Pearson is a British bike brand on the move. Speaking with CEO, Scott Davies, it becomes clear that the brand is guided by one simple yet powerful ideal.
Here we find out how the brand delivers on that ideal, whilst also exploring events of the past 18 months, and dipping into what’s to come.
Scott, let’s start with the news of the day, then explore what it has taken to get to this point.
We start with the launch of the rebrand. It’s such an important step. A visual marker for how we do business, for the thought that goes into delivering an amazing customer experience, across every touchpoint and every interaction with the brand, one that matches and elevates the brand, which makes owning and riding a Pearson something you’ll want to tell friends about.
“Respect the customer” is what underpins all of this.
Making our customers feel special means taking care of things which matter in ways that only a premium brand can.
When you know that we’re a small batch maker, this makes sense. For example, our new Shift is a 300-unit-a-year bike. We’ve a former aerospace engineer working for us. Our multi-stage QC process is extremely exacting, and our manufacturing partner knows this all too well. Quality – in every aspect of a customer’s relationship with Pearson – is our focal point.
Now, take the way we spec our bikes. We select the best components. Not those with the best margins. Bottom brackets and headset bearings from CeramicSpeed. Tyre from Vittoria, because we tested others and found them to feel the best. We make wheelset choices in much the same way.
Pearson bikes are built with an attention to detail you’d expect from a high-end custom build carried out at a well-respected specialist bike shop. We ship bikes packaged in a way that means bikes arrive ready to ride – no assembly needed.
A bike fitting service is an integral part of the Pearson customer experience and is supported by our growing retail partner network. Need a bar and stem swap? No problem. We’re here for that. We’re focused on giving customers a bike that’s the perfect fit before purchase. And supporting our dealers, as needed, to deliver a great experience for both retailers and customers alike.
Our retail partners understand the brand ethos and the importance of brick-and-mortar retail in the modern omnichannel retail environment. They know that we will guide customers to dealers to ensure they get the right bike. A partnership which works for all, because it works best that way.
For retail partners, this also means bikes on consignment. Why? Because we don’t want to be in a situation where the wrong size of bike(s) are being sold simply because they are ‘stock on the books’ – bikes that have been paid for, which need to be sold as a priority. We, as a brand, have zero interest in selling customers the wrong size of bike. It – selling the wrong size bike – is the absolute polar opposite of what we’re about.
We want our partners and our customers to value working with the brand, value choosing the brand, and feel valued in return.
It sounds like you’ve taken inspiration from premium brand, retail, and customer service experiences outside of the cycling space and mapped these against the expectations of your target customer base. Would that be fair to say?
Definitely.
We believe that buying and owning a premium product should come with a premium experience, with premium customer service and support.
A great example: Take the way Apple engineered the boxes its products come in. They’ve been specifically designed to have a slow open, which has a degree of resistance, a little like an air lock, as well as a smooth glide. It feels premium and special. It creates a heightened sense of value for the customer. The approach – packaging adding to the new owner’s brand experience – is similar to the packaging that a high-priced watch comes in.
This approach to product and packaging design is based on extensive research. Nothing is left to chance.
With Apple, they know that a significant majority of their customers keep the box the device came in. It’s part of the brand’s wow factor. Anyone with a special watch knows there is value in retaining the original packaging.
This wow factor is part of what people buy, why people bond with brands, and why they remain loyal long-term.
Why would that be any different when buying a Pearson bike?
Taking this into our world, it’s why our customers receive an ‘owner’s pack’ – a box that is designed to have that premium ‘feel’, containing a branded torque wrench in its own box, a warranty card which is carbon fibre (remember our warranty is transferable between owners), and documentation printed on paper that has a certain feel and weight to it. It’s also why this comes in a branded musette.
Buying a Pearson is an ownership experience that someone accustomed to buying a premium product will be familiar with.
Post purchase, we offer exact-match touch-up paints. It might, on the face of it, seem a small thing, but when you love your bike, you know it’s actually a really important thing. Something you should be 100% able to rely on the brand to deliver, if and when you need it.
We provide our retailers with bar and stem swap options to support the bike fitting process, which is offered with every bike. We know our retail partners are passionately geeky about, and seriously experienced in, bike fitting – not just using a bike fitting jig as a sales tool.
So, the brand relaunch is about a visual identity, but it’s also about a lot, lot more.
Yes. Definitely. We, as a business, need to be telling this story in a way that reflects all aspects of the customer experience, for our retail partners, for riders, and for customers.
Brand experience is something that we’ve worked hard at.
If I created a map and placed Pearson on it amongst other bike brands, we want to make it clear that if you are 1 of 300 customers who this year buy a Shift, then you bought a bike significantly rarer than a Pinarello F, and, though we’re obviously biased, I’d also add that it’s a better engineered bike.
‘Low volume production’ and ‘high standards of customer service’ are the market positions we’re focused on.
We know customers drawn to these points have expectations.
We take pride in meeting and exceeding them.
Post brand relaunch, what comes next?
Now that the new Shift has officially launched, it’s ‘new bikes to retailers time. We’re excited to see people out riding bikes and hear from our retail partners about the experiences they have when interacting with customers.
Sharing our brand story is a significant part of what makes the Pearson ownership experience unique.
For us, it’s much more than words. Hopefully, I’ve given some insight into that as we’ve talked. Our difference is what makes us stand out. We structured things in a way that ensures customers, staff, and partners can feel that.