BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Australian cycling brand Knog yesterday launched their second Kickstarter campaign.
Following up the popular Oi Bell, six products from Knog’s new PWR range are available to "back" now via Kickstarter. The product line is multifunctional, with a commuter front light, portable Bluetooth speaker, headtorch, and camping lantern all using the same "PWR bank" as their power source. Beyond powering the products, the battery works as a universal power bank with a USB charging port for personal devices.
"It’s such an obvious idea really," said Knog CEO Hugo Davidson. "You don’t use all these products at the same time, so why not save on batteries? If you do use them all at the same time, then you can have as many batteries as you like, giving you longer run-time. It’s win-win.”
Sam Moore, Knog marketing manager, told BikeBiz: "We wanted to launch via Kickstarter because we had such a great experience on the platform with Oi. Like Oi, PWR is another innovative idea, but the twist is so much bigger, being an ecosystem of products, not just one.
"The advantages of crowdfunding are obvious. There is a really engaged community that gives constant feedback – both brutal and encouraging – suggests design ideas, provides a test bed for demand, and of course, the revenue is not to be balked at. But the revenue is not the key driver. For us, as an established company, it is a marketing activity in the true sense of the word. For "going to market", testing product, price, promotion and all those other Ps!"
The range’s features are as follows:
•PWR 300 bike light converts into a headtorch with the use of a headstrap (the lighthead and battery come apart and affix to the strap)
•PWR 800 bike light has an elliptical beam in full power, and has a low-light mode where the ring of the lighthead glows
•slide-on side-mounts allow it to mount in a central position, over or under bars
•PWR lantern is compact, super-bright, and includes a handtorch mode
•PWR speaker is compact, water-resistant, loud and Bluetooth, but is designed to suit interior decor in contrast to other outdoor speakers
•PWR headtorch is lightweight and has spot and glow modes for different camping needs.
•PWR bank is 3200mAh so can charge an iPhone 6 once and still have enough juice for about six hours of playtime on the PWR speaker.
The full range of Knog’s PWR products will be available via Silverfish UK next spring.
