It’s reassuring to know that British motorists hold no monopoly when it comes to tyre cluelessness. Michelin Nordic recently commissioned a survey into the average Dane’s level of tyre knowledge – and the results were, to be honest, not very good.
Bridgestone has announced a promotional £30 per pair (35 euros in the Republic of Ireland) discount for bikers purchasing the manufacturer’s latest premium products in May and June through Biker’s Club retailers. Bridgestone’s UK & Ireland motorcycle tyre sales manager Andy Whitehead says that the offer is a response to the challenging start to the 2013 season, with unseasonably cold weather delaying many bikers’ first ride of the year. “We have never done anything quite on this scale before and we are hoping that it will capture our customers’ imaginations,” Whitehead said, adding that the promotion is designed to reward loyal customers, who will qualify for the discount merely by mentioning the promotion at Bridgestone Biker’s Club retailers.
In order to create an affinity with its well-armed target audience, General Tire has recruited a former Green Beret to star in a new US-market print advertising campaign. Grady Powell has signed on as the gun-toting protagonist in the new “Anywhere Is Possible” campaign, which will promote the Grabber tyre range in magazines such as Guns & Weapons, Combat Handguns, Tactical Weapons, and Recoil. The campaign begins in April 2013.
Visitors to Bauma 2013 may be mistaken for thinking ‘WOW’ stands for WithOut Walking – as BKT, who recently adopted the three-letter word as its new advertising slogan, is sponsoring the show’s entire fleet of rickshaws. Weary-footed visitors will be ferried from one end of the Munich Trade Fair Centre to the other courtesy of the tyre maker, and each rickshaw will simultaneously serve as a mobile billboard.
Falken Tyres reports that it will be the first tyre company to explore the advertising potential of two digital screens on the M5 and M6 motorways. According to the company, the adverts will be used to reach out to motorists, especially those making Easter holiday journeys.
The boards display adverts on both the North and South sides, rotating a 15 second Falken advert every minute for 24 hours a day. The adverts will be displayed for 14 days which will result in a total of 40,320 Falken adverts being projected to passing motorists.
Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations has supplied Firestone tyres to the IZOD IndyCar Series since the league began in 1996, and the tyre maker recently announced it will remain the series’ sole tyre supplier through the 2018 race season. “Firestone performance and safety have been synonymous with IndyCar racing for more than 100 years,” commented Al Speyer, executive director, Firestone Racing. “We are excited about the opportunity to continue the on going success of this series by extending the Firestone brand’s history in the sport through the 2018 season. We treasure the relationships we have fostered with the league, drivers, owners and various other partners involved with the sport through the years, and look forward to continuing our legacy of high performance for which Firestone tires are known.”
A new strapline will soon represent Sailun Tyres. The phrase the company will introduce is “with you through every turn”, a strapline developed following a series of North American research exercises involving consumers, dealers, distributors and competitors.
A row has broken out between Halfords Autocentres and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) over advertising relating to the cost of car servicing at franchised dealerships. The SMMT complained to Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about an advertisement at halfordsautocentres.com which highlighted apparent savings of up to 50 per cent on car servicing. The complaint was subsequently upheld by ASA who said the ad could not continue in the offending form.
Bridgestone Americas is one of the defendants named in a lawsuit filed by Sony Computer Entertainment America. The tyre maker is in hot water along with Wildcat Creek, Inc – a company owned by actor Jerry Lambert – for using Sony-developed character Kevin Butler to sell non-Sony products.
Yokohama Tire Corporation (YTC) has launched an iPad app for the trucking tyre industry: The Yokohama Commercial Tire Navigator, which is available for free on iTunes. The commercial version of the app is based on YTC’s 2011 Yokohama Tire Explorer, featuring product information in an interactive format, 360-degree tyre photography, Yokohama’s proprietary Fuel Savings Calculator and a dealer locator. The product line-up consists of a variety of Yokohama’s commercial tires, including the Zenvironment line and the company’s seven EPA SmartWay-verified tyres.
More than 60,000 active buyers are expected to attend the event the 2012 SEMA Show/Global Tire Expo, according to Tire Review. The figure far surpasses attendance expectations and secures the event's status as the single largest and most comprehensive conference and trade show serving the tyre, service and restyling industries.
Marangoni Tyre states it is the only tyre brand to be exclusively manufactured in Italy, and the company is emphasising this fact in a new advertising campaign. The new "A unique journey, 100% made in Italy" campaign highlights the “Italian-ness” of Marangoni Tyre’s passenger car, light commercial vehicle and 4×4 tyres, a range that is conceived designed, tested and made at the company’s plant in Anagni, near Rome, and also produced on Marangoni’s MTM production line in its Rovereto plant.
Maxxis Tyres has agreed to sponsor Liverpool FC for a further three years, extending its partnership with the club until 2015. Maxxis Tyres first worked with Liverpool FC in 2009 and has enjoyed successful campaigns with LFC fans, and increased brand awareness through online inventory and LED advertising on match days which is shown to millions of fans around the world.
Hankook Tyre UK has announced that its partnership with Northampton Saints Rugby Club will be extended for a further four years, having begun in 2009. The new agreement means Hankook will remain the elite sponsor until 2016, with the company’s logo positioned on the team’s shirts. The tyre manufacturer’s headquarters are in Daventry, Northamptonshire, near the Saints’ home ground, Franklin’s Gardens. Tony Lee, managing director of Hankook Tyre UK stated that “The partnership between Hankook and the Saints has been a great success to date.”
Bosch has redesigned its automotive aftermarket website – boschautoparts.com – primarily to “improve visitor engagement and ease of use,” Tire Review reports. The site is “more visually engaging and especially easy to navigate,” Bosch claimed, and “covers a wide range of product lines, special promotions, motorsports, Bosch Gear, a vehicle part finder, and a local parts store locator.”
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