mortierbrigade and Brussels Mobility enlist help of real ambassadors to get expats cycling
Brussels Mobility wants to urge expats to hop on their bikes more often. To do so, it launches an influencer campaign, not with classic ‘brand ambassadors’ but with àctual ambassadors: The Real Ambassadors. Diplomats from the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Botswana, New Zealand, Bosnia, Slovenia, and Belgium.
Brussels by Bike
The Brussels-Capital Region is home to the largest expat community in Europe. 220,000 strong, expats account for a whopping 20 percent of the total population. Figures show, however, that they make (too) little use of the bicycle.
"For years now, we have been encouraging the residents of Brussels to use their bicycles more, and we have seen these efforts pay off, with the number of cyclists increasing by about 13% annually. With bicycle counters chalking up 50,000 cyclists at the beginning of June, we have even broken the one-day record for the Brussels Capital Region." - Sofie Walschap, Responsible Bike for Brussels
"For a long time Brussels has been labelled a car city, but the capital is changing. Many new and safe cycling facilities have been created in Europe's capital city. We want to inspire all the residents of Brussels, including expats, to get out and on their bikes more often. And as our ambassadors will tell you, it doesn’t take long for the biking bug to bite you!" - Elke Van den Brandt, Brussels Minister for Mobility
Expat Ambassadors
Hailing from various countries around the globe, the eight ambassadors all provide their own unique input to the campaign. The ambassadors want to harness their passion for cycling and influence to inspire as many expats as possible to explore the city by cycling. We have even mapped out an Ambassador Route, linking up the hotspots of the eight participating ambassadors.
Find the full itinerary here.
The Botswana ambassador, Ms. Masekgoa Masire-Mwamba, even treated herself to a new bicycle, specifically for this campaign.
"As the Botswana ambassador to Belgium, I have come to appreciate this country's rich cycling culture. Although I should admit I didn’t have a bicycle of my own here yet. So, I bought one, especially for this campaign, and now I go out and about exploring the city by bike more often. Still, with increasing traffic and congestion in cities like Brussels, safe cycling is more important than ever. So, let’s all work together to make our roads safer and our cities more bike-friendly" - Masekgoa Masire-Mwamba, Ambassador of Botswana
The campaign will be deployed across social media and via pr. Eight different videos will be addressed and distributed to the relevant communities. The embassies will support the campaign by sharing the videos and routes with their compatriots.
Together with the Real Ambassadors, let’s turn Brussels into the Cycling Capital of Europe, as well.
The ambassadors themselves launched the route last Wednesday at Cinquantenaire Park.
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Webpage: https://www.bike.brussels/artikels/the-real-ambassaddors-route
[1]https://www.bruzz.be/mobiliteit/telpalen-zagen-2021-vijfde-meer-fietsers-passeren-2022-01-26
PR credits The Real Ambassadors
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