THE BIG INTERVIEW
The main role is to represent the brand as an outsider, and create content the community can relate to
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ambassadors in cycling, beyond just competitive cycling and instead promoting cycling as a sustainable lifestyle choice. He said: “We can’t just be cycling and inspiring people, that’s old news. “I need to be doing more than inspiring people. I think we
need to be talking about a cause.” Torrao said he hopes to start raising climate change and sustainability as a topic through his content, travelling to races in a sustainable way, using electric vehicles, and get more people cycling. While the ambassador-brand relationship can be mutually
beneficial, there has understandably been some backlash against ‘influencers’ seen to be asking for freebies without offering anything substantial in return. In other industries, we have recently seen some restaurant
ambassadors that are racing who they can support, engaging more with the local community rather than just thinking about sales.
“If those guys are creating content, riding in races, this will help with the business, help with the marketing – it’s a no-brainer.”
The support a bike shop can offer can range from discounts for ambassadors, to free mechanic work, all the way up to bikes and financial support for racing.
But what would stores get in return? “So first of all they get reach, they get visibility,” Torrao
told BikeBiz.
“If the ambassador is tech savvy and is good with social media they can showcase products, help the bike shop expose a new product, show that they have availability of the product and so on. “Ambassadors should be someone that plays a role in the community, or in a specific segment of the sport.” Torrao also believes there is space to broaden the scope of
28 | May 2022
owners voice their frustrations as social media influencers have asked for free meals in exchange for social media posts. “I think what some of these influencers have done is made it bad for people who want to do it the right way. “There should be a plan or a strategy in place – these are the costs, this is what I’ll deliver for you. “I have a whole marketing campaign running, I get into workshops with my videographer, and I know the biggest players in the game do this as well.” The approach appears to be working, both for brands and
for Torrao’s viewers, as he hit 1.2 million impressions (the number of times a piece of content was seen, regardless of whether or not it was consumed) last year, jumping from 200,000 the year before. He added: “Viewers want to see the unexpected. Social media has become so powerful because there are so many creative people out there. “I think it adds so much value to brands to have people that
are super creative, creating cool stuff that generates interest and generates views, and eventually, of course, everyone wants to generate sales at the end of the day, right?”
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