tuesday 13 March 2012 at 22h17
Knock on wood? Not only the song title of the famous song by Eddie Floyd which was frequently covered, for example by David Bowie and Amii Stewart ... Knock on wood, it also allows to avoid "tempting fate" or destiny. It's also well know that many professional cyclists have some kind of ritual around a cycling race and Andreas Klier's idea thus seems quite interesting ... Indeed, the German rider of the Garmin-Barracuda team has invented a new product, MyKnoaky, which allows to knock on wood at any time!
Let's discover what it's all about in this interview we did at the start of the 6th stage of Paris-Nice in Suze-la-Rousse!
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The birth of MyKnoaky
After a short flashback on his Paris-Nice so far, I asked Andreas Klier to present the MyKnoaky product.A simple triangular piece of wood you say? Yes, but that's not all ... As the friendly German rider explains, he doesn't knock on wood (or now on his MyKnoaky) before the start of the race but when he thinks he's getting in danger. As he writes on the website of the product, he almost had an accident in April 2011 and when he realised the danger coming up, he knocked on his frame just like he sometimes knocks on his helmet, simply because on his bike he couldn't knock on wood.
That's when he had the idea to create a piece of wood which he could always have with him on the bike and MyKnoaky (from knock on oak) is the result and he now started selling those to any cyclist or any other person who would always have some piece of wood on him.
Worn around the neck, stuck on the bike frame or simply put in a back pocket of a cycling jersey, MyKnoaky allows to always have a piece of wood with you.
The interview in video
If you'd like to see the interview realised under a bright sun in Suze-la-Rousse, you can play the video below:CONTINUE READING AFTER THIS ADVERTISEMENT
Supporting a foundation: Plant for the Planet
However, in addition to the production costs (the triangular form wiht a rounded part at the bottom and with a small hole on top, the "MyKnoaky" print on one side and the pure oak wood used to produce MyKnoaky generate a higher production cost than a "simple" piece of wood), Andreas Klier explains that part of the sale price is used to help a foundation with the name Plant for the Planet.
This foundation was created 5 years a go by a young 9 year old boy who had the goal to plant 1 billion trees. Currently, 12.6 billion trees have been planted and the current goal has thus been raised to 100 billion trees.
The young boy, Felix Finkbeiner, was inspired by Wangari Maathai, a former Kenian biologist and the first African woman to receive the Nobel prize for peace for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace (see her Wikipedia entry for more information). Felix thus created a foundation which is present in different countries and which has the goal to plant as many trees as possible around the world in order to preserve nature and the planet earth.
Andreas Klier explains that by buying a MyKnoaky, one tree will be planted by Plant for the Planet: 1 MyKnoaky = 1 tree.
Andreas Klier: MyKnoaky is personal!
As an additional anecdote, Andreas Klier explains that his first MyKnoaky, a prototype, is not very beautiful but is still on his training bike. Indeed, he gave it to his children who made a drawing on it. Despite the fact that the drawing apparently doesn't make it very beautiful, it's personal thanks to this drawing and that's what it really makes his MyKnoaky!As such, anyone can use his MyKnoaky in his very own way, decorate it as he wishes, et cetera. MyKnoaky definitely is personal! door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Marketing | Paris-Nice 2012
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