Bridgestone hits the slopes with latest sponsorship agreement

A recently signed sponsorship agreement is expected to boost the profile of Bridgestone’s winter tyre line-up. Bridgestone Europe has entered into an agreement to sponsor the majority of events in the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, and under the terms of the agreement the tyre maker will be a main partner at the 34 World Cup Alpine Ski events in eight European countries – Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland – during the 2011-2012 season.

The package features branding on start huts, gate flags and athlete singlets. Bridgestone says it plans to optimise this exposure with track-side signage, corporate hospitality and trade marketing programmes; its stated objective is to create a link between high performance winter sports and the Bridgestone winter tyre range, taking advantage of the wide European television coverage the Alpine Ski World Cup receives.

Bridgestone says the sponsorship initiative is part of an integrated Europe-wide product and marketing approach to further strengthen its growing winter tyre business. “The world’s top skiing series is a perfect platform for promoting the performance of Bridgestone premium winter tyres in Europe,” stated Takashi Tomioka, senior vice-president Sales & Marketing, Bridgestone Europe. “This dynamic sport displays the same performance values as our products: control, balance, safety and grip.”