KALKMAN Good Energy
strategy
expression
Oct 2023
Story: Kalkman
When Alexander Kalkman traded comfort for courage, the goal was simple: create honest, natural fuel for endurance athletes. We helped shape the name, story, and identity of KALKMAN Good Energy so the brand could launch with clarity, craft, and momentum.
Kalkman
There's a very specific kind of moment where "I could keep doing this" turns into "I really can't keep doing this." Alexander Kalkman hit his somewhere between a spreadsheet and a saddle. He left corporate life with a clear intuition and a slightly less clear business plan: make honest, fully natural fuel for endurance athletes in a category that has quietly turned into a chemistry set.
The product vision was sharp from day one. What it didn't have yet was a name, a story and a shape that could ride alongside it. That's the part that decides whether a good idea ever leaves the kitchen table.
Listening to the brand, not inventing it
We came in early and started with the oldest move in our playbook: we listened. To Alexander, about why he actually walked away. To the cyclists he rides with, about what they reach for on a three-hour climb and why. To the friends and family who would be the first honest audience the brand ever met.
Using 23plusone we tested which of the 24 fundamental human drives were pulling on this brand from both sides of the counter. Vitality, obviously. Authenticity, very present. And a quieter one that sealed the positioning: heritage, the idea that this energy isn't invented, it's inherited. Alexander's grandfather Chris Kalkman was a Dutch cycling champion a century ago. The brand was already half-written in the family name.
"The collaboration with BR-ND People helped me translate the passion in my head into a brand that people can truly feel and trust." Alexander Kalkman, founder
A name with a pedigree, a product with manners
Out of that came KALKMAN Good Energy: an ode to Chris, a proposition for today, and a range of natural power bites for cyclists who'd rather read the ingredients than ignore them. We shaped the full package: name, logo, visual identity, tone of voice. Warm, artisanal, simple, confident. The kind of brand that looks good on a handlebar bag and doesn't need to shout at you from a shelf.
First products are now out in the cycling community. The early signal is the one you actually want: people are talking about the story as much as the taste. When a brand has a pedigree you don't have to manufacture, momentum tends to arrive with it.
Launching a brand with a real story underneath it?
If you're building something that isn't a line extension, something with a founder, a history, or a genuine reason to exist, there's a way to shape the name, story and identity so they all pull in the same direction from day one. Let's talk about it.
Reach out to Kim or Alexander if you're looking for something similar