Interview: Norco Explains Rebrand & Stays Tight-Lipped About ‘No Other Way’ Mystery Bike

4 min readMar 27, 2021

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Norco recently released the video ‘No Other Way,’ and with it came a bold new website and a shift in the brand’s image. We reached out to Norco’s VP of Marketing Peter Falk to ask about the rebrand and to see if we could learn more about an industrial-looking mystery bike that we spotted in the video.
Why did you decide to rebrand?

A while back, we took a good hard look at where we’ve come from, where we are today and where we’re going. With the level of engineering and performance that our bikes and brand have become known for in the MTB space, evolving so much over the years, we wanted to continue building on this strength.

Since the brand is an expression of everything we make and needs to consider every consumer touchpoint, after taking this holistic look at ourselves, it led us to a clear decision: After 57 years in business, it was time to rebrand the company.

We had no interest in re-inventing ourselves. This re-brand projects the honest, authentic brand we’ve always been, but in a way that resonates with riders and reflects the level of quality and innovation found in our bikes.
What are the changes?

The new brand identity gives us a fresh palette to draw inspiration from and also provides the brand a better platform to articulate our stories, technologies and visuals in a water-tight system that complements each other from channel to channel.

The bold graphics, typography and brand voice are designed to complement more dynamic photography and visuals that better express the ride quality and on-trail experience of every Norco bike.

The new dark and electric green palette reflects the colours of Canada’s West Coast mountains where every Norco bike is inspired and proven, and places us in a really unique visual space in the marketplace.
How does the new branding better represent Norco?

Norco is at home in the dirt and in the backwoods of British Columbia. Originating in this place continues to inspire us, influence how we develop bikes, has built us as a brand and continues to build us. We wanted to bring renewed energy and focus to our Dirt-First ethos and British Columbia inspiration while communicating our story to consumers with more clarity.
How will your marketing change going forward? It looks like there’s increased focus on videos and storytelling.

The new Norco branding centres around what makes our bikes unique.

Norco builds Rider-First bikes with a dirt connection that are designed and tested in the mountains of British Columbia — the world’s toughest testing ground. This allows us to create the best bikes available for their intended use, without compromise, and give riders the freedom to ride and live life on their own terms.

But yes, there’s a renewed focus on video and storytelling — but there’s more to it than just that.

We’re a company of riders dedicated to developing bikes for the world’s most challenging trails. We know that the people who ride our bikes share this passion and excitement, and the stories we tell, the images we project and the emotion that gets infused into every project will express a genuine moment that every rider can connect with.

Everyone has their own No Other Way — that’s what makes riding so personal and so important to all of us. That connection is the central point to how our marketing has changed.
Can you tell me about the idea behind the No Other Way video?

The idea behind the No Other Way video was to capture those quintessential bike moments that every one of us gets when we’re out there riding. We thought about all of the different types of people who ride Norco Bikes and created a piece that captures those poignant identifiable or aspirational glimpses of time for not only our athletes but the everyday rider.

It’s kind of a love letter to where we come from — to the people and places who’ve shaped who we are over the years — but it’s also our anthem with overtures to the past, present and future. As we push our projects forward, you’ll find some of these moments carry themselves into their own No Other Way feature pieces.
In that video, we spotted an unfamiliar bike. Why the tease?

The tease was a peek into our development and testing process and flexing a little bit of our innovation, more so than an “unfamiliar bike.”
Is there anything you’re willing to tell me about that bike?

Since you asked, more information will be coming out on what that development process led to in the near future. We just can’t divulge any specific information just yet.
Any idea when we might see a 2021 Range?

As with all bike manufacturing right now, delivery of bikes for consumers is a challenge, and the targets are constantly moving. It’s been a challenge for every brand out there and we are no different when it comes to the platforms we are currently working on releasing to the public. We are bringing you new product as fast as we can.

Interview: Norco Explains Rebrand & Stays Tight-Lipped About ‘No Other Way’ Mystery Bike

Written by Succusstamd

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