Amanda Gandolpho is responsible for the Swapfiets brand strategy. She has over a decade experience of brand, marketing, and advertising. From deciding which message to prioritise to ensuring consistency throughout the funnel, she is a firm believer of building experiences that are good for people, the planet, and businesses.
In a country where 17.7 million people own 23.9 million bicycles, it would seem an impossible task to launch a bike subscription service. After all, everyone already owns one.
That was Swapfiets ten years ago, when we launched as the world's first bicycle subscription company in the biking nation of The Netherlands. For a monthly fee, subscribers get a high-quality bike to use for their daily commute, with all repairs and maintenance included.
Our business model quickly achieved widespread brand awareness in the Netherlands. In the years since, in Amsterdam alone, one in ten bikes sports our signature blue tyre. We’ve really become a part of Dutch culture.
Like any first market mover, there are pros and cons. Being first has enabled us to establish strong brand recognition and word of mouth before competitors entered the bike subscription arena.
However, it also meant we had to explain — in a market where owning a bike is the norm — why people should shift to a subscription model. And not just in the Netherlands, but in each subsequent market we launched into.
From scattered ads to red threads: Building a cohesive brand narrative
We’ve always used marketing in some form, but perhaps in a bit of an ad hoc way. As marketers the next message, creative, or brand campaign is always tempting. Connecting the dots from one campaign to the next can fall by the wayside.
That was the first thing we had to address. We had to ask ourselves: “What is the most important thing we want our existing — and potential — customers to know about Swapfiets?”.
As we pondered this question, one of the founders said: “We want people to know that they can have the time to focus on what matters without worrying about a bike. They should own their city, not the bike.”
Before this, we never had a campaign that actually called attention to what problem Swapfiets solves in people’s lives — people shouldn't have to worry about bicycle repairs, they should be free to focus on enjoying their city.
We wanted to launch a campaign that speaks to the young and young-at-heart, people who are owning the city every day, and have no time to waste worrying about their bike breaking down or getting stuck in traffic.
The idea formed to produce a range of assets to convey this from different angles:
- Being "worry-free" and not needing to own things
- The benefit of free repairs and maintenance
- Joining a movement for more livable cities
We created inspirational "Own the city, not the bike" content for each stage of the marketing funnel to draw in potential bike-renters. Product-focused ads emphasised key benefits, like "Commute for only €X per month", to drive conversions. Whilst in-store, the message shifted to "Come for a test ride and own the city, not the bike".
This funnel-based approach allowed us to tailor our brand stories to different audiences, while the "red thread" of worry-free biking tied everything together in a cohesive narrative.
As easy as riding a bike: Tailored messaging, consistent campaign
“Own The City, Not The Bike” launched across five key markets — the U.K., France, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
With 260,000 existing members in eight different countries, each with a differing attitude towards bikes, cycling, and cycle paths, we also had to tailor the campaign for each market.
For example, in the Netherlands, where cycling is prevalent, our messaging focus was on the convenience and flexibility of the service. In other markets, such as the U.K., where bike ownership is common but cycle ways are few, our message focused more on the benefits of "worry-free biking" or the freedom of bike subscription:
That’s where we really leaned into platforms like YouTube. Using tools like affinity audiences to reach those most likely interested in Swapfiets, individuals aged 18-55. We also used audience expansion techniques to widen our reach while staying relevant.
We also tailored messaging to different segments within each market. For example, campaigns speaking to young professionals focused on the time-saving and cost-effective aspects of subscription, while those aimed at families emphasised the safety and peace of mind that came with our maintenance and repair services.
Results: Reaching millions and boosting sales
We embraced a 360-degree communications strategy where we applied the messaging across all our touchpoints, including social media, Google ads, YouTube (including a Connected TV pilot), email, website, and in-store screens.
Our campaign achieved outstanding results, surpassing the goals and KPIs we set. With a low €1.32 average CPM (vs previous campaign avg of €4.15), we reached a wide audience, exceeding city population estimates by 130.65% with a total reach of 3.4 million people in the Netherlands alone.
We also achieved our goal of convincing more people to switch to a subscription-based bike model in the Netherlands, the nation we thought would be toughest to crack as most people already own a bike. We recorded a 25% sales lift in the country during the campaign period, compared to the same time the previous year.
Building a new narrative: Bike subscription for all
Having seen what success can look like when you maintain consistency through messaging, our next challenge will be having many more stories we could, and wish to, tell. For instance, circular and sustainable business practices are at the heart of all we do. A bike could have had 10 owners in the past and still work great because we repair them for the next owner. Once you don't want it anymore, we recycle or reuse it for another member.
That said, marketers can tire of their own campaigns, but consumers are not thinking about your brand as much as you are. We need to be patient, and ensure we land the message first before we look to the next chapter. That consistent, customer-centric focus is the "red thread" that ties together Swapfiets' marketing. By making life easier for cyclists, we hope to create a new cultural narrative around transportation — one city at a time.
