Firestone has continued its partnership with the Barclaycard Arena, making the Birmingham venue’s unsigned area into the Firestone Stage for a second successive year. The stage hosts unsigned artists in the pre-show entertainment arena at selected arena events, exhibiting a wide array of music talent from across the UK to up to 15,800 people.
Bridgestone’s approach to marketing Firestone has seen the world’s largest tyre manufacturer’s second-line brand rise in prominence in European markets, while a rapidly overhauled product range has helped to solidify confidence in both quality and availability. The self-professed youthfulness of the marketing approach to Firestone has seen the brand featured in various live music venues around the continent, while the summer “Firestone Music Tour” of festivals has increased to sponsorship deals with nine premier events in key markets, including Download in the UK. The introduction of the latest tyre in the Firestone range, the Roadhawk for touring and family cars, was timed to coincide with the first festival of the tour, Primavera Sound 2017 in Barcelona’s Parc del Fòrum, and the company hosted dealers, automotive journalists, and a cadre of lifestyle writers and bloggers, demonstrating the sustained, relatively novel approach Bridgestone has brought to the brand since what might be termed its reinvigoration in 2014.
This summer, Firestone is hitting the road to bring musicians and music lovers together, featuring festival appearances at Download in Leicestershire from 9 to 11 June and Vantastival in Drogheda, Ireland on 3 and 4 June. The brand will be at both with the Firestone Stage, Car-aoke Van and other activations.
First Stop has added a new outlet in Taunton, as automotive equipment supplier Hickleys joins the fast fit network. After growing to a total of 72 centres by the end of 2016, First Stop is continuing to evolve and expand via a new approach to recruitment. First Stop’s retail business consultant Ollie Turpie is targeting businesses not currently boasting a tyre retail arm. Hickleys, based in Castle Street, offers a broad range of automotive solutions, from diagnostic equipment right through to heating and air conditioning installations.
US-based motor racing sanctioning body Indycar has agreed to a multi-year extension of its contract with Bridgestone Americas Tire Operation for the Verizon IndyCar Series, thus confirming the continuation of Firestone as the official tyre to the series. Upon announcing the extension of its arrangement, Bridgestone notes that the brand has been involved in open-wheel racing since Firestone tyres were fitted to the winning car in the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911.
Bridgestone Americas has announced that its Firestone FT140 tyre has been selected as original equipment on the all-new 2017 Subaru Impreza.
The Firestone range continues to grow and diversify with the brand’s first-ever tyre for city bus operations. The all-new, all-position FS492 was designed specifically with the challenges of urban transport operations in mind; with the reliability to ensure safety and comfort for passengers and the durability to ensure long-lasting performance and profitability for operators.
Prices for truck and bus tyres sold by Bridgestone Europe rose today, and a new price structure will also apply to car and motorcycle tyres as of 1 January 2017. The average price of Bridgestone and Firestone truck and bus tyres has gone up by one per cent, while passenger car and motorcycle tyre prices will increase by an average of three per cent. The revisions are non-linear and vary across the different product ranges.
Firestone’s Battle of the Bands talent search is back. The Bridgestone second line tyre brand is seeking the most talented bands in the UK, culminating in a performance on the Firestone Stage at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham on 7 December. The social networking-based campaign will be run in partnership with the arena and Professional Music Technology (PMT), which will provide music equipment as an invaluable additional prize to the winning act.
Firestone has targeted “shaking up the mid-price tyre segment in Europe” with its new Roadhawk, a car tyre engineered for endurance and safety. The Bridgestone brand says its Roadhawk targets mainstream motorists who drive all types of journeys – urban, highway, commute, school run, shopping – on a daily basis. The brand adds that these drivers want a tyre that gives them long-lasting performance in road conditions where wet weather, heavy traffic, sudden braking, and motorway speed are all part of the daily mix.
Firestone has launched its latest tyre for the adaptable applications required of the light commercial vehicle market, the Vanhawk 2. The Bridgestone brand states that the tyre has been developed to deliver handling, comfort and durability when tackling frequent short runs, longer hauls, stop-go deliveries and constant manoeuvring, day after day.
When it comes to choosing the most suitable tyre for the winter months ahead, Firestone declares that its Multiseason represents the most compelling proposition for motorists. It is, in the words of Firestone brand manager Stuart Attfield, the ideal “halfway house” to combat the unpredictable conditions so often encountered in the UK.
A number of changes have been announced within the Race Tire Development (RTD) arm of the North America-based Firestone Racing programme. Bridgestone Americas describes these as a reorganisation and opines that they will add “manufacturing expertise while reaffirming the brand’s commitment to innovation and the Verizon IndyCar Series.”
Firestone’s smartphone tyre-pressure calculator app for farmers across Europe has been downloaded more than 43,000 times since its 2011 launch. The brand states that it expects this enthusiasm to grow even faster with the inclusion of pressure data for the new Firestone Maxi Traction 65 tyre, launched at Reifen 2016. The tyre brings longer tyre life and lower operating costs to the popular 65 series for medium-sized tractors.
New month, new website: On 1 July, Bridgestone Europe launched a new European website for its Firestone car, truck/bus and agricultural ranges. The firestone.eu site covers 18 national markets within the region and is available in 14 languages. All expected conveniences, including tyre search by vehicle (for cars and vans) or function (for trucks and buses) can be found on the new site.
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