Specialized and Adventure?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Just read a snippet that Specialized have just pulled the contracts of their 'Adventure Ambassadors' . I don't know much else but perhaps seems an odd move? Dunno.

[whitestone]

Saw it earlier this evening on bikepacking.com - https://bikepacking.com/news/specialize ... r-program/ (hopefully the swear filter doesn't pick up onything!)

[thenorthwind]

Less marketing b******t* in bikepacking? I'll fetch my tiny violin.

Sorry, feeling extra cynical this evening

*budget. Obviously.

[Lazarus]

If i was one i would be gutted to lose the money that enabled me to cycle but not really sure what they bring to the table tbh

Ambassador relationships are important for brand identity; they allow brands to stay connected, relevant, and engaged in cycling communities.

Do they really ? I am not sure what Brand identity even means here

[fatbikephil]

I guess it boils down to bang for your buck / quid. An outfit like spesh is always going to be chasing the racer types so maybe that's where they focus. Doing a sponsor deal on cycle tourist might be seen as being too niche or not encourage people to part with enough money. In terms of their bikes they have never really been a part of bikepacking in anycase; in that they have avoided the whole 'adventure' bike thing or a 'bikepacking specific' bike....

[firestarter]

I really enjoyed the trucks melons and angry dogs video they did years back with Erik Nohlin

[Alpinum]

In terms of their bikes they have never really been a part of bikepacking in anycase; in that they have avoided the whole 'adventure' bike thing or a 'bikepacking specific' bike....

Yeah, they totally failed to shout bikepacking across their range of (perfectly bikepacking capable) bikes like Surly and Salsa

Hhmmm... didn't/don't Spesh have a bike called AWOL? Following the seemingly same logic (military!), Salsa has Warroad and Warbird. We both must be missing somethings...

Anyways, as Phil suggests;

An outfit like spesh is always going to be chasing the racer types so maybe that's where they focus.

Perhaps it's time those lazy adventurers get racing.
On the other hand, that's just our perception. We don't know just how much goes into non racing fields. There's ton's of not highly visible support, which makes a huge difference to an individual. Perhaps they simply decided to not instrumentalise the support of adventurers anymore.
In racing, UCI and all that, you need instruments anyways, so there's no "let's do a bit of this and then that and see what happens".

P.s.: If it really bothers anyone, I can ask a certain Ms. J., who deals/dealt with sponsorships at the big Esses.

[Alpinum]

Saw it earlier this evening on bikepacking.com - https://bikepacking.com/news/specialize ... r-program/ (hopefully the swear filter doesn't pick up onything!)

Was not eight years. Perhaps five or six.
/pedant mode off

[Dave Barter]

Unpopular opinion - but this reads to me as Specialized slim down their sales force. The term "ambassador" sticks in my craw. Anyone working in sales knows that the employer is fickle and they need to have options open all the time. Little sympathy here from me as I doubt these ambassadors campaigned for the workers on sub-minimum wage building the bikes they so enthusiastically ambassadored about.

[johnnystorm]

Unpopular opinion - but this reads to me as Specialized slim down their sales force. The term "ambassador" sticks in my craw. Anyone working in sales knows that the employer is fickle and they need to have options open all the time. Little sympathy here from me as I doubt these ambassadors campaigned for the workers on sub-minimum wage building the bikes they so enthusiastically ambassadored about.

And for whatever reason I don't think they worked as Spesh and "adventure" had completely dropped off my radar. The insta feed popped out a pic weekly it seems (I just checked) but I can't remember seeing any of them. Probably as much to do with Instagram ploughing headlong with pushing tedious reels as forgettable images.

As with fat bikes beforehand Spesh make a lot of noise to begin with (the awol and the other one they did with much fanfare) and as sales drop they cut and run. Makes sense as their ebikes seem to be very good and that's where all the excitement is.

Perhaps it's down to the mixed messaging. Specialized can either be glitzy UCI types or gritty adventurers, it can't be both?

Regarding sub standard wages for bike builders, I know Spesh have had shady legal dealings in the past but worker exploitation? Aren't they made by Merida is state of the art factories that are actually OK?

[Cheeky Monkey]

Mleh

Shame for the ambassadors who it paid. Ambivalent to any impact it might have on the "sport of bikepacking" ( )

Big company makes a blunt commercial decision. No surprises there.

[PaulB2]

The AWOL and the Sequoia didn't last that long - I think 2018 was the last year so it's only a surprise that the Adventure linkup lasted this long. I wonder if Lael Wilcox is still an ambassador.

[faustus]

I think Lael is a sponsored rider rather than ambassador? Don't think she's been affected...think she's too big a name and rider to let go of?

[JackT]

As I understand it, the role of Specialized's ambassadors was as 'content creators' (photos and videos) for the company's social media channels, and more generally to be aspirational people who would showcase the company's products. So, as Dave has observed, part of the marketing budget. Is this is a one-off move from Specialized, or is the era of big brand social media influencers drawing to a close?

If it were something less about marketing, and more about a social mission, like an outreach programme that introduces cycling to overlooked and underrepresented audiences, or road danger reduction, improving trail access, etc, then there might be a bit more regret at it coming to an end. (It's conceivable that Specialized has these kinds of programmes as well, unrelated to their ambassadors - I don't know.)

As it stands, and by the admission of at least one of the former ambassadors, they've had a good run of it, for a number of years. The main source of the resentment seems to be that the end came suddenly and late in the year, which makes it more difficult to line up a new gig as an ambassador for a rival brand. Make of that what you will.

[johnnystorm]

I think Lael is a sponsored rider rather than ambassador? Don't think she's been affected...think she's too big a name and rider to let go of?

I think it said she'd been transferred into the S-Race competition side of things.