Marketing urban cycling, and the performance cycling industry's smoking gun : an exploratory case study

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James Ranson

113555832

Research Master Urban Studies June 22, 2018

Selling Cycling Cities: Branding, Outsourcing and the City’s Role

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Introduction

“Cycling advocates are not the ones with the best backgrounds to be communicating these messages, you need marketing professionals, people that actually get the science of behaviour change to partake in these types of (advertising) campaigns. I think like most causes, like most worlds, the cycling, transportation and urbanism bubbles are sometimes echo chambers that find it hard to break away from ‘preaching to the converted’.” (Interview respondent, Vancouver, 2017)

As public, private and non-government actors mobilise modal shifts away from automobility to more sustainable forms of transportation like cycling, the understanding of the role of marketing and its utility as a planning tool in transport behaviour change, becomes more complex. In light of the bicycle’s potential to reap several societal and individual benefits, a growing number of cities around the globe are implementing the most significant provisions to promote cycling: policies and purpose-built infrastructure (Handy et al., 2014). While marketing can be deployed to complement ‘hard’ interventions like infrastructure by addressing socio-cultural and individual factors, it remains a relatively underutilised planning tool, particularly by public actors. Few systematically reviewed studies exist on the efficacy of marketing

strategies on behaviour change in relation to transport, and even fewer in relation to cycling (Pucher et al., 2010; Forsyth and Krizek, 2010; Tapp and Parkin, 2015). The public sector’s aversion to commercial marketing has developed through the association of marketing as a capitalist tool where market forces prevail (Crouse, 2010). Resources might also play a part in that public entities are accountable to the public for their expenditures and must apportion transport funds prudently.

Several more recent studies note the potential value in marketing as an instrument to normalise utility cycling, increase bicycle use and promote cycling policy packages (Pucher & Buehler, 2008; Pucher et al. 2010; Tapp and Parkin, 2015). Cycling events, bike-to-work programmes and education, particularly to build competency for and habits in children, have been cited as valuable marketing tools (Rose & Marfurt, 2007; Sarmiento et al., 2010, Harms et al., 2015). This research aims to address the intersection of social and commercial marketing practices as conjoined, yet polarising components in the process of marketing cycling. There is growing literature on the

immersion of social marketing into the marketing mainstream and its “untapped” potential in relation to behaviour change (Kotler et al., 2014). Social marketing is increasingly being applied to embrace new technologies and has particular salience for social practices like cycling, designed to deliver benefits to individuals and society. To address a further knowledge gap, this paper takes a market lens and examines the influence of organisational form and their capacities on the efficacy of marketing, including public and private actors, NGOs, and individual communications professionals. Diversity is thought to be a key indicator of strong cycling cultures and technology is cited as the first element in the diversity of cycling cultures (Cox, 2015). As such a third key exploration of this study examines the role of the private sphere in shaping social practice and cycling cultures through the predominant technologies it markets.

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makers and social marketing practitioners by investigating communications frameworks and network of actors behind the combinations of marketing strategies deployed in relation to cycling. First, the literature on the key marketing concepts and principles and their immersion in the cycling policy process is discussed. Second, the existing literature on marketing cycling is discussed to identify gaps. Third, the insights lead to a series of semi-structured interviews with a diverse range of marketing actors and focus groups to measure the efficacy of marketing strategies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the results and a set of recommendations for policy makers and marketing actors, before an evaluation of the methodology and a final reflection.

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Literature Review

Power, Language and Mobilities

With mediums such as marketing, advertising, culture and media, language and power operate centrally. Language is defined as a human system of

communication incorporating a combination of signals, voice sounds, gestures and written/visual symbols or images, within which social groups

communicate. It is a human constellation of ideas, emotions and desires. One key feature of its operation is social interactions where it has a relationship with power (Tapp and Parkin, 2015). Here, the ideological effects of discursive practice can reproduce the order of discourse - perpetuating the status quo of social practice - or transform the order of discourse (Jorgensen and Phillips, 2002). In this sense, mobility can be seen as a battleground where language and images are used to reinforce or challenge dominant regimes, with each contesting for status, space and investment. When different regimes come into ideological conflict, the power structures hidden behind the different

coalitions marketing cycling positively or negatively affect its marketability, social cachet, and appeal to corporations and society, by reframing mobility discourse through images and language.

Brand identities and loyalty to automotive companies, embedded ideologies, and visions of ‘autopia’ have been effectively marketed over the past century more effectively than any socio-technical system in history. The car has long been stabilised and embodied by cultural values such as freedom, power, choice, privacy, progress, movement, control, wealth and status, through industry and market developments, advertising and popular culture (Sachs, 1992 in Schwanen et al., 2012; Gorz, 1973 in Bohm et al., 2006;

(Nijhuis, 2013). Creating affective images of the car and what it means to drive has been vital for the sustainability of the car industry. The US is a global leader in the advertising industry with automotive manufacturers often in the top tier of highest-spending advertisers in the country (Ibraeva, de Sousa, 2014).1

The added prominence of road lobbyists within political and corporate structures, and the valorisation of consumerism through the social and

cultural value placed on private property ownership, can serve to reinforce the status quo. While these values are context dependent and constantly shifting, they highlight the significance financial means play within this battleground (Schwanen et al., 2012). In response to the multifarious power dynamics of different modes of transport, several authors have attempted to unravel these cultural meanings and expose the manifold ‘unfreedoms’ perpetuated by automobility regimes. This can be seen through challenging and reconfiguring the popular connotations of cars with freedom, power and control

(Freudendal-Pedersen, 2009 in Schwanen et al., 2006; Speck, 2012). As an urban mobility tool the bicycle presents counterbalancing forces to these ‘unfreedoms’ and cultural values. The role of bicycle marketers is to communicate the utility of bicycles in their many forms, to foster a sense of collective behaviour, and to promote benefits that are considered desirable for people who bicycle and for society as a whole. Primarily, that the bike is a

1_{In 2009, General Motors, the world’s largest car manufacturer, spent $3.2 billion on advertising alone} and was the third top spender in 2016 (3rd_{) along with the Ford Motor Company at 9th}

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healthy, environmentally friendly, cost-, time- and space-effective way to travel. The private sphere represents the launch pad to create exchange value on the market for cycling products and services through commercial

marketing. The resources available to the bicycle industry’s largest original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the way they use language and images to shape and market existing and new bicycle technology, create parallel forces and narratives. These can be examined in the same way the automotive industry derives symbolic and cultural meaning through the products and services it sells.2

Figure 1: Marketing and image

Principles of Marketing

Core Marketing Concepts

Marketing is a management process typically used by entities in the private sector to obtain what they desire through creating and exchanging products and value with target audiences (Kotler, 2002). Jobber’s (1995) definition of marketing is “the achievement of corporate goals through meeting and exceeding customer needs better than the competition”. Marketing can be seen a set of actions and communicative strategies that an entity uses to position its brand, product or service. It typically involves extensive customer research, segmentation of markets, product and service development, the creation of brands, consideration of issues around location and accessibility, and finally, communication designed to maximise their motivational and persuasive potential. Whether a market actor or non-profit, successful organisations show a strong focus and commitment to marketing (Tapp & Parkin 2015). Marketing exists within a macro-environment of political, economic, social and technological issues that greatly influence markets (Kotler et. al, 2005). There are three major trends intrinsically important to marketing: the development of the Internet and e-marketing (including content and social media marketing); globalisation; and the social environment and social responsibility (ibid.).

Marketing research is the function used linking the consumer, customer and public to the marketer through information that is used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems, to generate, refine and evaluate marketing actions and performance, and to improve understanding of the marketing process (ibid.). As market researchers engage in a wide variety of activities, which can be lengthy and costly, companies may employ an in-house research department or choose to outsource. In essence, organisations 2_{Despite presenting greater danger to other road users and using more fuel than standard passenger vehicles, Sports} Utility Vehicles (SUVs) have been marketed by the automotive industry with wild success since the start of the millennium, increasing from practically zero market share to a record 34% of the global market in 2017. A cross-over vehicle with a light-truck chassis, SUVs are promoted to both genders, families and adventurists alike for their comfort and increased cargo capacity, and typically earn car manufacturers higher margins than conventional passenger vehicles.

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focus on the needs, wants and demands (NWDs) of consumers right from the concept to the market (Figure 2), or in the case of transport planning,

potential users, to ‘sell’ their product or service by obtaining the desired reaction from a target audience (Crouse & Overman, 2004). Specifying the customers’ needs provides organisations with more detailed knowledge about their target markets. Individual, cultural, and constantly shifting societal factors are the prisms through which consumers communicate their needs and wants, which evolve over time and are not infinite. As consumers have limited resources, wants become demands and the products and services that provide them with the most value and satisfaction for their resources are identified. Consumer value is the difference between the values the consumer gains from the choice to own and use a product, and the costs of obtaining the product (Kotler, 1996). Importantly, the creation of exchange value on the market is where consumers often act on perceived value in that they often do not judge product values and costs accurately and objectively. Put simply, this means consumers often rationalise their decision-making through emotions when making choices with ‘the facts’ alone not enough (Kotler & Armstrong, 2005). Emotions connect us with society and our environment and can stand alone without reason; however, rational cognition is always accompanied by emotions (Chaudhuri, 2006). Although people use rational cues when they purchase products and services, more than 80% of the decision to make a purchase is emotional (España, 2009).

Figure 2: Core Marketing Concepts

Source: Kotler (2002) The Marketing Mix (7 Ps)

Marketing involves the ‘marketing mix’, which remains one of the dominant ideas in modern marketing. Commonly referred to as the 4 Ps – product, price, place and promotion – the marketing mix often includes three further strategic service tools: physical environment, process and people (De

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selling or advertising, but although they are two of the most visible and widely discussed tools, they are just two of many elements in the marketing mix (Kotler et. al, 2005). As noted, marketing includes everything an entity does to place its product or service in the hands of potential customers, but unlike advertising, which is just one subset of the promotion mix, promotion incorporates all enterprises and does not necessarily require attracting attention to a product or service as a paid network. The promotion mix combines several activities; some tools are intrinsic to products and services within paid networks like advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, direct and online marketing. Others are broader in scope, such as public relations and publicity (PR), market research, events and sponsorship marketing. The following section will outline the components of the marketing mix to help develop a foundational understanding of how different organisations harness marketing capacity by using certain marketing concepts to maximise their return.

Figure 3: The Marketing & Promotion mixes

Source: Kotler (2005) and Jordan (2011)

Role of Marketing in Bicycle Planning

Marketing in the Policy Mix

Marketing is a contested planning tool that can be harnessed to complement the policy measures by selling evocative ideas related to cycling. Cycling products take the form of both tangible and intangible offerings. From the market perspective tangible offerings include bicycles, and within the policy context, cycling infrastructure. Creating marketing exchange value also takes the form of intangible services and provisions such as ongoing bike dealer repair after a bicycle purchase, or municipal education programmes. Within the policy framework at the micro level, various ‘soft’ outputs of bicycle marketing are sometimes referred to as software, programmes or promotion (Adam, L. et al., 2018). The promotion mix stems directly from the marketing mix and is conjoined with the fundamental theories and concepts that

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blend of communication methods and, theoretically, can occur without Ps such as product or processes and the three service Ps: people, physical and processes. Therefore, a distinction is made to use marketing as an umbrella term encompassing all promotion, programmes and software, because it is the only concept that establishes a direct link with the market and incorporates every component of the marketing mix.

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Source: Kotler (2005) and Jordan (2011)

The policy inputs (governance) such as bicycle and transportation plans, are products of the socio-spatial setting in which the policies are formulated (ibid.). These lead to the policy outputs (hardware): the physical

infrastructure and cycling-specific provisions. Separated cycling facilities and extensive traffic calming initiatives are widely considered to be the largest contributor to the two measures of policy success: cycling mode share (the proportion of journeys to work and education), and improving real and perceived cycling safety (Adam, L. et al., 2018; Pucher and Buehler, 2008). The combination of soft measures – marketing - is another policy output. The use of marketing leverages two exogenous variables, the socio-cultural (social norms) and individual factors (personal attitudes, beliefs and perceptions), which could induce voluntary change or diversification of transport modes. The socio-cultural and individual factors are contextually relevant as

marketing strategies are effective only so far as they address individual attitudes towards cycling.

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Ideologies such as freedom, power, speed and status are inherently cultural in nature. Further, mainstream mobility culture and discourse in most contexts embodies the ideology of the car, often forming a “block” to cycling mobility (Cox, 2015). Addressing individual attitudes and socio-cultural attachments to transport modes involves identifying and effectively targeting the difference between real and perceived comfort, safety, convenience and costs. Despite evidence from the Netherlands suggesting that emotionally cycling harbours greater prospects than both the car and public transport (Figure 4), emotional cues have not been commonly exploited to this end by public organisations marketing cycling (Mintz et al., 2008, Crouse, 2010). In addition, primarily focussing on rational marketing appeals does not directly address the many negative perceptions and stigmas urban cycling suffers from, many of which are underpinned by emotional triggers. These include lack of status, safety fears and sexual harassment, cycle theft and vandalism, personal image, weather, hills, sweat and exertion, and technology, (Davies et al. 1997 in Tapp and Parkin, 2015). As a result of the (potential) influence of these perceptions and stigmas, non-policy-amenable exogenous factors

including topography and climate (urban form, hills, weather), costs (real and perceived), and technology are included (Rietveld and Daniel, 2004; Crouse, 2010; Handy et al., 2014). The exogenous variables interact with the policy inputs and outputs (hardware and marketing), culminating in constantly shifting ‘images’ of cycling, which contribute to cycling mode share and safety.

Figure 4: Emotions towards three transport modes in the Netherlands

Source: Mobiliteitsonderzoek Nederland (MON) The Exchange Proposition

The Market:

While creating commercial exchange value typically starts with the private sector, public sector actors like municipalities and transport authorities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), individual communication professionals, and the media, can also play a role in stimulating greater use, by marketing images of cycling. Yet, within this network of actors, focusing on the policy

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context provides only a narrow scope for the role that marketing the primary product and service – bicycle technology - plays. The bicycle and cycling are distinguished by marketers as high involvement products, unlike low involvement products such as a cleaning agent (Solomon, 1986; Crouse, 2010). Thus, a distinction must first be made between the bicycle as a tangible product and service and an intangible product: the symbolic meanings behind the bicycle and bicycle use. Kotler (2005) broadly defines products as

incorporating other intangible things that cannot be seen, felt or touched such as services, experiences, persons, organisations, ideas, places and

information. As a tangible service product, the bicycle’s strong focus on functionality and practicality means it has a large share of rational appeals while bicycle use warrants a larger share of emotional appeals in that it implicates, to a greater degree, lifestyle factors and symbolic meanings (Crouse, 2010). A bicycle’s design, type and style mean it is part of a lifestyle at the same time.

Comfort and technological innovations marketed through the branding and advertising of new iterations and models, come into being via the corporate executives, entrepreneurs, designers and engineers who conceive the

technology and market the product and service. How the image of products, services and modes of transport are marketed on a global scale provides a platform to give meaning to the way socio-technical mobility systems are perceived at the local scale. Thus, it is proposed that individual perceptions of the utility of bicycle technology in its many forms, and the clothing and accessories marketed to address other exogenous factors like topography, climate and costs, speak to larger discourses shaping the overall exchange value of utility cycling.

In his book Cycling Cultures Cox (2015) cites technology as the “first element in the diversity of cycling cultures ... our social diversity as different people, ages, sizes and shapes, ethnicities, gender and fitness levels produces a diversity of capacities” (Figure 4). Each of these interacts with our variety of technologies to produce a kaleidoscopic image of cycling, ever shifting and unpredictable” (p. 20). Cox (2015) and Shove et al. (2012) provide the basis for a three-element Social Practice Theory model, where behaviour is described by the interplay of materials (‘things’, technologies and tangible physical entities), competences (skill and know-how) and meanings (symbolic meanings, ideas, aspirations). The model suggests that practices change or develop based on the nature of the context-based relationship between the three elements. For instance, people may have a selection of different machines with different capacities, for different purposes, but the

kaleidoscopic patterns of diversity created – the cultures and sub cultures – project imaginaries to potential users that marketers are seeking to target, as to the value of cycling and what it means. Cycling advocacy groups are often formed by communities marginalised from mainstream policy discourse (Cox, 2015). This is no different for cycling in contexts where cycling mode shares are low and cycling is seen as a relatively ‘abnormal’ activity. An important observation from subcultural studies is that subcultures, once defined, frequently perpetuate their own continued distance from the mainstream (ibid.).

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Figure 5: 3D grid mapping relationship between bicycles

Source: Cox (2015)

For advocates and urban cycling marketers this point is of fundamental importance. Traditionally, the bicycle industry has been saturated with products and services that are not directly marketed to bring more utility cycling to market. Largely, the global bicycle industry remains a performance-based industry with 44% of the market comprised of mountain bikes (MTB) bicycles (24%), and road bikes (20%), many of them high-end (Figure 6). The top four global brands – Trek/Fisher, Giant, Specialized and Redline – are all performance brands that, combined, make up nearly 50% of market share.3

The widely accessible comfort (‘city’) bike that symbolises mainstream bicycle culture in mature cycling countries like the Netherlands and Denmark, makes up only 15% of the global market, while the hybrid/cross category represents 21%. In the Netherlands, the segmentation is drastically different with

comfort bikes representing (42%), e-bike (31%), children (12%), hybrid (5%), and other (10%) (Statistica, 2017). MTB and road bikes comprise less than 10% of the Dutch bicycle market revealing a significantly smaller presence of performance-style bicycles. This means that the dominant brands shaping the global market and the way the industry uses power and language to challenge dominant mobility regimes, may not directly address the utility cycling

3_{Global bicycle market size by bicycle category:} https://www.statista.com/statistics/740346/global-bicycle-market-size/

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exchange offering, but rather perpetuate performance cycling subcultures and disincentivise potential cyclists. This is because performance products are not designed or marketed for utility cyclists, but for professional athletes, sports enthusiasts, and adventure seekers, with price margins to match. Performance technologies and accessories (materials), and their interplay with

competences and meanings - essentially reasons for cycling - project images of cycling that are embodied by narrow target audiences. These have taken shape through a traditionally androcentric lens and countervailing forces like speed and performance, complicated specifications and high-tech equipment, high costs, accessories, power, athleticism and masculinity. The composition of the bicycle industry suggests that the market may play an important role in influencing the capacity of other actors to target socio-cultural and individual factors, and exogenous factors like (perceived) costs, and topography and climate, as part of the utility cycling exchange.

Figure 6: Global sales of bicycles by type

Source: Statistica

Manufacturers and policy makers often work within familiar categories of utility, leisure and sport, which typically divide cycling activities by trip purpose (Cox, 2015). While riders occupy different positions at different times, representing a continuum of activity, when is comes to promoting utility cycling, Cox states: “In the context of urban transport, the race bike is seen as somewhat absurd, like using a Ferrari to do the shopping” (ibid.). This poses disharmonies, whereby the market’s dominant lens is not systematised to encourage “kaleidoscopic patterns of diversity” within urban settings. Further, the performance technology it markets is not directly amenable with trips made for leisure and sport rather than the common measures of success of policy outcomes: utility cycling mode share and safety (Adam et al., 2018). Indeed, the challenge for urban cycling marketers would be like car lobbyists attempting to stimulate the uptake of car use in urban cores with nearly half the industry’s players marketing high-end sports cars (road bikes), and off-road 4-wheel drives (MTB), rather than conventional passenger vehicles.

While the market segmentation above does not include e-bike categories, the majority of the bicycle industry has released e-bike products – both

performance and utility categories. The e-bike has been identified as a “luxury trend”; one of the largest growth areas in the future and the largest segment in

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terms of value to the market, representing 38% in 2016.4_{Ling et al.’s (2017)}

study of US respondents found that e-bikes play a more important role in utilitarian travel (commuting and running errands) with owners riding longer distances and e-bikes providing increased mobility while reducing more barriers than conventional bicycles, most notably topography and comfort. The e-bike has been identified as a strong potential catalyst among advocacy organisations and the public sector to increase utility cycling (ibid.).

Planning and Policy:

The range of cycling propositions offered to maximise exchange value at the heart of the planning process is largely underpinned by social marketing principles (Tapp and Parkin, 2015). Social marketers adopt the principles of commercial marketing and seek to understand the viewpoints of citizens in order to develop attractive measures with the aim of achieving social, as well as, economic goals (Lazer and Kelly, 1973). There is growing literature on the immersion of social marketing into the marketing mainstream and its

“untapped” potential in relation to behaviour change (Kotler et al., 2014). Social marketing is increasingly being applied to embrace new technologies and is particularly salient for cycling, where there is a desire to address critical issues and influence social behaviour, by normalising cycling and

de-normalising alternatives (Wright and Egan, 2002; Tapp and Parkin, 2015; Kotler et al., 2013). The influence of social media in social marketing and on forms of activism remains largely unstudied (Kotler et al., 2013). In relation to cycling, the social marketing proposition contains tangible products, as well as intangible services, support structures and motivational incentives, all

supported by a communications strategy (Andreasen 2006 in Tapp and Parkin, 2015). Broadly, there are several typologies of the strategies stemming from the cycling marketing mix in bicycle planning, including those of Pucher and Buehler (2008), Handy et al., (2014), Tapp and Parkin (2015) and (Krizek et al., 2009). They include physical infrastructure such as a cycle network, bike share or hire schemes, and the provision of information related to cycling like mode share and wayfinding maps. Activities like bicycle repair services, public events, employer support programmes, competitions and incentives, and education and training, are all implemented to stimulate cycling mode share by building competency, social interactions and social learning. Within the marketing mix, promoting bicycle use might also take the form of traffic calming measures like lower speed limits, economic levers such as congestion charging, and removing car parking privileges (Tapp et al. 2016).

While infrastructure largely removes disincentives to greater uptake of cycling, it does not necessarily directly address individual factors. At a most basic level, cycling marketers’ ability to segment and target key demographics like gender, age, ethnicity and socio-economic status, directly addresses and spreads incentives to bike. Targeting individual attitudes requires a nuanced distinction between the quality of experience of a particular mode of

transport, and the clarity of understanding of these qualities - perceived utility - by potential users (Tapp and Parkin, 2015). This is why general

communication-based strategies that promote cycling as ‘fun’ and ‘healthy’,

4 The move towards mountain and e-bikes in the US represents a “premium, unique, new, and young” brand trend: https://www.npd.com/us-growth-mountain-and-electric-bicycles-leading-the-pack/

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and encouraging one to ‘try it’, are often not effective (ibid.). While these are important messages to convey in building a cycling brand, Tapp and Parkin (2015) argue that a more holistic approach to marketing cycling at the local level is required. Tapp developed a social marketing strategy for Bristol (UK), adopting Prochaska and DiClemente’s (1983) Trans-Theoretical Model of behaviour change. Using the ‘stages of change’ model, social marketing in practice sees non-cyclists become ‘pre-contemplators’, ‘contemplators’ and ‘preparers’, before transitioning to ‘actors’ and then ‘maintainers’ if they take up cycling. Each stage requires different product and service exchange offers in order to lead an individual to the next stage. This is achieved by specifically addressing the barriers and motives of non-cyclists (variability in individual characteristics), who contemplate and react to the idea of cycling very differently to existing cyclists. For example, in the process of developing a strategy, cycling ‘activists’ who cycle regularly may have agendas that do not align with the overall objective of increasing utility cycling (Tapp and Parkin, 2015). Because individual characteristics are heterogeneous between contexts, providing and promoting diverse materials, competencies and meanings, requires blending several elements of the “social marketing mix” (ibid.).

Existing Studies on Marketing Cycling

Very few conclusive studies exist on the efficacy of marketing efforts on

behaviour change in relation to transport, and even fewer in relation to cycling (Tapp and Parkin, 2015). Some of the first marketing strategies carried out in the Netherlands in the 1980s and 1990s aimed at reducing car use were once deemed “a waste of money” (Fiestberaad, 2005), while other authors have noted marketing’s “modest potential” to induce more utility cycling (Adam et al. 2018; Forsyth and Krizek 2010; Pucher et al. 2011 and Pucher et al. 2010). Crouse (2010) contends that while public organisations have generally

become more “commercially oriented”, in relation to cycling marketing, they have tended to focus too heavily on rational cues. In his study on bicycle campaigns, Crouse adopted Pollay’s (1983) Advertising Appeals Classification featuring 46 cues, and found that private organisations and ‘individual

initiatives’5_{showed significantly stronger preferences towards emotion-based}

campaigns. The four primary cues the private sector used were “beauty”, “casual”, “freedom” and “sexuality”. Yet, more recently, some researchers have considered infrastructure and spatial planning as secondary factors behind the need to supplement the attitudes of individuals and their environment towards bicycling, by addressing information gaps, psychological cues and executing targeted social marketing campaigns (Rietveld and Daniel, 2004; McClintock, 2002; Marsden and Docherty, 2013; Geels, 2012; Schwanen et al., 2012). The bulk of contemporary studies conclude that marketing poses an increasingly effective instrument to increase bicycle use and to successfully promote cycling policy packages (Pucher & Buehler, 2008; Pucher et al. 2010; Tapp and Parkin, 2015). The latent value in normalising and marketing the utility cycling proposition, not directly addressed by policy decisions, can be leveraged through events and ambassadors like local cycling ‘champions’,

5_{Crouse (2010) defines individual initiatives as “having no clear responsibility in society unlike public}

organisations or NGO’s”. This definition appears to render the category interchangeable with the media category classified in this research, although examples used in Crouse’s research include advocacy media like Cycle Chic, while others appear to be campaigns executed by private marketing agencies.

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cycle-based tourism, ‘ciclovías’ and bike-to-work events (Rose & Marfurt, 2007; Sarmiento et al., 2010; Adam et al. 2018)6_.

Most studies view early education (e.g. bike-to-school programmes) as valuable, if not necessary, acquisition tools to build cycling competency and habits that youth are likely to retain as adults (Harms et al., 2015). Secondary school and adult education can play an important role for cyclists and drivers, too. Education has the potential to influence road safety, perceptions towards cycling, and for drivers; to build awareness of cyclists’ legal rights and

responsibilities, particularly in contexts with low cycling levels (ibid.). Major life events such as changing residences or jobs present opportunities for triggering behaviour change. Targeting specific neighbourhoods with physical environments conducive to walking, bicycling and transit also show promise for individualised marketing strategies, based on data from Portland, US (Brog, 1998; Dill and Mohr, 2010). Some studies have cited the importance of mass media in influencing perception and attitudes towards cycling or health-related activity levels in general, including photo contests in Munich and Copenhagen’s Copenhagenize magazine (Cavill and Bauman, 2007; Hjuler and Krag, 2013).

The primary mitigating factor in gauging the efficacy of marketing strategies is the lack of “systematically evaluated” studies, particularly education programmes and awareness-raising campaigns. Few studies have followed participants long enough to quantitatively measure behaviour change over time (Pucher et al., 2010; Forsyth and Krizek, 2010; Pucher et al. 2011; Handy et al. 2014; Harms et al. 2015). One notable example is Yang et al.’s (2010) systematic review into the promotion of cycling. The research

investigated community-wide promotional campaigns targeting women with abdominal obesity and school children, and found “moderately increased levels of cycling” in four of the six studies conducted. Of the four studies aimed at the population level, one showed an increase in trips made by bicycle of 3.4%, but none were tested on any particular theory of behaviour change (Tapp and Parkin, 2015). It is generally accepted that a “range of

interventions” works best, however, Yang et al.’s interventions include both infrastructure provisions and social marketing initiatives (ibid.). The findings state that “sustained and well-designed” investment is sufficient to increase cycling, “yet if evidence cannot conclude which interventions were most successful, then little can be said about the most effective combination of interventions”, or the overall efficacy of marketing (Tapp and Parkin, 2015; Sloman et al., 2009). In their summary of needs and challenges in regards to cycling promotion, Handy et al. (2014) make a critical observation about the lack of knowledge of the importance of individual factors and support

structures, such as cycling shops and repair facilities. These two studies serve to highlight the opaque boundaries between soft and hard measures and the largely unexamined role of the market.

Two examples that deviate from much of the literature are Munich and Bristol’s social marketing strategies, which resemble more ‘private-sector’ approaches to marketing. Both cities have experienced increases in cycling mode share in the past decade and have executed a two-pronged approach, by complementing improved policy and infrastructure with ‘soft’ measures. Tapp

6_{Ciclovía: temporary restrictions of motorised traffic on main streets, in favour of bicyclists, pedestrians}

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and Parkin’s (2015) social marketing proposition for Bristol involved

gathering extensive audience insights from non-cyclists and setting targets for behaviour change by grouping strategies into two phases: ‘acquisition’ (first time cyclists) and ‘retention’ (reinforcing habit). The strategy included co-authoring multi-disciplinary strategies with communications professionals, using a geo-demographic approach to segment ‘priority’ target audiences, and finally, executing an overarching marketing communications and brand building strategy.7_{The strategy found some non-cyclist barriers to be weak}

and hence not difficult to overcome (‘sweat’, ‘it takes too long’ and ‘busy roads’). Similarly the findings show that positive attitudes and beliefs created in childhood were often buried or forgotten. The benefits of cycling for non-cyclists included joy, playful/childlike, freedom, achievement, stress-busting and feelings of wellbeing.8

Munich launched its social marketing strategy (Radlhaupstadt München ‘Bicycle City’) in 2010 as part of its cycling masterplan, which tripled its budget and employed 11 people responsible for cycling. The city implemented a professional marketing and communication strategy, selected the services of two communications firms (from 62 Europe-wide tenders) to implement measurement and re-design tools based on ongoing evaluations of their targeted marketing and cycling brand strategy. The strategy combined all seven Ps within the marketing mix, and included the implementation of a clear online and physical visual identity (brand and logo), iconography, products, events, photo contests and competitions, participation and engagement, and free services like repair stations (Figure 7).9

7_{Greater Bristol Cycling City}_{https://www.polisnetwork.eu/greater-bristol-cycling-strategy.pdf} 8_{Both Bristol and Munich’s strategies dedicated minimal funding from their overall cycling budget to} marketing. Both highlighted fine-grained target audiences, which, in the case Bristol, included ‘well-off executives’ (competitive, long-term health and fitness benefits); ‘young families with large mortgages’ (economic reasons, punctuality and riding to school for children); and ‘students and young graduates in central city locations’ (freedom, lifestyle, green living and fitness). 9_{View more examples of Munich’s marketing strategy here:}_{http://www.fietsberaad.nl/}

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Figure 7: Munich Cycling Campaign

Source: City of Munich

Communications Frameworks by Organisational Form

The actors involved in marketing cycling include the private sector, public sector, NGOs and media (individual communication professionals). Marketing cycling as planning tool might involve different amalgamations of ‘formal’ public sector actors such as municipalities, transportation departments and local councils. ‘Informal’ actors might also influence the process, including private sector actors (bicycle manufacturers, entrepreneurs, tourism agencies, employers); NGOs (and advocacy groups); and media (marketing specialists, journalists, graphic designers and artists etc.). Though, it has been contended that the public sector in particular has struggled to identify the most effective ways to spend limited marketing resources to stimulate bicycle use (Crouse, 2010). By identifying the relatively little attention public organisations pay to emotional marketing strategies (feelings, meanings, desires), Crouse (2010) highlights several important distinctions regarding actors’ organisational form, which influence the potential effectiveness of marketing.

Commercialism - The public sector’s aversion to ‘commercial’ marketing has developed through the association of marketing with consumption and economic choice, as a capitalist tool in an environment where market forces prevail (Crouse, 2010). Some authors have contested the intersection of

commercial and non-commercial stakeholders and whether their interests can be bridged, due to conflicts of interest and subjective questions of morality. The efficacy of social marketing formulations often used by public

organisations in relation to sustainability and health, in particular, has been contested (Andreasen, 2012; Hastings & Saren, 2003; Peattie & Peattie,

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2003). In relation to the promotion mix, certain commercial functions designed to convince consumers typically sit outside the remit of public organisations. For example, private entities, individuals and NGOs may use components such as personal selling and sales promotion more freely. Funding - The public sector’s reluctance - or financial capacity - to dedicate extensive resources to market cycling, makes sense in that typically, public organisations do not have exhaustive budgets and must apportion transport funds prudently. While NGOs and individuals are similarly constrained, for-profit organisations generally have larger budgets and resources and often conduct extensive, focused research on target markets (Handy et al., 2014; Crouse, 2010). Nonetheless, given the dearth of studies, budget constraints do not account for the potential cost-benefits of executing professional marketing strategies to promote cycling.10

Accountability – Private entities, NGOs and individuals enjoy freedoms

public organisations don’t. For one, public and private sector entities have different goals and motives and are governed by different principles, which predicate different communications frameworks.Private sector entities often have much more freedom to operate, and while larger companies must answer to their shareholders and customers, they can also disperse revenue from sales and investments to purchase things when they desire. In contrast, public organisations are governed by laws, rules, traditions, and structural bureaucratic checks and balances (Christensen et al., 2007). They must answer to the concerns of many different publics while also being under the watch of many interest groups and oversight agencies. As a result, private organisations can choose, and often have clear target audiences, making it easier to focus on elements of marketing and emotional appeals that relate to specific segments of the public (Crouse, 2010). In contrast, the target groups of public organisations are diverse and more difficult to target.

Information – The public sector’s predominant focus on “hybrid-rational strategies” in relation to marketing cycling might be explained, in part,

because the primary objective of their communications output is to inform the public (Crouse, 2010 and Christensen et al., 2007). For example, a city’s public relations output is naturally high, as they must implement policy decisions for the public good. Therefore, they must not only justify the implementation of their policies and projects, but also communicate rational information like facts, figures, mode share counts and safety information. The role of corporate communications, specifically PR responsibilities, may leave less budget to focus on the more active elements of marketing, for example emotional advertising campaigns.

People - Public entities are ‘slower moving objects’ and as such are often less agile when it comes to recruiting new personnel to address deficiencies

(Christensen et al., 2007). As public entities are funded by taxpayers, they must go through several more governing bodies and supplier checks during the procurement process. This also means public entities cannot promote individual brands or develop commercial partnerships with the freedom other

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organisations can. In regards to communications output, government organisations face a specific kind of public scrutiny and are directly accountable to them for how they spend money, and on which personnel (ibid.). Modern marketing activities often take the form of the functional organisation (Kotler et. al, 2005). In this form, functional specialists head different activities, including a sales manager, advertising manager, marketing research manager, customer service manager, and a new-product manager. As well as outsourcing to advertising agencies, sales promotion specialists, direct-marketing specialists, and public relations firms.

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Research Design

Table 2: Research questions and objectives

Main Research Question: How is marketing cycling actively considered, executed and influenced by the organisational form of different actors, and what are the most effective marketing strategies?

Objectives:

• To identify discrepancies between communications frameworks by organisational form and how they can influence the utility of the marketing.

• To explore the understudied intersection of commercial and social marketing and the role the bicycle industry plays in shaping urban cycling landscapes.

• To discuss a list of recommendations and opportunities for urban cycling marketers based on the most effective strategies used in a mature cycling city (Amsterdam) and a developing cycling city (Vancouver).

Sub Question 1: How is marketing cycling actively considered and executed by the public sector and other actors?

Within the cycling planning process, official policy documents (inputs) such as active transportation plans and cycling promotion documents represent the goals and objectives for both soft and hard measures to be implemented. These policies may fall under the umbrella of broader sustainability and environmental policies and targets, which may influence the architecture behind them. Specific marketing and promotion documents to stimulate the use of transportation modes typically involve identifying and targeting specific socio-cultural and individual barriers through a combination of marketing mix strategies. As noted, the actors involved in marketing cycling include the ‘formal’ public sector actors as well as the private sector, NGOs and media. Therefore, the aim of the research is to investigate which components of the marketing mix and strategies are actively considered and deployed. What coalitions of actors are involved? And how do they consider and execute marketing in the context of cycling via a combination of policy and social goals, market forces, and competition? This research will investigate these questions and attempt to develop a better understanding through a

combination of description, exploration and evaluation.

Sub Question 2: How do communications frameworks by organisational form influence different approaches to marketing cycling within the

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This research proposes that the degree of success of entities and their networks to market cycling is dependent on how effectively they utilise combinations of the components of the marketing mix. Most studies have attempted to quantitatively measure the effectiveness of individual

interventions to general populations with limited success, without

distinguishing between the different capacities of communication frameworks by organisational form in relation to marketing cycling as a collaborative network (Tapp and Parkin, 2015; Sloman et al., 2009). Given the rather threadbare understanding of this in the literature, the second sub question examines how budget and funding capacities and the recruitment of people (personnel) might influence an organisation’s ability to effectively execute combinations of the marketing mix. What role do factors like commercialism, accountability, public scrutiny, information (rational or emotion-based output), and an organisation’s capacity to leverage emerging tools in modern marketing – online and social media – play? In the private sphere, how has the bicycle industry’s dominant lens influenced the ability of marketers at the local level to ‘sell’ utility cycling? This complicated interplay also aims to add to the literature on the intersection between social- and

commercial-marketing mixes.

Sub Question 3: Which targeted marketing strategies to stimulate bicycle use are the most effective?

The final sub question aims to evaluate the efficacy of the outputs: the marketing strategies. By first examining the capacity of communication frameworks and the total network of actors to market cycling, it is proposed this will help develop an understanding of the combinations of the marketing mix that create the best conditions to be effective. Therefore, rather than focusing solely on quantitatively measuring which individual strategies are most effective, the objective is also to combine the conclusions drawn from the (why) findings in the second sub question. For example, which combinations of the marketing mix are leveraged? Which marketing interventions have the greatest potential for impact and what scales are the marketing processes of operating on? What audiences are the most effective strategies targeting and what do they say about existing barriers and the most affirmative benefits to sell to potential cyclists? What potential is there to increase the effectiveness of marketing strategies through collaboration and which combination works for each group?

Case Profiles

Addressing existing socio-spatial contexts, the quality of the overall cycling product can be seen through the level of cycling mode share. Urbanczyk (2013) presents a simply typology to distinguish a city’s level of cycling development: “starter” (less than 5% modal share), “climber” (5-15%) and “champion cities” (above 15%). On one extreme of the case population lie typically car-centric dispersed starter cities with strong post-Fordist spatial influences, very little cycling mode share and culture, and weak cycling policies and infrastructure. On the other end lie typically European,

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high-density cycling-centric champion cities with strong histories of cycling policy, high-quality infrastructure, mode share and culture (Amsterdam and

Copenhagen). Although starter cities comprise the greatest proportion of potential cyclists it is proposed that as cases they pose less interest for marketing due to the low level of quality of their hardware ‘product’: policy, infrastructure. Thus, it is suggested climber cities present more relevant cases to examine the efficacy of marketing.

Vancouver & Amsterdam

Differences in the level of ‘normalised’ cycling culture between starter, climber and champion cities, has implications for the number of potential cyclists and heightens the focus on latent socio-cultural and individuals factors that could be targeted to stimulate cycling. It is proposed that the challenge of marketing cycling to create demand in cities with low levels of cycling share, might differ to contexts where the focus of the marketing exchange is more on retaining existing demand. To examine differentiations among cases in the way

marketing affects the image of cycling and mode share, Amsterdam has been selected as a champion city, and Vancouver as a climber city. Amsterdam (36 % mode share) has one of the strongest cycling cultures in the world and has traditionally not focussed extensively on marketing (MJP Fiets, 2017). Vancouver meanwhile (10% mode share) is ‘on the move’ having released its Active Transportation Promotion and Enabling Plan (ATPEP) in 2013. Amsterdam and Vancouver are comparable on total population (821,000 in 2015; 647,500 in 2014, respectively) and the exogenous variable climate (both have moderate oceanic climates). However, Vancouver has a unique cycling barrier in that it is one of the rainiest cities in North America, with about the same amount of rainy days per year as Amsterdam, but over 1.5 times the volume. Vancouver’s greater urban sprawl and hillier topography are also exogenous factors to note. It is not know what influence (perceived) costs and technology might have on marketing in each context.

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Methodology

Collection of data

The data for this study was collected using three qualitative methods to answer the main research question and three sub questions: 1) content analysis of public policy and marketing plans 2) semi-structured interviews with members operating in the cycling marketing, advocacy and promotion space and 3) focus groups for each case via population sampling. The data collection and analysis steps are summarised in (Figure 8).

Sub Question 1: Content Analysis

Public sector organisations are principal actors in the planning process and the design and objectives of this research. As such, two municipal policy documents – Amsterdam’s Meerjarenplan Fiets ‘long-term bicycle plan’ (MJP Fiets) and Vancouver’s ATPEP - were examined using a very simple

qualitative content analysis method. Content analysis is a very transparent and unobtrusive method to analyse documents and texts, rather than an explicit research method or means of gathering data (Bryman, 2013). The objective was to conduct a ‘background check’ of the documents by examining the overall marketing approach: themes, marketing mix and strategies, and the network of other actors involved in the plan. This was not a cross-sectional analysis but the examination of the key document to help inform the

formulation of the interview questions, and to (later) distinguish between the planned marketing approach and strategies outlined, and the actual

marketing approach and strategies conducted. The approach to the content analysis was examined referentially throughout the research, to verify the content of the documents as new themes and patterns emerged during the interviews.

Sub Question 1 & 2: Interviews

Based on other non-public-sector members of the network identified during the content analysis, and the thesis supervisor’s recommended contacts, a simple network map was created and a preliminary interview target list drafted. Snowball sampling was used to further establish a network hierarchy and to help identify influential members within the network. By nature, communications networks tend to be relatively informal, while bicycle advocates often work together or are familiar with each other’s work, particularly in low-cycling contexts. These factors and the researcher’s background in communications, suggested snowball sampling and semi-structured interviews would be a most effective research method. The experts solicited were made up of 25 individuals based in Vancouver (12) and

Amsterdam (13). The subjects were classified in four categories by

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classification is comprised of individual communications professionals: marketing and social media specialists, writers, bloggers and graphic designers. The key discrepancy between cases was in the private sector interviewee category due to the prevalence of marketing specialists working for large Dutch and global bicycle brands who were based in Amsterdam. To provide a snapshot, interview subjects were identified as having (cross-case) expertise in the following domains: writing-editing, communications and engagement, marketing strategy, social media strategy, graphic design, policy, urban planning and management.

Table 3: Interview expertise categories

The interviews were carried out in a semi-structured, conversational style; lasting on average one hour, from as brief as 20 minutes to as long as 108. The interview questions were developed based on the key initial themes identified in the literature review including the role of power, language and marketing, perceived benefits and barriers to cycling, the intersection of commercial and social marketing, and the role of organisational form. The aim of the

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interviews was to examine the combinations of the marketing mix used and which specific socio-cultural and individual factors were identified to target potential cyclists and address the exogenous factors (technology, costs,

climate and topography). There was significant crossover between the themes of the questions and categories and their pertinence to the first two sub questions. The final category also addressed the third sub question to inform the focus group facilitation. The question areas and their relation to the research questions are delineated as follows:

While the framework of all interviews followed the logic of the main research question and sub questions, and the three units of analysis, the sequence and detail of the questions changed, as responses were provided to allow the conversation to flow and new themes to emerge organically. This approach took into account organisational form and to facilitate the broad range of experts and their different capacities, to improve the quality of data. This approach was also necessary to avoid, for example, asking a marketing specialist for a bicycle manufacturer to elaborate on the framework of a municipal cycling policy documents.

Approach to analysis

The qualitative data collected during the interviews was analysed in a four-step process. The key messages and themes that emerged from the semi-structured interviews worked in a feedback loop with the formulation of the interview questions, whereby new interview targets were identified and slight amendments made to the interview guide, with the aim of achieving

saturation. Transcribing consistently during the interview phase enabled new themes and patterns to emerge and filtered into the initial and focussed coding phases. The flexible, bottom-up constructivist grounded theory approach was adopted, using qualitative software Nvivo to code the data. As opposed to the more objectivist grounded theory approach, constructivist grounded theory emphasises the heuristic devices typical of qualitative

analysis. Rather than “discovering the data or theories”, researchers construct meaningful worlds through dialectical processes of conferring meaning on the realities of subjects (Charmaz, 2014). Studying a network and its community-based, collaborative elements is a valuable arena for the constructivist

approach, to allow categories and concepts to emerge through interaction. The summary of results for sub question 1 were organised and prioritised according to the structure of the marketing and policy framework used in the Marketing in the Policy Mix chapter (p. 8)11_{. Education was included as a}

separate primary service product given its prominence in the data, and because it does not fit within the promotion mix. The combinations of the marketing mix used (product, price, place, promotion, people, physical, processes) were discussed within the activity categories (promotion mix), rather than as separate sections, as the combination of their use serves to explain why a strategy or activity may or may not be effective. The results of sub question 2 were ordered according to organisational form with

commercialism, funding, accountability, information and people discusses within the organisational categories.

11_{When specific factors (socio-cultural, individual and exogenous) and marketing activity categories} were not addressed by responses in the analysis, they were left out of the results.

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At the highest level (SQ1):

• Socio-cultural & individual factors: social norms, perceptions, beliefs and attitudes)

• Exogenous factors: technology, costs, climate, topography) • Marketing: education, online marketing, events and sponsorship

marketing, advertising, public relations and publicity, personal selling, sales promotion and direct marketing

At the highest level (SQ2):

• Organisational form - public sector, NGOs, media, and private sector The key themes that emerged from the first and second sub questions include selected quotations (denoted by organisational form) and Invivo codes where responses were deemed to succinctly summarise the professional(s) response or present a contrasting view, within and across cases.

Sub Question 3: Interviews

By highlighting the strategies the professionals perceived to be the most effective, the final category during the semi-structured interviews addressed the third sub question, and largely informed the design through the selection of the facilitation material presented to the focus groups. This data included perceptions and detailed accounts of both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ marketing

examples, highlighting key strategy techniques, and common barriers and benefits of cycling, which were verified by or discredited by the focus group participants. These findings from the semi-structured interviews were included in the results for the third sub question to triangulate the date, particularly the material both highlighted by interviewees, and presented to focus group subjects.

Focus groups

Focus groups have become one of the key marketing research tools for gaining insights into customer attitudes, feelings and perceptions. The method has also gained popularity in the social sciences, making it a logical third data collection method given the desire to generate interaction and the joint creation of meaning, as well as research focus on sociology, planning and marketing theory (Kotler, 2005; Bryman, 2013). Three focus groups were conducted in total - two in Vancouver and one in Amsterdam - using extensive online and direct purposive sampling methods. A total of 15 participants were selecting in Vancouver (11 women and four men), and four in Amsterdam (2 / 2), ranging in age from 23 – 74. The focus group plan and participant

recruitment phase was replicated for the Amsterdam case with minor tweaks made based on the level of engagement to the type and format of the material solicited, and the recruitment channels that worked well while meeting the

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sampling criteria. Difficulties with recruitment in Amsterdam, in particular, confirmed earlier tentative hypotheses. First, cycling is not regarded ‘as anything special’ or worthy of marketing in the Dutch context - as it is a cultural and social norm - and also because of the strong emphasis on governance and hardware to stimulate cycling.

The City of Vancouver’s sampling criteria within its own ATPEP was used to identify the categories within the population from which to sample. The interested but concerned category was targeted, as distinct from the no way no how, enthused and confident and strong and fearless segments.12_The

interested but concerned population sample are those that already walk or cycle occasionally and are interested but concerned in doing so more

frequently. As such, they are considered to be the “most amenable to transport behaviour change”, of which marketing is one variable. They also represent the largest segment of the population and therefore the largest scope to

measure the effectiveness of the outputs (City of Vancouver, 2013). Within the literature and preliminary interview findings, the importance of emphasising diversity in cycling marketing material, and the disproportionate effect that a lack of separated, safe infrastructure has on the cycling mode share of women, was reflected in the broad range of participants sought for the 90-minute sessions: all ages, ethnicities and abilities. Interviewees were contacted to identify potential participants within their networks as well as an exhaustive list of online and more personal channels including: libraries, neighbourhood and resident groups, universities, work spaces, immigration services and market research platforms. A second moderator (social sciences master student) assisted the sessions for the purposes of setting up the focus group setting, thematic note taking and to keep track of time.13

The role of the focus groups participants was to help triangulate the data by highlighting the differences between the perceived and actual effectiveness of the strategies. This was modified by the participants’ experience and their level of exposure to the marketing materials prior to, and during, the sessions. The questions raised and themes explored were deliberately open-ended, with caution taken to ensure confirmation bias and opinion was avoided, in favour of gentle prompts. Only if a clarification was requested would the moderators contexualise the question further. The themes and questions presented to the subjects were ordered sequentially as follows:

• Brand identification of organisations and marketing outputs • Perceived function and role of organisations as marketing entities • Reactions to social media, video and event marketing material • Representations of safety and diversity

• Most attractive incentives and cross promotions

The focus group plan and participant recruitment phase was replicated for the Amsterdam case with minor tweaks made based on the level of engagement to the type and format of the material solicited.14_{For example, a rather unfruitful}

12_{Geller’s (2000) market segmentation of the “Four Types of Cyclists”} https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/264746

13_{Two CA$50 vouchers were offered as incentives to participants in Vancouver, but this was not noted as a} factor in any of the participant’s decision to take part. As such the incentives were not offered in Amsterdam 14_{Vancouver focus group material:}_View link_{; Amsterdam material:}_View link

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photo facilitation sequence was restructured for the Amsterdam case, while some materials that generated robust discussion were used again. The

Amsterdam case included more material of a commercial material, for the fact that four more private sector actors were interviewed than for the Vancouver case.

Approach to analysis

An initial summary of the key themes and patterns was compiled with the second moderators after the focus group for each case. Upon the completion of the focus group transcriptions, the same analysis steps from the interview phase were repeated, with initial and focussed coding using Nvivo (Figure 8). The subsequent summary of results is organised according to the same marketing and policy framework used to structure the results of the first sub question, including selected quotations and Invivo codes from interviewees and focus group participants. Shorter quotations considered to summarise key thoughts of select focus group participants, and the group, as well as interview respondents are also interspersed throughout the text. To prioritise

triangulation of the interview and focus group data, the results for the third sub question were not separated by research method, but instead merged. This was done for the purposes of clarity and brevity and because it did not follow logic to separate analyses of the perceived and actual effectiveness of the same marketing material.

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Figure 8 Qualitative data collections and analysis steps

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Results

This section shows the results of the study for the two cases. In some cases short quotations are interspersed throughout the text for the purposes of brevity. These are considered to summarise key thoughts and feelings of select focus group participants, and the group, as well as interview respondents. Case: Vancouver

Sub Question 1: How is marketing cycling actively considered and executed by the public sector and other actors?

“Of all the issues here – homelessness, the housing crisis - for some reason in the middle of those big thick pieces, is cycling. It’s a weirdly emotional topic... almost everyone can point to it touching their lives or at least they think – ‘it’s ruined my life!’ Logic and facts don't penetrate anti-cyclist sentiment, which is based on emotion.” (Public) Content Analysis

Policy documents revealed the City of Vancouver conducted extensive market research before the implementation of the ATPEP in 2013, releasing a

‘background report’ detailing a suite of “high level strategies” based on lessons learned from community-based social marketing (CBSM) literature and best practice cases from other cities (City of Vancouver, 2013)1_{. To encourage}

“people of all ages and abilities to be able to walk and cycle around

conveniently, safely and comfortably”, it states, infrastructure alone is not enough to address “the importance of clearly identifying and removing barriers... and sustain new habits”. These points were emphasised by several other successful ‘walk- and bicycle-friendly cities’ such as Bristol, Stoke (UK) and Montreal (Canada). Key ingredients and findings include building a transportation brand (Copenhagen), dedicated staff and budget for promotion (Figure 10), and creating elements like “being noticeable, delightful, social, and inclusive”. A decision-making framework led to the following strategies and actions:

• Market research: To uncover major barriers and motivators by identifying the “interested but concerned” audience - those that already occasionally walk or cycle to help shape pilot projects.

• Monitoring & reporting: Measuring impacts of specific programmes by tracking awareness and attitudes (perceptions), participation levels, mode share, and trips numbers (behaviour).

Publicly reporting on successes was cited as a “useful marketing tool” to create “legitimacy around walking and cycling”.

• Marketing campaigns: Providing a “consistent and comprehensive

1_{View the full ATPEP Background Report:}