I never felt I "owned" Swobo, though, on paper, I was the managing partner of this brand. It's better to say I was the caretaker for the time I was because Swobo was a brand with a long history and a protective fan base. But after years of being a tertiary brand within a larger company, it had lost some of its shine and focus. After spinning it off as a separate entity to reestablish it in the urban bicycle market, I got the opportunity to take it over. It was no small task, but one I knew would require regaining the authentic brand voice it once had.
I knew at once the brand had to get back amongst the fans, so I established a series of dealer events known as "Folsom Fistfights," visiting dealers with a fleet of our popular Folsom bikes hosting bike rallies, derbies, and urban rides. Swobo was not a brand to wholly hide behind a digital social media wall; it needed a real connection to show the brand was back. The events were popular and tripled the size of the dealer base in a single summer.
We kept the team small, leveraging great partners in Taiwan and elsewhere. Swobo allowed me to experiment as a marketing and branding person; the brand was well known for taking chances and doing the unexpected. We had a great time developing the brand voice and branding. As an Operations person, I was able to hone my B2B and B2C experience, while gaining important international manufacturing experience and experience overseeing a complete organization, from working with investors to managing sales, human resources, and budget management.
To many, it was more than a brand; it was a lifestyle. And though Swobo was eventually re-absorbed and shelved into the parent company when an even larger company acquired them, there's not a month since someone tracks me down to tell me how much they love and miss the brand. I like to think it's because we were different than our corporate competition, as everything we did was guided by the principles of having fun and being authentic.
Maybe it'll come back when the world needs it.
