Kumho Adds US Teams to Sports Sponsorship Portfolio

It is already heavily involved in the UK and throughout Europe with football – the real football, the one where ball contact is made using the feet – and now Kumho Tires has extended its sports sponsorship activities to the American equivalent. In announcing the sponsorship of five gridiron teams in the US, the tyre maker says it has chosen a target for its sports marketing “renowned as American as apple pie” to make inroads into North American area.

The quintet of teams at the focus of Kumho Tires’ attention are US college teams – USC, The Ohio State University, University of Florida, University of Texas and Tennessee State University. As an official team sponsor, Kumho Tires has permission to utilise the five teams’ logos and can also promote the Kumho brand during games through a number of means including signage and promoting sponsor programmes.

“In North America, the world’s largest tyre market, we’ve received credits for our products including ultra-high performance tyres. In the replacement tire market, we’re among [the] big five,” said Kim Jaebok, head of North American sales at Kumho Tires. “We will make our brand more familiar to US consumers throughout a wide selection of sport marketing programmes.”