I'm Not a Cyclist

The Brief

We were drafted in to tackle barriers around cycling habits, starting with understanding how cyclists were perceived by a range of audiences. 

Beginning with insight, we worked with TfGM and target audience groups to understand the barriers we might need to address. From this, we uncovered common but key perceptions of cyclists that fundamentally held people back from using their bikes more often. 

Seen as cycling mad and lycra clad, cyclists were perceived in the region as an exclusive group. Many of those who cycled for leisure or fun, simply did not see themselves as cyclists. We needed to normalise cycling. And it was from this insight that ‘I’m Not A Cyclist’ was born.

My Role

Campaign Concept - Working in a small team responsible for conceiving of the direction of directly addressing the cyclist stigma.

Campaign Identity - Creating a series of hand-written quotes and setting the layout that all six brand case studies follow.

Illustration - Turning three of our Manchester cyclists into illustrated characters.

Building our campaign around their real reasons for cycling, we photographed them in natural, off-the-cuff moments at locations in the local area. Our messaging tapped into other well known barriers to cycling such as time and cost, demonstrating the benefits of their bike while telling their stories. All creating a sense of relatability and celebrating cycling.

After the main campaign, we created additional collateral centred around advice for winter cycling. To tie this new creative to the main campaign we created illustrations based on Nuria, Billy and Paul, three of our cycle champions filmed and photographed previously.