in slight contrast to the area’s red wood barns, cornfields, forests and the lazy Maunesha River that flows nearby.

Eric Lynn, Trek’s creative group director, greeted me in the lobby with a kind smile and sincere handshake. Lynn is tall and has a slender build, and he wears bold, black frame glasses. He carries an intent demeanor that says he is deeply creative, smart and purposeful.

He led me into a spacious atrium area that is separated from the lobby by a glass wall. On one side of this room hang bikes, yellow jerseys and large, adrenaline-inspiring photographs from each of Lance Armstrong’s seven Tour de France victories.

On the other side of the Atrium hang three bikes, three jerseys and more large photographs, one featuring victorious champagne spray. This area celebrates a slightly lesser known – but incredibly talented – rider, Alberto Contador, who has ridden Trek bicycles to victories in all three of European cycling’s Grand Tours. The display is new, produced to commemorate the recent and first-time visit to the Trek facility by the diminutive Spanish cycling star.

Collectively, the atrium, the bikes, leader jerseys, the red wood barns, the cornfields, the river and the small Wisconsin town are the building blocks and validation of the passion, focus, commitment and ingenuity that has played out over the Trek brand’s 32-year history. Each of these individual elements tells a little chapter of the Trek brand story.

Trek’s sophistication and commitment to its brand has evolved significantly during the last 10 years. And notably, Trek recently introduced something very big. The big, new thing wasn’t a bicycle or bicycle-related product. Rather, it was a new creative design space, dubbed “Thing One.”

This design studio is the cubical-extinct, free-flow workspace for a large group of designers and creative types to work their magic. All of the previously mentioned brand elements come alive in this space, and with good purpose.

Trek designers are charged with creating the look, feel and soul of everything from Trek retail store environments to helmets, sales materials to paint schemes on Tour de France bicycles and everything in-between.

“This space is all about the brand. Our people always need to be designing with the Trek brand in mind, and this space helps make that happen and tells that story,” Lynn said when I asked about the purpose of the space. “Everything we do needs answer the question, ‘Who are we?’”

One of the final pieces of the Trek brand is summed up in four words: “Best in Class. Period.” This brand philosophy and company-wide commitment originated through Trek’s nearly decade-long partnership with Lance Armstrong.

Armstrong brought to the company an intense and focused approach to developing the best possible products that help him win races on a global stage. This philosophy achieved results rapidly, and its success begat other success when it was applied to every product the company produces. Lynn put it bluntly, “Lance helped us realize that if a product wasn’t going to get the attention and resources to be best in class, then we probably shouldn’t be doing it at all. And that changed our approach to everything.”

Now, my company or your company might not be making products for Lance Armstrong, but that doesn’t mean we should care any less about our brands. Get inspired, get committed and move forward with a fierce and focused approach to developing your own best-in-class products or services. Period.