B&O H6 Rapha Edition

Now this is a very worthy collaboration!

http://www.beoplay.com/products/h6-rapha-edition

Quite nice but I am not so sure about the pink cord. While it is cool it is not really easy to match with everything. I would like this design also on the H8, but with another complementary color. I have gotten bored with the brown hazel-style already :-).

I really like it Michael. Rapha are an incredibly high end brand of cycling clothes aimed at the true pro. They are featured on the Rapha front page and could open up a completely new demographic for the Play brand.

The MAMIL is an incredibly interesting concept standing for Middle Aged Men In Lycra. it's the late 30s to 40 somethings. Instead of buying open top cars, these guys are spending their income on high end bikes. They shop in Waitrose and purchase clothing from Paul Smith. (According to research that I did at the time). They are B&O's absolute target.

The pink cord is very much the branding colour detail for Rapha Michael. These are by far my favourite editions. I say well done to Tue & his team. This is one sector/venture that may well pay off!

I agree it is a perfect demographic with potential spending power and cycling (in the UK) is one of the fastest growing markets.

But I would like to see more long term lifestyle partners where the Play/B&O brand can reach out grow and mature rather than a few months down the line the items are sold at discounted prices, as then neither relationship wins.

I totally agree with you Mark. Any ideas?

I'm thinking though that a brand like this may want to keep these headphones in their portfolio for a long term?  Still a great way to get these guys into the brand plus of course, all of the cycling mags and maybe even Men's Health mag will run a feature on these.

I'm always surprised that Play isn't featured in Monocle Magazine as that really is a B&O demographic as is Conde Nest Traveller. 

You need to spend time nurturing such relationships, be open, explain your goals, share your wishes and at all times support such lifestyle partners, such licensees should always be looked upon as investors rather than just paying customers, and quite often they need their hand holding as this maybe the 1st time they have partnered with an iconic or global brand.

I see too many partnerships as one way streets where the license paying advertiser has no support or guidance from the licensor so stumbles and fails.

Oh dear for some reason it's not gone down well on RAPHA'S Facebook page. The guys are either not impressed or are against headphones whilst riding which of course is true but maybe these are designed for home use :)

Perfored leather looks fine

but cord and foams in pink color

are not in my taste.

I am a BeoBoy

interesting piece about Rapha from BBC News.... I better understand the collaboration now.

Mark:

interesting piece about Rapha from BBC News.... I better understand the collaboration now.

Better link. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33064626

Yes, could be a good marketing move, but not one that would influence me!

Graham

BeoBoy68:

Perfored leather looks fine

but cord and foams in pink color

are not in my taste.

I am a BeoBoy

Remember all pink is is a mixture of red and white :-)

So it's very Dansk.

thanks Graham.... I've just moved from Microsoft desktop to iMac and have not got the hang of a few copy and paste tasks