BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
It was May when we first heard that Madison was taking on distribution for the Lazer brand of helmets in the UK and Ireland.
Now the dust has settled on the deal and stock is heading into bike shops, we thought it was high time we delved deeper into the brand and the distributor’s plans for it.
Lazer’s globally renowned name was key to the move, says Chris Snook of Madison (and racer for Madison-Genesis): “Lazer has a great reputation across the international trade – it’s the number one helmet brand in Australia – and in the peloton for their great quality products and leading patented designs such as their removable aero shell.”
Depth of range was a factor too, says Snook: “They have a stunning range of great children’s products, including the P’nut helmet with Crazy Nut Shells, plus they have a complete range offering for all our customers, enabling us to work with them in developing and tweaking product for the UK and Ireland.”
Madison is not shy about its ambitions for Lazer, saying it is plotting to make it ‘the leading head protection brand in the UK and Ireland’. Snook elaborates: “The Madison and Lazer relationship is now underway and we’re planning on this being a long-term relationship in which we can work together to bring all the best products our customers and consumers require.”
So what about the products themselves? Lazer’s patented Aero shell is one of the brand’s leading lights – with it there’s no need to have a sprint helmet and a road helmet, riders just have to click the shell on to their road helmet for wattage savings – as well as providing wind and rain protection.
Other Lazer innovations include the Rollsys patented fit system, which allows for quick on-the-fly adjustment to the sizing using the roller on the top of the helmet. This also means there is no turn dial on the back of the helmet cradle to try and loop a ponytail through.
Lazer’s broad catalogue extends beyond cycling into sectors like snow, which Madison also has plans for, Snook reveals: “We will also be introducing the Lazer Snow helmets this winter and there are plans for more Lazer helmets in the outdoor sector in the next few years. Madison will again be working with Lazer on these.”
Marketing Lazer to the trade and consumers will involve print ads, demo teams…and Belgian beer, which sounds good to us.
“We have a significant campaign planned to raise the public awareness of Lazer, and one of the key elements of this will be two brand demonstrators we have kitted out with vans, easy-ups, race tape, stickers, flags, samples, and plenty of other swag that will be attending events all over the UK and Ireland, as well as helping with staff training and in-store merchandise.
“In addition to this we will also be attending the NEC Cycle Show, and have arranged a trade only B2B Belgium promos with free waffles and beer. And there will be much much more!”
Clearly, then, with all this activity Madison has every intention of making good on its promise to make Lazer the leading head protection brand in the UK and Ireland.
“Lazer is a big deal for us and we are putting significant time, effort and focus into it as we believe it is a brand we can really work with and have success with and we would like our customers to feel the same. We have a full range of tools to support the IBD so please talk with our teams about all that we can offer.”
Madison: www.madisonb2b.co.uk
Tel: 0208 385 3385
www.lazersport.com
This article was originally printed in the September edition of BikeBiz, which you can read in full here.
