Getting Germany back in the saddle
Mission
Many people like to use a bicycle. But nobody really likes to maintain and repair their own bike. Swapfiets, the world’s first bicycle-as-a-service or ‘bike membership’, was born 2014 in the Netherlands.
Coming 2018 to the German market, a country full of automobile fanatics, Swapfiets initially contracted me to create a launch campaign while opening new Swapfiets stores across the country.
How to make Germans truly love riding a bicycle?
– We found an answer!
Strategy
I started to work for Swapfiets in April 2019 and developed the brand becoming the leading bike membership in Germany.
By strictly focusing on regional PR & Paid Media (online and offline) we created buzz in cities across Germany where Swapfiets is available. This way we laid the foundation for broader, national communications, creating real brand love.
Early 2022, Swapfiets counted almost 75,000 members who used their bike almost every day.
Project
Phase I: PR Launch in Germany
Phase II: Interim Head of PR for Swapfiets
Client
Swapfiets
What I Did
Brand Development, Public Relations, Campaigning
More than 5.000 earned media mentions in print (52%), online (45%) as well as TV and radio within 3 years
By end of 2019, after less than 1 year of PR in Germany, purely earned media with more than 1.300 media articles and programs across Germany reached an audience of more than 260 million people. In 2020 these results were even exceeded.
With ongoing media relations efforts and strong storytelling with regional focus, Swapfiets gained strong recognition with a total of more than 5.000 earned media mentions reaching a staggering number of more than 1 billion contacts — in Germany alone — by mid-2022, based on analytics by Landau Media monitoring.
Blue Tires
at Tour de France
Leading PR globally for Swapfiets as Interim Head of PR, I had the opportunity to stage one of the biggest PR stunts for Amsterdam-based bike subscription company Swapfiets.
For Tour de France 2021, the company made its iconic blue tire appear on Team Jumbo-Visma bikes to promote cycling in daily life. In consequence, we created staged media attacks across 8 markets in Europe with more than 100 earned media clippings and a total engagement of more than 50k in social media.
Earned media results
1283
Number of Clippings in 2019
2323
Number of Clippings in 2020
5000+
Total number of clippings until mid 2022
261
Reach in millions in 2019
647
Reach in millions in 2020
1000+
Reach in millions by mid 2022
What the client says
“I have been working with Sebastian for the past 4 years. During this time he has been advising and supporting Swapfiets on our PR-approach and brand positioning for the German market (and partly as Interim Head of PR also other markets). Besides the fact that Sebastian is an openminded, straightforward and responsive team player that is nice to work with, he is a true PR professional and brand expert for the German market. His market insights, his network to German media as well as his abilities in terms of storytelling helped to shape Swapfiets positive reputation. Sebastian is an expert in powerful phrasing. With him we always managed to match the right tone of voice. It gives me confidence and peace of mind having Sebastian as very reliable and professional partner on our side. Thanks for everything!”
André IllmerManaging Director, Swapfiets
