RICHMOND, Australia (BRAIN) — The Australian accessory brand Knog, which had a successful Kickstarter campaign for its Oi bike bell, ended its campaign for a new backup battery after funding momentum stalled.
The company ended its campaign on Nov. 4, after it had been live for about a week. It had raised pledges for AU$37,000 ($28,200) from 229 backers. The campaign had a $75,000 goal.
Knog digital marketing manager Sean Wilkinson said the campaign for the PWR battery range started out strong, raising AU$30,000 in the first day.
"However, it seems that after a small number of backers from Oi - unhappy that their bell was not yet delivered - encouraged other backers to avoid/cancel their pledges, this effectively stunted the momentum of the campaign. And in Kickstarter, it's all about momentum," Wilkinson said in an email to BRAIN.
"Out of respect for that community response, and rather than reach our modest goal with a shadow over what we still believe is a revolutionary product range, we have closed the campaign."
Knog was also careful to remove all images and details of the project from its Kickstarter page, to reduce the chance that the product would be copied, he said. "We have had trouble with this issue in the past despite holding design registrations," he said.
Wilkinson said Knog was still going forward with the PWR product and would bring it to market in 2017. He also said the company may consider further Kickstarter campaigns.
"I think it will depend on the product. Take the Oi for example. The Oi was something completely different to what was already out there and people really digged the design and what we were trying to do. If we could replicate something like that again, then we'd definitely go the Kickstarter route."
The Oi bell raised pledges of more than AU$1 million from nearly 21,000 backers.
"For a small Aussie company like Knog, Kickstarter provided us with the reach and exposure that we would never ever be able to afford through regular marketing & advertising activities," Wilkinson said.
