BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Chain Reaction Cycles has revealed a host of updated branding, along with the release of a new app.
Launching on February 8, the company’s ‘reimage’ includes new-look branding featuring a more ‘engaging onsite experience’, a new smartphone app, free gif-making software, redesigned customer communications, and updated imagery.
As part of the shift away from Chain Reaction’s previous business model, a statement from the company stated that it will now move forward with a new brand philosophy, encapsulated by the Ride. Eat. Sleep. Repeat mantra.
A free, multi-function mobile app will be available as part of the launch, downloadable from the App Store and Google Play.
Director of brand marketing at Chain Reaction Cycles Dan Staples said: “Our philosophy aims to empower cyclists to ‘go again’ day after day, doing what they love. We feel Ride. Eat. Sleep. Repeat helps capture this purpose to communicate our shared obsession for the sport with our customers.
“Chain Reaction Cycles customers can expect an improved onsite experience and a new Mobile App that will inspire them to go forth and ride. For us, that’s what it’s all about.”
In 2017, the company downsized operations in Northern Ireland, a move that lost around 300 jobs from the area of Ballyclare where George and Janice Watson founded the brand in the late 1980s. The majority of jobs moved to the company’s facility in the West Midlands. The move was part of continued acquisition of the CRC brand by Wiggle – news that BikeBiz broke in February 2016.
At the time, Wiggle and Chain Reaction had been fighting head to head for many years, with Wiggle moving ahead of Chain Reaction in 2013 when sales at the family-owned firm dropped six per cent to £145m. Chris Watson, son of George and Janice, was the company’s managing director.
