Tour de France marketing hits uphill stage

Tag : fancy socks

Because the Tour de France trips were a small segment of thecompany's many travel offerings, Backroads fared well and continuedto grow sales by focusing on its other products, Snodsmith says.Some other mom-and-pop-type operations folded.
"Basing your business around the Tour is not a businessmodel," Snodsmith says. "We were really looking tocapitalize on this perfect storm of Lance Armstrong going for thefive wins, and then 2003 was the 100th anniversary of the Tour. Butit was pretty clear, the interest was waning once Armstrong wasgetting ready to retire."
Similarly, Trek Travel saw a decrease in its Tour de Francebookings around the time the business split from its parent companytwo years ago. Trek Travel booked 150 people for Tour deFrance-related trips in 2007, a mere fraction of its previous peak.
The company, which has 50 employees and averages $4.5 million to $6million in annual revenue, is still growing, Worgull says, bymarketing new trips to former Tour de France travelers, and byoffering less strenuous bike tours for beginning cyclists. Populardestinations include major cycling events the Giro d'Italia, thetour of California and the Tour de Georgia. Trek Travel is alsolaunching trips to Croatia and Australia in 2009.
"The Tour de France was such a popular destination, and itincreased our exposure to cyclists that like to travel,"Worgull says. "Now that Lance isn't riding and it's not aspopular, you have to look at how you're bringing travelers back.You have to get more creative."
Fancy footwork
Former cyclist and entrepreneur Sharp Emmons, 37, used Tourpublicity to get his new company off to a racing start. Based inBrentwood, Tenn., Swiftwick International went into business last year selling athletic socks made of merinowool and olefin - a fiber that wicks away moisture and driesquickly. Emmons says the socks help with circulation, stay drier insweaty situations, and don't wad up at a cyclist's ankle, evenafter an all-day race.
Emmons first promoted the sock by getting two American teams,Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling based in Atlanta and the Luna Pro women'steam in Berkeley, to wear custom versions in competition. Then,Robbie McEwen, a triple-winner of the Tour de France's sprintercompetition, opted to wear them in several race stages in Francelast year.