Kinekt
Brand Gravity Helped Kinekt Rediscover the Joy in Cycling
Challenge
Kinekt, a Pacific Northwest-based cycling component manufacturer, needed to clarify their brand positioning in a competitive market dominated by larger companies. While their innovative suspension seatposts and stems offered genuine rider benefits, their messaging lacked focus and emotional connection with cyclists. Kinekt needed to articulate what made them different and establish a brand platform that would resonate with their audience.
Solution
A comprehensive Brand Gravity process was conducted to uncover Kinekt's core purpose, identify their unique value proposition, and develop a consistent messaging approach. This process revealed their true mission wasn't simply making cycling components – it was enabling joy through innovative design.
Key Brand Gravity Elements
Purpose Definition: Established Kinekt's core purpose, which reflected their commitment to creating products that help cyclists feel more alive and fulfilled.
Archetype Development: Defined the Kinekt archetype by combining an explorer's quest for independence and pushing boundaries with the empathy needed to help others.
Brand Attributes: Identified six key attributes that guided their approach to product development and customer interaction.
Emotional Benefits: Mapped how their rational benefits translate into emotional responses.
Positioning Statement: Created a clear market position focusing on their unique commitment to increase the safety, comfort, and fun of cycling so that more people enjoy riding their bikes a lot more often.
Implementation
Relying on the Brand Gravity guide, our creative team developed the "Love Riding More" campaign, which became the cornerstone of Kinekt's marketing efforts.
Brand Messaging: Developed the "Love Riding More" tagline and supporting headlines that directly connected to their purpose of enabling joy.
Visual Identity: Created a distinctive bicycle glyph and campaign visuals that conveyed both technical expertise and emotional connection.
Advertising Focus: Shifted marketing from technical specifications to emotional benefits, with headlines like "Reduce the jarring. Increase the joy." and "Have a love affair with your bike."
Consistent Application: Applied the new messaging architecture across advertising, website content, trade show materials, and social media.
Results
The Brand Gravity process and subsequent "Love Riding More" campaign helped Kinekt achieve.
Clear Differentiation: Successfully positioned Kinekt as a brand focused on the emotional experience of cycling rather than just technical specifications.
Consistent Storytelling: Developed a coherent brand narrative across all touchpoints that effectively communicated their unique approach to cycling components.
Marketing Efficiency: Created a flexible messaging framework that allowed for consistent yet varied communications across different platforms.
Strategic Focus: Provided decision-makers with clear criteria for evaluating new products and initiatives based on their alignment with the core purpose.
Conclusion
By uncovering their authentic purpose, Kinekt transformed from a company that simply made suspension components to a brand with a compelling emotional connection to cyclists. The "Love Riding More" campaign gave expression to its deeper purpose while differentiating them in a crowded market. Their success demonstrates how a clearly defined brand strategy can help even technical product manufacturers create meaningful connections with their customers.