Story Bike Marketing & Outreach Strategies – Summer 2024

 

Sponsor: The Somers Town People’s Museum: A Space for Us
Sponsor Liaison: Diana Foster
Student Team: Casey Costa, Lauren Coutu, Lukas Gandras, Kaitlyn Nguyen
Abstract: The People’s Museum in Somers Town is looking to promote their latest initiative, the Story Bike, a passenger cargo bicycle capable of transporting elderly and less mobile residents around the area. We used a variety of marketing strategies to promote the bike, such as riding it through populated areas, distributing physical and digital media, and conducting interviews with organizations that could benefit from the bike. Through these marketing strategies and interviews, we identified how different audiences engaged with the Story Bike. We recommend the People’s Museum continue to reach out to local organizations, follow up on the connections that we established, and focus on word-of-mouth marketing. We also recommend a number of safety precautions for the bike in the future.
Link:

Story Bike Marketing & Outreach Strategies Final Report

Story Bike Marketing & Outreach Strategies Slideshow

Executive Summary

Somers Town, a small neighborhood in central London, has a rich history of radicalism and social reform. However, gentrification threatens to displace working-class residents and erase the area’s history. The People’s Museum, founded by Diana Foster, aims to preserve this history through workshops, art, historical exhibitions, and celebrating local culture.

 

The Story Bike

The People’s Museum’s newest initiative, the Story Bike, is an electric passenger cargo bike that can transport two people (see Figure ES1). It promotes inclusivity, sustainability, and well-being. There are four use cases for the bike:

  • Free transportation for the elderly and less mobile residents of the neighborhood
  • Accompanying guided historical walking tours hosted by the People’s Museum
  • Rental to organizations, businesses, or individuals for their own uses
  • Volunteering opportunity for those looking to drive the bike

Figure ES1: The Story Bike in action.

Project Objectives

The goal of our project was to promote the Story Bike as a service that brings the community together. To accomplish this goal, we developed three research objectives:

  1. Immerse ourselves within the Somers Town community to understand how locals would benefit from the Story Bike service.
  2. Employ various marketing strategies to increase public interest in the Story Bike service.
  3. Provide the People’s Museum with recommendations for sustaining the Story Bike service.

 

Methods

To carry out our research objectives, we offered free trial rides on the Story Bike, observed participant experiences, collected feedback through surveys, and interviewed organizations.

Our passenger survey included questions about their background, reasons for riding, and overall enjoyment. This survey, alongside participant observation, provided insights into public engagement with the bike, effectiveness of our marketing strategies, and potential improvements to the service.

To gauge organizational interest, we interviewed a variety of local organizations who would benefit from the Story Bike, including Camden Mobile Food Bank, St. Aloysius R.C. Church, and Voluntary Action Camden. 

We used four major forms of marketing: promoting through organizations, physical marketing, digital marketing, and word-of-mouth. We promoted the bike through organizations by networking at community events and conducting interviews. Physical marketing encompassed designing fliers and a flag for the bike. Digital marketing included posting on social media and writing an advertisement for local newsletters. Word-of-mouth consisted of interacting with the Somers Town community and offering free rides around popular locations.

 

Findings

Rider Experience

We found that participants had positive experiences with the Story Bike. They often engaged in conversations, helping to combat social isolation. People also mentioned feeling “royal” or “important” while riding the Story Bike. The bike allowed those with mobility issues to easily traverse Somers Town and socialize.

In addition, there is a significant population of Bangladeshi women located within Somers Town. Some mentioned that riding the Story Bike reminded them of the rickshaws from their childhoods, bonding with their peers over this shared memory.

 

Bike Uses for Organizations

Through our interviews, we found that organizations are most interested in renting the Story Bike or using it as a transportation service. Additionally, we found that a few organizations had an audience of potential volunteers to drive the Story Bike.

 

Most Effective Marketing Strategies

We found that our most effective marketing strategy was word-of-mouth. 96% of responses to our participant survey indicated that they had learned about the bike by hearing about it (word-of-mouth or through an organization) or seeing it in person (see Figure ES2).

Figure ES2: How Story Bike participants learned about the service (n=72).

We also observed that more people were willing to try out the Story Bike if they saw a participant already riding the bike. Other variables that influenced the bike’s popularity were date and time. Some areas that we visited had a greater amount of foot traffic at certain days and times.

In comparison to word-of-mouth, only 2.7% of participants reported hearing about the bike through social media. Despite this low success rate, social media has potential to be an effective form of marketing in the future. Instagram was the most widely used social media platform among participants, especially younger audiences (see Figure ES3).

Figure ES3: Instagram use by age group of Story Bike participants (n=73).

Sustaining the Story Bike Service

During our time promoting the bike, we found several ways to improve the Story Bike service. A booking system for the Story Bike would be a convenient way to track the bike’s usage and whereabouts. A tablet attached to the bike would enhance the guided historical tours by providing riders with an augmented reality display. Additionally, drivers must be aware of how to properly operate the Story Bike. Some important features of the bike that drivers must know how to utilize are the canopy, keys, storage, battery, parking lock, bell, foot plate, and seatbelts.

 

Recommendations

Story Bike Use Case Recommendations

In regards to renting the Story Bike, we recommend that the People’s Museum connect with Food for All UK, Camden Mobile Food Bank, and Global Generation. For the free transportation service, we recommend contacting Camden Mobile Food Bank, St. Aloysius R.C. 

Church and Cock Tavern. To discuss volunteering opportunities, we recommend reaching out to Voluntary Action Camden and St. Aloysius R.C. Church. When contacting organizations about guided historical walks, we recommend calling or visiting in person to establish a line of communication.

 

Marketing Strategy Recommendations

To continue marketing the Story Bike, we have concluded that word-of mouth is the most effective way to reach Somers Town residents. Within Somers Town, we recommend the Story Bike be positioned outside the People’s Museum, active in the area around Chalton Street, or present at community events. 

To gain the interest of those outside of Somers Town, we recommend taking the Story Bike to busy areas such as Euston Road, Eversholt Street, and Granary Square. Through our observations, we recommend taking the bike by restaurants during meal times, by schools in the afternoon, and by King’s Cross Station at the end of the work day.

To reach the elderly population, we recommend promoting the Story Bike through local organizations, such as the Somers Town Medical Centre. We also recommend advertising through social media to reach a younger audience, as we identified that Instagram is widely used among young adults. While marketing, we recommend highlighting the social aspects of the Story Bike service, such as the fulfillment and happiness it brings to passengers.

 

Sustaining the Story Bike

We recommend that the People’s Museum use Calendly as a booking service for the Story Bike. Calendly would allow the People’s Museum to set specific dates and times that the Story Bike would be available and enable them to collect email addresses for future marketing.

We recommend that the People’s Museum purchase the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 tablet. It would satisfy the needs of the guided historical tours that the museum offers, such as internet connection, reasonable pricing, long battery life, and a large display.

Using our personal experience with the Story Bike, we have developed a guide for drivers that explains how to use the bike properly.