Building a brand
Cycling and cosmetics: two apparently widely divergent worlds, found a winning compromise in the Bend36 project. Alessandro Rombelli’s competence and passion as a huge cycling enthusiast and president of Cleys (a cosmetic manufacturing), and the expertise of two champions such as Ivan Basso and Alberto Contador, both partners of the project, constituted the basics to create a cutting-edge line of products, able to satisfy the needs of a public of both cycling agonists and enthusiasts. CBA figured as a partner in the definition of the scope of this new reality, from strategic positioning, naming and visual identity, to its application on all touchpoints.
Understanding the market
In the radically changed scenario of the last 15 years, able, today, to attract a new public, where the physical effort gained an aesthetic value as well as an ethic one, and where cyclists became “rockstars”, we built a team that counted a few cycling enthusiasts between the CBA members. With them, we followed the client from the implementation of ethnic researches and interviews of professionals, retailers and enthusiasts, to the identification of the outsider cyclist archetype as a target to reach. “I live cycling as a lifestyle, I put up with sacrifices to find the time to ride the bike and travel around the world to climb towards new goals” is its motto. Product reliability, substance and constance are the key-values through which takes shape the brand positioning, and they are relevant especially for those who search for a great performance without compromise while riding, seeing through each bend the expression of his own self, his effort, his personal challenge.
The BEND36 brand
The Stelvio Pass is a cycling legend since the 36th Giro d’Italia rode on it for the first time. 36 bends to measure one’s own performance and taste the effort to climb to the top, a symbol of overcoming one’s own limits. The name was born here.
A climbing identity
The logo, with its triangular shape, instantly represents the climb. The stylization of the bends and the way in which the logotype has been divided, changing dimension, suggest the perspective of the writings made by supporters on the asphalt before the cyclists pass during big races. The diagonal line becomes a structural element for all the expressions of the brand, from the symbols indicating the product usage, to the shape of the catalogue itself.
Bend36 is the cosmetic line developed by professional cyclists, for athletes. The Bend36 products are made in Italy by Cleys, a long-estabilished manufacturer that since 1965 has gained the trust of numerous clients and certifications.
