Emotional involvement the aim of new Bridgestone Europe advertising

Towards the end of April television viewers in the UK and several other European countries were amongst the first to experience the latest corporate advertising campaign produced by Bridgestone Europe. These television commercials form part of a new multi-prong advertising approach that also involves print, billboard and web advertisements. Bridgestone Europe says the campaign, which was produced in close cooperation with Bridgestone Corporation, will also be used in Bridgestone markets outside of our region.

The campaign, the tyre maker explains, highlights the benefits of Bridgestone tyres by involving the audience emotionally. It picks up on Bridgestone’s emphasis on communicating to individuals, as expressed in the new global tagline “Your Journey, Our Passion”. The first television commercial to be aired is “Sarah Jane,” which features a new-born baby asleep in a car. When the father has to brake and swerve suddenly in the rain he does so safely, without even waking his daughter, thanks to Bridgestone tyres that “stop shorter in the wet”. The 30-second commercial has already been released in the UK, France, Germany and Spain and print advertisements featuring the same subject are running in Italy, Spain and the UK. A second television commercial shows “Little Jimmy” drinking too much water and juice on the back seat during a long journey. He needs to go to the toilet and can’t wait for his father to stop at a garage; the demands of his bladder are frustrated by Bridgestone tyres that are designed to help fuel last longer.

Such themes support the results of Bridgestone’s annual tyre survey, which is based on more than 10,000 consumers in major markets across Europe. Results consistently show that grip in wet conditions is the most important criterion for rating summer tyre performance. On average, more than 50 per cent of European motorists judge their tyres on wet safety, while more than 20 per cent in major markets such as Germany, France and the UK also expect their tyres to help reduce fuel consumption.

As would be expected, the integrated multimedia campaign receives heavy online support through a wide range of screen formats in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK which demonstrate the “stop shorter in the wet” benefit. In Poland, billboards are being added to the media mix. The Little Jimmy film also runs as an online viral campaign.

“This new campaign aims to show Bridgestone’s strength in the areas of safety and environmental performance, presented with an appealing human touch,” said Des Collins, vice-president, European Communications Office, Bridgestone Europe.

The creative work and roll-out of the integrated Bridgestone campaign was produced by the JWT International agency, part of the WPP group. JWT International, who has already developed two corporate campaigns for Bridgestone, brought together talent from several countries – the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Russia, US and Japan – to work with Bridgestone on the global project.