On your mark! – Get set! – Go! October 11 was ContiRunning Day 2008, a day on which some 10,000 Continental employees in sixty different locations ran or walked for a good cause. Events were staged under the motto “Fit for the Future” and Conti reports the day was a huge success. Employees from twenty countries took part in the event, which started in Asia, then continued in Europe and finished off in America.
American football fans in the UK rejoice – the NFL is returning to our shores, once again with title sponsorship from Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire. The company announced on October 13 it has returned for a second season as title sponsor to the Bridgestone International Series.
The Bridgestone brand, which also is the “Official Tire of the National Football League” and title sponsor of the Bridgestone Super Bowl Halftime Show, will play a key role in the promotion of the San Diego Chargers-New Orleans Saints game to be played at London’s Wembley Stadium on October 26. Bridgestone’s involvement will include field-level LED boards with brand logos, stadium signage, presenting sponsorship of the pre-game show on Sky Sports, video board features and print programme advertisements.
An amateur football match at the Cabramatta Sportsground turned nasty when a 32-year old – it is alleged – lost grip of his sanity after being sent off alongside a scrapping rival. After receiving his marching orders, the man hurried to his car, then – retreading his steps – reportedly attacked his dismissed opponent with a metal tyre lever, breaking his arm and putting him into traction.
The man, who cannot be named, has been charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm and being armed with intent to commit an indictable offence. It is probable that the tyre iron has seen its last action after being used in such an inappropriate application.
Hugely successful and full of ambition– a description that could be applied to both tyre equipment supplier Hofmann Megaplan and League One Football outfit Peterborough United, and the 2008/2009 football season will see the pair join forces as ‘The Posh’ target promotion to The Championship with Hofmann Megaplan as one of their commercial partners.
Hofmann Megaplan have become official sponsors to the Cambridgeshire team, whose ground is only a short drive up the A1 from the company’s HQ, and whose terraces have been a regular haunt for Hofmann Megaplan MD James Boon for the last 20 years.
PCL has promoted Gareth McGuigan – who was for three and a half years one of the company’s regional sales managers – to business development manager for the UK and Eire, while Paul Carrington has joined the company in his place, representing Scotland and the north. The company, which specialises in tyre inflation equipment and pneumatic products, has reinforced its sales team in response to increasing demand.
Before joining PCL, McGuigan spent seven years in America on a football scholarship, finally returning to the UK to spend six years in sales management with Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Nissan. Looking forward to his promotion, McGuigan commented: “My goal is to build on the success we’ve had to date on national accounts, providing support to existing customers and distributors, whilst developing new business.”
Gareth Passmore has taken over Continental’s marketing operation in South Africa, having been shifted from his post as head of sales and marketing for the Middle East, Near East and North Africa region.
Passmore, originally from Wales, stated that his personal motivation behind the move was to seek out a new challenge for his career, to “experience a new way of life in a different environment” and to be in South Africa during the 2010 football World Cup, an event that the company is sponsoring. Having experienced Conti’s involvement in the 2006 tournament in Germany, Passmore is looking forward to the challenge of helping to develop the sport’s popularity in a country where Rugby Union and Cricket share the nation’s sporting enthusiasm.
Maxxis has signed lucrative advertising deals with Everton FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC, who finished fifth and eleventh respectively in last season’s Premier League. The announcement comes in addition to Maxxis renewal of support for Aston Villa FC, where it will continue with perimeter advertising at the Villa Park ground and VIP corporate hospitality package.
For the 2008/09 season Maxxis LED banner advertisements will also be located at Goodison Park and White Hart Lane, in prime positions on three sides of the pitch opposite the TV cameras. Maxxis representatives told Tyres & Accessories the company is changing its advertising to make a “big impact: when the first Premier League matches kick off on Saturday 16 August.
Bridgestone’s First Stop network of independent tyre dealerships is launching its very own Fantasy Football league. The game will allow individuals and garages across the network to compete in a dedicated league to find the best Fantasy team. First Stop stores across the UK will, from mid July, be able to plan and prepare their teams ahead of the start of the Premiership season on Saturday 16 August.
Yokohama Tire Corp. will continue its relationship with US sports teams as sponsors of two AAA baseball teams – Scranton Yankees and Memphis Redbirds. According to Yokohama, each team will provide signage, hospitality events and product displays, as well as special promotions and in-store ticket giveaways and in-stadium contests.
The baseball sponsorships follow partnerships with three NBA teams, three NFL teams and two college football programs. (Tire Review/Akron)
Continental Tyres has announced that it is to sponsor the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. According to the company, which also partnered the 2006 World Cup and is sponsoring this year’s European championship, the latest move is a continuation of its long-term marketing strategy based on football sponsorship, to deliver “huge global TV audiences.” Continental also has the option to extend its sponsorship to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Continental has acquired the rights to promote the sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup worldwide and will link this to product communication. In addition, Continental has once again received a sizeable ticket allocation and premium hospitality, which has become an important cornerstone of its strategy.
“This sponsorship deal continues the marketing strategy we have been following since 1995 for all Continental tyre products and maintains our focus on football as a central communication platform for increasing brand awareness in our core markets over the next three years,” explains Continental Tyres UK advertising and sponsorship manager Tim Bailey.
Manchester United’s recent Kumho-sponsored thrashing of Aston Villa 4-0 was described by BBC Match of the Day pundits as some of the best football for a decade. So as Man U extended their Premiership lead to six points, Kumho’s management reflected on how this sporting success could be mirrored for Kumho in the tyre trade, hoping that their team has not only turned a corner in Europe, but made progress towards it goal of entering the tyre world’s own Champions League.
Kumho Europe decided to leverage its platinum sponsorship of UK premier league leaders Manchester United by holding the Kumho Big Match Day on 30 March 2008. Being platinum sponsor gave Kumho the opportunity to drape the main entrance into Old Trafford with two enormous banners, offer interactive experiences and event zones at promotional booths outside the stadium as well as hospitality programmes for dealers and distributors who were invited to the match.
Kumho established its European base in Frankfurt, Germany in January 1978. Now three decades later, the South Korean tyre manufacturer is aiming to celebrate its 30th anniversary with half a billion dollars-worth of European sales. The headquarters of Kumho’s European technical operations is located near Birmingham in the UK’s West Midlands. Having opened in June 1998, it will be celebrating its 10th anniversary later this year.
When football teams run out onto Moscow’s Luzhniki BSA Olympic Stadium at the start of a match, it is a safe bet that few, if any, players realise that the “grass” under their feet was once black and round and fitted to a car. But despite this unawareness, the tyres we deal with every day have a strong connection with the beautiful game; the Luzhniki stadium was one of the sites at which the UEFA trialled the use of synthetic turf several years ago, and was subsequently granted the honour of hosting the first ever UEFA Cup qualifying round to be held on an artificial surface. The synthetic turf gracing the ground at Luzhniki is FieldTurf – a product produced by FieldTurf Tarkett, a Canadian company that, in addition to supplying numerous UEFA and FIFA approved turf installations, also happens to be Credential Automotive’s largest rubber crumb customer. FieldTurf’s requirements currently account for two-thirds of all Credential’s annual output of recycled tyre product.
“We’re quite proud to be playing our part in sporting excellence around the world,” comments Credential Automotive director Steve Patterson. But while Credential’s supply of tyre derived rubber product helps provide a natural feeling yet durable surface for our most popular sport, tyre recycling is much more than just a game for the County Durham based recycling and waste management specialist. Vast quantities of end of life tyres arrive at Credential’s Newton Aycliffe premises each year – Steve Patterson reports that Credential will process approximately 11 million tyres in 2008 – and the company collects tyres plus other automotive waste from fast fit centres, car dealerships, ELV dismantlers, farmers, councils and other tyre collectors in many regions throughout Great Britain, from Southwest England to Scotland.
Credential’s ability to process so many tyres was in 2007 aided by the installation of the “Tyrannosaurus”, reported to be the world’s largest shredder. This machine of Cretaceous proportions was installed in May 2007 after arriving from Finland, and it is “operating well,” reports Steve Patterson. “The machine completed commissioning in August 2007 and will have processed 2.5 million tyres by then end of January 2008.” With a line capacity of 20 tonnes per hour, the equivalent of 3,000 car tyres, the Tyrannosaurus can make short work of end of life tyres. “The processing capacity is very high and depends on the material produced, but at a 50mm tyre chip the machine could process over 80,000 tonnes per annum on a two-shift basis.” Credential’s hardware is able to effectively process 4×4 and van tyres without encountering any of the problems experienced by operators using smaller machines, and Patterson reports that the company is also able to process or find outlets for tyres containing a range of technologies, including run-flat or uncured tyres. He adds that tyres containing anti-puncture sealants may provide a less than satisfactory result should they arrive in sufficient quantities, but at present very few of these appear in the mix so they pose no problem.
The output from Credential Automotive’s facility, or at least the one-third not taken by FieldTurf, is supplied to numerous rubber manufacturers, whose end products include mats, flooring, insulating products and children’s playgrounds. According to Steve Patterson, Credential is easily able to sell everything it produces. “We currently have outlets for all of our outputs, he says. “Most are contracted and a proportion is placed on spot markets. We balance the risk/reward of contracted supply and spot markets constantly.”
The ETRMA reported last July that the UK was Europe’s leading tyre recycler, with 93 per cent of tyres previously destined for landfill now diverted to various forms of recycling. While Credential, as a past winner of the Motor Traders Association ‘Environmental Award’ and NTDA TAFF environment award nominee, is recognised for its environmentally sound policy and practices, Steve Patterson believes that legislation remains fundamental to our high recycling levels. “In general terms most people within the industry recognise the benefits of recycling a high quality product like tyres, but you need legislation and strong enforcement to push the minority into compliance because they wont do it for the sake of it.” He adds: “While a number of responsible producers take an active interest in what happens to scrap tyres, a number do not, and it is economics that drive the market. If the landfill ban was not enforced then the UK would still send a higher proportion of tyres to landfill, or at least until the landfill tax made it uneconomic.”
Yokohama Tire Corp. signed sponsorship deals with three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams, according to Dan King, Yokohama vice president of sales – the San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics, and the Golden State Warriors. Yokohama’s latest sponsorship move follows partnerships with three NFL teams, the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons, plus UCLA and USC college football. Yokohama also sponsored two minor league baseball teams last season, the Triple-A Columbus Clippers and the Double-A Reading Phillies. (Tire Review/Akron)
Almost six years to the day after the Levi versus Tesco ruling (see page three for more on this), Kumho UK managing director, Steve Tidmarsh, used his recent NTDA Tyre Wholesalers Group (TWG) speech to address the subject of grey importing in a refreshingly direct fashion. “The grey market,” he observed, “always seems to increase when supply rates are poor.” He continued: “For some reason this enrages wholesalers, but let us be fair, it is often exploited by them. However, to balance that, it is also right to state that it is the manufacturers who drive the grey market and currently with the weak US dollar products are a-plenty,” he explained.
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