How I Pitched This — The Brompton T Line

Over the past 40-plus years, London-based bike manufacturer, Brompton Bicycle, has become synonymous with one product: the folding bike.

Originally crafted in 1975, the Brompton folding bike has been meticulously refined over the years to provide improved foldability, portability and comfort. But, why a folding bike? 

Contrary to nearly all other brands who design their bikes to be ridden across mountains or raced in the Tour de France, Brompton set its sights on the everyday city dweller. City apartments, flats and brownstones tend to be limited on space - to put it nicely - and often require multi-floor hikes to access. A standard bike would not only take up valuable real estate in the apartment, but getting it up and down the stairs is a serious pain. Worst of all is the prospect of trying to pack a road bike on a bus or subway.

That is the beauty of the folding bike. Brompton’s are known for their ability to fold down to roughly one-third of their original size (only slightly larger than the size of their wheels); therefore, easily stowable under a desk and significantly easier to maneuver in the stairwell or between seats on a train car.

Over the years, Brompton has slowly expanded its range of folding bikes to include lighter weight models and even an electric version. However, in 2021, Brompton announced for the first time in over 40 years, a fully reinvented, redesigned model: the T Line.

The T Line is Brompton’s first fully titanium bike. The product of three years of research and development, Brompton has brought its titanium fold to life by forging new construction techniques, designing over 150 new components and building a factory dedicated to the ultra-light model. 

***

I joined OutsidePR in July 2021. As a bike enthusiast, I was thrilled to be a part of the Brompton account. A few weeks after joining the team, we were told about the new titanium bike. Test bikes for editors would be shipped from the UK factory within a couple of weeks, so we could begin lining up editors for demos. This was August 2021. 

It’s not too often that a bike manufacturer unveils a completely new model; one that has seen a full front-to-back, top-to-bottom overhaul, so this was a great opportunity for us to knock coverage out of the park. We crafted our embargoed pitches, identified our top editors and outlets for coverage, and began securing interest in T Line demos from Bicycling, Business Insider, Forbes, Men’s Health, Popular Science and The Strategist. 

And that was only the first round of test rides.

We were teed up for potential coverage in some of the country’s top trade and lifestyle publications. All we needed was for the bikes to arrive. 

Fast forward five months to January 2022. We still had no update on when the test T Lines would arrive; however, we knew that the global launch of the new model was set for the middle of that very month.

We also learned that only 50 T Line bikes would be available for purchase in the US during this first release, and only a couple hundred total throughout the year. Coupled with a price point of nearly $5,000, the exclusivity of the T Line required a pivot in our process.

We had roughly two weeks before the launch date, so we began outreach to a curated list of top lifestyle outlets with known high-net worth readers. Response was good, but not great.

Only 24 hours before the embargo was set to lift and the launch would go live, our client gave us a list of four target outlets he expected T Line coverage in. We hadn’t included these on our initial outreach list. The pressure was on.

Through previously established relationships, intentional research and highly focused outreach, we were able to lock in coverage for the next day’s launch date in 3 of the 4 requested publications, including GearJunkie, Gear Patrol and HiConsumption. 

Better yet, these were not simple mentions, but instead, features on the new T Line model.
In total, we secured over 20 placements of the T Line model across endemic, lifestyle and trade outlets without any test rides taking place, including hits in Auto Evolution, BikeRadar and HypeBeast.

Our T Line test bikes finally arrived in March and test rides are currently ongoing. Keep your eyes on the news for even more coverage to come.

Overall, the T Line launch was an equal lesson in perseverance and patience. By remaining honest and transparent in our communication with journalists, we were able to drive excitement of the new Brompton model ahead of, and throughout, its January launch.