General Cycling Discussion - Giant Bikes refuse to support OLN's TdF coverage

This morning's RoadbikeRider.com newsletter got my blood up (www.roadbikerider.com/151d.htm) and spurred me to pound out the following letter to Giant.

It probably won't do any good, but I now feel better :)
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Dear Giant Bicycle:

I am writing to express my supreme disappointment in Giant’s refusal to support the Outdoor Life Network’s coverage of this year’s Tour de France. This was a business opportunity missed, and an outreach effort squandered.

Cycling needs as much exposure as it can get, and by withholding your advertising dollars from OLN (dollars which would be well spent, especially in combination with your sponsorship of a major team) you are not only jeopardizing the quality of future cycling coverage on television, but you are also missing a great opportunity to bolster the exposure of cycling to non-cyclists, people who represent the future of this sport and this industry.

I’m sure that Giant’s decision was grounded upon some sort of rational, but I am petitioning Giant to reconsider the legitimacy of that basis. Televised cycling is where interest in a sport begins; it’s how people decide that something looks fun and challenging and it ultimately inspires them to start pedaling. Indeed, OLN’s excellent coverage last season is what first sparked my interest in the sport and led me to ultimately spend a considerable sum of money on a road bike this past winter. Alas, the bike I finally settled upon did not turn out to be a Giant, but a TCR1 was one of the final contenders. However, based upon what I can only interpret as Giant’s retrogressive vision of the future of cycling, not to mention an potentially counterproductive stance toward the continued popular exposure of the sport, I can honestly say that I am now relieved that I did not purchase a Giant.

I ask that Giant reconsider how it’s presenting its public image, not only for the sake of Giant as a corporation, but for the continued vitality of the sport in general.

I hope my words are not wasted.

Thank you for your time.

That is a real nice letter.

won't some other company just fill the gap?

won't some other company just fill the gap?

sounds like that's not the case. few advertisers are filling in the gap. so, i think giant's thinking is flawed. if they are complaining about seeing only trek and lance on OLN and they decide not to advertise...that doesn't change anything. doesn't make any sense :(

won't some other company just fill the gap?

read the newsletter.

"...there will be 125 ad units available during OLN's 350 hours of Tour coverage. At the end of May, only Clif Bar, Fizik and Trek had bought spots."

All things being equal this makes buying a new Trek next year a possibility over other bikes.

Explains a Giant spokesperson, "OLN is affectionately
called the Lance channel since there is so much Lance
and Trek stuff on that channel every time you turn it
on. OLN even sponsors the team this year."

That makes OLN's John West see red: "It's that kind of
backward thinking that prevents companies from doing
valuable business with OLN. When you think about the
amount of resources we dedicate to cycling, then hear
comments like that, it's frustrating."

How did you all miss that?

really ridiculous you see more commercials for fishing products during the tour then for cycling related products.
and i'm not a huge Lance fan and i'd like to see broader coverage of cycling (maybe a special on Jan, or Tyler as examples). but when the only people who advertise during cycling programs are subaru, nike, trek, various fishing related products, and maybe the U.S. post office who can blame them for becoming Lance T.V.?
maybe if Giant would advertise they would get some influence and recieve rider and product placement in some of the programing. OLN does a ton of Tour coverage, and decent coverage of other cycling events, if i have to hear how great Lance is every 5 minutes for that to continue, i'll gladly make that deal.

lol of course i'm preaching to the choir here :)

Yes it is "Lance TV" right now (TdF season), but Lance sells product.
I'm tired of seeing Lance on OLN, but won't stop watching cycling coverage
because of an overdose of Lance. I see his ads as a good chance for a refreshment or wee-wee break. Giant is missing a great ad op, and I'm sure I won't be considering a Giant bike for my next purchase. They probably make a good bike too.

That they do, make nice bikes that is. It is pretty off to judge your next bike purchase on the basis of something like that. you can dig up something on any one of the major bike makers pretty easily.

There are quite alot of great bikes out there ... and Giant has never been a consideration. It really has little to do with there choice not to patronize OLN.
It's certainly not about "digging in the dirt" ... as a consumer, I have many, many choices in the cycling world. If they choose not to advertise on a major cycling market, how can they expect to stand out among all the other manufacturers. Trek sells a helluva alot of "Postal" models these days. I don't own one BTW.

My Cannondales are fine bikes, I am looking at LeMond, Merlin , Felt, Look and a slew of others. I'm sure Giant bikes are equal to about a dozen manufacturers .. I can't buy them all.

If Giant are in a huff because Trek's got the ball, then Giant should come up with something else to whet our appetites, like a Brazilian tour sponsored by themselves. The TdF is "The Tour" so go another direction. Howabout a mini Paris-Dakar somewhere? COMON GIANT! THINK!

[COMON GIANT! THINK![/QUOTE]
I don't think Giant is thinking, with the way they tried ..no way "jose"

There's never a guarantee that OLN will broadcast the Tour or the Giro. We're spoiled. One day we may find ourselves back in the stone age where we had to get weekly 30 minutes doses of tour highlights on ESPN. Remember that?

If you're in the US and appreciate the cycling coverage on OLN support those companies that support televised cycling in the US!

I've always bought Powerbars, but will, at least for now, buy Clif Bars instead!

I am kind of surprised they did not take up the ad space. They have one of the few teams that will be a threat to Postal. Of course this may be why they didn't want to spend the cash, Postal got so much coverage last year that it is hard to remember what any of the other teams were.

COMON GIANT! THINK!
Giant doesn't think too much-they have quite a track record at overcharging companies to produce their designs and then selling that design under their brand for less money. They've been sued many times for this, plus there was their somewhat ignominious (sp?) start that was aided by arranging with Schwinn designers to not update their more popular models while working on new designs to produce when they defected to Giant. "No Hands" sheds some light on the latter...

I'm guess since Vino is kaput and Jan is well....Jan. My guess is that Giant thinks they blew enough money on the tiour this year. Oh well. I still think Specialized, Bianchi, and even Ol' Crack-n-fail (provided they can find 2 nickels to rub together) should fill in the gaps. Especially Specialized seeing as how Cipo and the boys have been invited this year after that BS llast year

After watching the trekfest on oln last night I can see why giant would take a pass.

Seems to me that any non trek commercial would stand out like a
sore thumb and be more memorable. Seriously, I get sick of the same
10 commercials running during the tour. I still shudder when I think of that
idiot running around yelling runnawayshoesdotcom . . . .
So when I see something different it stands out.
not advertising on lance tv may not hurt giant, but it sure won't help them.

Its only lance tv coz he is winning. If tyler had done the same it'd be tylertv. . .

Marty

Hey, I'm just happy if I can see commercials for the DR Chipper !

heff

I appreciate OLN for being the only U.S TV station broadcasts TDF. After reading this, I'm really disappointed about Giant. I just bought a cheap Giant OCR3 and intend to upgrade to OCR1 at the beginning of next year. What's wrong with the comment: "It is Lance channel"? Of course it is, why it is problem when a U.S TV station promotes/proud of U.S cyclist? I think the real reason is because Lance doesn't ride Giant but Trek, so they pissed off.

I've changed my mind, I would NEVER buy any Giant bike in the near future, but switch to Trek or Specialized instead.

Almost the entirety of the channel's cyclying programs and tons of their commercials revolve around Lance and Trek. It would be fairly stupid marketing by Giant to try to compete.

Almost the entirety of the channel's cyclying programs and tons of their commercials revolve around Lance and Trek. It would be fairly stupid marketing by Giant to try to compete.

I fully agree with this...

All you see for 3 hours everyday is a commercial for Trek, and Lance... Giant, or any other company would be stupid to go up against that !

Jeff

And why OLN shows more of Trek than Giant? Because Trek pay more. Trek is like main sponsor, as I can recall, most of sport events has only one main sponsor that has more exposure than other simply because they pay more.

If Giant want to compete with Trek, why don't they pay the same amount of money of what Trek is paying. I don't think out of sudden, OLN loves Trek more than Giant and others just because they like the name *Trek*. It's simple about money, money talks.

And btw, what other cyclists have done for the world? And what Lance has done for the world. OLN is the U.S TV station, and it's supppose to cheer for the U.S cyclist, if anybody else, like Tyler, won 5 Tour in a row, wouldn't OLN go after him? Absolutely yes.

Just my opinion,

I thought the purpose of marketing is to reach an audience to help sell your product. Do only Trek-o-philes watch OLN or are there potential Giant owners watching OLN too??

Since Jan won the Tour De Suisse on a Giant bicycle, Giant will surely advertise on the OLN telecast of that exciting event. Right? Don't hold your breath.

Near as I can figure, Giant has a right to spend their advertising dollars wherever they please. OLN has proven in the past that they give unbalanced coverage in favor of Giant's competition, regardless of where adverstising dollars are coming from. Maybe if OLN doesn't manage to sell all their advertising spots they'll figure out that they ought not bite the hands feeding them.

John

Fine by me. If I was Giant and knew that I produced a superior carbon bike to the OCLV I would let my product stand on it's own. Ever wonder why the TCR composite is sold out by the start of the season but you can always get an OCLV in the colour/size/model of your choice at any time. It's because the real riders who have to pay for their eqiupment know a better bike when they ride one. Giant does not appear to feel the need to flog you with their commercials since their bikes sell themselves on ride and build quality.