Jan 20th, 2008
Trek’s John Burke Tells Industry to “Pay It Forward”
Burke challenges bike manufacturers to actively support advocacy efforts, including boosting donations to advocacy organizations to 0.5 percent of annual sales
SAN DIEGO, January 20, 2008 — John Burke, president of Trek Bicycle Corporation, started his closing keynote presentat
ion at the Bicycle Leadership Conference by stripping off his sweater to reveal a No. 4 Brett Farve jersey and show his passionate support for the Green Bay Packers.
He closed his speech by quoting President Abraham Lincoln who said his pastor had not delivered an excellent sermon because “He did not ask us to do anything great tonight,” and then Burke delivered an impassioned challenge to BLC attendees to do something great and increase their support of bicycle advocacy programs to half-a-percent (0.5 percent) of their annual sales.
In between, Burke painted very informative and well-thought arguments that now is the time for America’s bike industry to take advantage of converging forces by becoming more vocal and more supportive of bicycle advocacy programs.
Burke began his slide show at the event sponsored by the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association (BPSA) by pointing out four trends he believes present great challenges and opportunities for the United States, the world and the cycling industry as a whole, specifically
- The World Is Getting Fat,
- Traffic Congestion,
- Urbanization, and
- The Environment.
The average weight of 11-year-olds in the U.S. has increased by 11 pounds between 1960 and 2002, Burke said. He went on to describe the challenge of obesity in America as “an absolute crisis.”
“The government cannot afford what is coming down the pipeline,” he added. “The healthcare industry cannot afford what is coming down the pipeline.”
Burke cited demographic data that shows the majority of the world’s population now lives in urban centers.
He also pointed out that 60 to 70 percent of all air pollution is created by automobiles, and then noted that 60 percent of all air pollution created by autos is caused in the first three to four minutes of operation.
He also suggested that 40 percent of all car trips in the U.S. are less than two miles in length.
Then, while showing a Specialized road bike on the screen, he explained,
“This isn’t a Trek thing. I’m not up here giving my Mr. Trek talk. I want to create a bicycle-friendly United States.”
John Burke, Trek Bicycle Corp.
Burke also shared a clip from the movie Pay It Forward where Kevin Spacey’s character, teacher Eugene Simonet, challenges his class of 12-year-olds to “Think of an idea to change the world — and put it into ACTION!” (Here’s the clip.)
“This whole advocacy thing is like slogging through a swamp,” Burke said. “You take three steps forward and then two steps back. Then you take three more steps forward and then two more steps backward.”
It goes on and on, he explained. ”And then, all of a sudden, you’re through the swamp.”
Although a strong supporter of such bicycle advocacy groups as Bikes Belong and the League of American Cyclists, as well as a member of the Bikes Belong board of directors, Burke continuously looks for opportunities to boost advocacy efforts in the cycling industry. For example, Burke apparently calls for a doubling of member dues at each Bikes Belong board meeting.
This past Friday, however, Trek launched its 1 World, 2 Wheels program, its own non-profit organization designed to help promote and boost the use of bicycles in the U.S., one with the audacious goal of boosting the number of trips taken in the U.S. to five percent by 2017, up from 0.5 percent today.
As part of this effort, 1 World, 2 Wheels has pledged to give $1 million to the Bicycle Friendly Community program of the League of American Cyclists and $600,000 to the International Mountain Bike Association for its Trail Solutions Program.
Additionally, Trek has pledged to donate $10 to advocacy programs for every full-suspension mountain bike it sells, as well as $1 for every helmet it sells.
According to Burke’s research, he believes that the average U.S. bike manufacturer currently spends
- 3.9 percent on marketing (Trek will spend $16 million in 2008),
- 1.6 percent on product development, and
- 0.0015 percent on advocacy.
He then challenged bike manufacturers and companies selling to cyclists to boost their support of advocacy programs to 0.5 percent of annual sales (0ne-half of one percent).
He noted that in 1995 there was virtually no money spent on advocacy in the U.S., and the federal government allocated $20 million for bicycle-related spending.
However, the 2007 Bikes Belong budget alone had grown to $2 million, while U.S. spending in support of bike-friendly activities grew to $800 million last year.
The connection between the two activities was quite obvious to this listener. Burke further sweetened the pot by suggesting that with Bikes Belong’s 2008 budget of $3 million, he feels the federal government will triple its outlay this year in support of cycling to $2.4 billion. Wow!
Burke closed with both the President Lincoln quote (noted above), as well as the following quote from anthropologist Margaret Mead:
“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead, anthropologist
Burke’s keynote challenge was met with a thunderous standing ovation from the BLC attendees.
Following the applause, John Nedeau (BPSA president and vice president of global sales for SRAM), announced that it was donating an additional $100,000 to Bikes Belong and an additional $25,000 to the League of American Cyclists. This announcement was also greeted by solid applause from the BLC attendees.
A staged announcement? Of course. But who cares?
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Poppa P’s Commentary:
Burke’s speech was awesome. He made me contemplate my role as CEO of SOAR Communications and forced me wonder if we at SOAR are doing enough to make a difference in the world.
After hearing him speak, I also suspect Burke is a fierce competitor. In this regard, I’d much rather have him on my team than be fighting against him.
And for this reason, I’m glad he’s such a strong advocate for cycling.
