The bigger the tyre brand, the more important marketing becomes in order to communicate its values and its worth. With this in mind, the “marketing” tag collates all the latest marketing-related news and analysis into a single place. This reverse-chronological list of thousands of articles is your go-to source of tyre industry, marketing-related news and information.
Manbat Batteries Ltd has announced a major restructuring of its Shrewsbury based senior management team. As a planned action during the second of Manbat’s five year rolling business planning, long-term managing director Roger Pemberton has moved to become the executive chairman, making way for Steve Sheppard to move from his position of sales director and take the reins as Manbat’s managing director.
Looking back on its year in motorsport, Marangoni reflects that racing has oftentimes given the company opportunities to push forward commercial and technological developments in a competitive forum. From the toughest of endurance racing, through specialist events and one-make championships, to the mountain hill climbs of Italy, Marangoni rubber has again taken a number of podiums.
However Derek Carruthers, global sales and marketing director believes that race victories are only one form of success: “Again this season, Marangoni has been performing in various motorsport disciplines and helping drivers to achieve impressive results. Motorsport remains our mobile laboratory, with tyre development opportunities through competitive use translating into tangible technical advances in our road tyres. Our communication strategy to the consumer is that your tyres have been developed and continue to be proven in some of the toughest motorsport disciplines, delivering total performance whatever the drive and whatever the conditions. This is a substantiated claim that our Team Marangoni colleagues can communicate with total confidence.”
Dunlop has appointed Sharon Antonaros sales and marketing director, Europe, Middle East and Africa for its Motorcycle Business Unit. He is based in the Goodyear Dunlop regional head office in Brussels and reports to Sanjay Khanna, managing director of the Dunlop Motorcycle Business Unit.
Born in Uccle, Belgium, Mr. Antonaros, 39, gained a Masters degree in European Studies from the Centre d’Etudes des Relations Européennes. Before joining Dunlop in August 2008, Antonaros was channel development director EMEA in the electronic navigation industry, where he had worked for three years. Prior to this he held senior sales and marketing positions in the computer hardware industry for Sony.
With motoring costs rising inexorably and no signs of any respite, Marangoni tyres is promoting the “value-for-money” ethic behind its tyres. By launching what the company call’s a “no-quibble” warranty, Marangoni Tyre will supply European designed and manufactured products that are warranted for life from the moment they are fitted.
The comprehensive warranty covers not only unlikely manufacturing defects but also accidental damage such as impact damage from potholes, kerbs or road debris – or irreparable punctures due to nails or glass. For Marangoni it is a pledge of total confidence in product excellence and quality. Marangoni has achieved ISO 9001:2000 certification with all tyres subjected to the most stringent independent testing regimes.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has added a “Buy Now” feature to its Mickey Thompson website. The move will allow consumers “access to easy, one-click shopping, instant price and shipping cost comparisons, and a simple shopping-cart style check out that makes purchasing tyres and wheels quick, easy and fun,” Cooper said. According to Cooper, “when the “Buy Now” button is selected, a revolutionary search engine technology searches the top Internet sales locations for pricing, and links the user to the shopping cart for that unique part number.”
“The benefits to the consumer include eliminating the cumbersome and time-consuming process that is associated with shopping for a product online by utilising a system that identifies the product by its unique part number,” Cooper said. “The benefits to the internet retailer include premium positioning, measurable/trackable results, and premium level support, including advertising support through consumer print ads, web and banner ads, Google AdWords marketing, and cable television ads in select markets.” (Tire Review/Akron)
Falken Tire Corp. has promoted two of its staff to marketing and product planning posts. Andrew Hoit was promoted from division manager of retail sales to director of marketing. Tim Widener was promoted from product engineer to manager of product planning. (Tire Review/Akron)
Hankook Tire has stated that its enfren tyre, which the company says is Korea’s first fuel-efficient, environment friendly tyre, received a Korea Green Management Excellence Award in the green product category. The award was presented by the Korea Management Association Registration & Assessments (KMAR). Attending the October 7 awards ceremony were South Korea’s vice minister of Environment Lee Byung-wook, Korea Management Association chairman Shin Young-chul and officials from Hankook and the other award-winning companies.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has promoted David Craig to director of channel marketing. In his new role, Craig will be responsible for developing marketing programs to support Cooper brands in various distribution channels. Most recently, Craig was in charge of Cooper’s North American advertising.
Concurrently, Cooper promoted Steve Sawyer to director of brand/product management, with responsibility for aligning products and brand strategy. (Tire Review/Akron)
Manbat Batteries Ltd is introducing a new range of AC-DC accessories. No, not a compilation CD or concert tickets – the leading UK battery specialist has boosted its line up with the addition of power inverters. Launched to coincide with the International Caravan & Motorhome 2008 at NEC in October, the Numax ‘connect and convert’ power inverter line-up is a four-model range of ‘Modified’ and ‘Pure Sine Wave’ (PSW) inverters.
Cooper has announced the release of its newest hybrid sport truck tyre, the Cooper Zeon LTZ. The company says that the tyre’s hybrid technology represents its attempt to combine the performance required for today’s SUVs and CUVs, with the aggressiveness of a go-anywhere, all-terrain product.
“This tyre follows the successful launch of the high performance sport truck tyre, the Cooper Zeon XSTA, earlier this year,” said Hal Gardner, Cooper’s vice president of marketing. “With the LTZ, Cooper set its sights on the off-road market, combining sport-truck market thinking and innovative technology. Rather than just develop an all-terrain tyre for the traditional 15- and 16-inch applications, Cooper engineers designed the LTZ for larger diameter applications, currently as big as 24 inches.”
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.
Apollo Tyres continues to refute suggestions that the company is trying to control tennis in India. According to the Times of India, the company made this point clear on October 14 while stating again it would not give out details of spending on the ‘Mission 2018’ tennis project.
In September the All India Tennis Association (AITA) accused Apollo of launching a misleading advertising campaign, and it asked the company to be more ‘transparent’. The Association demanded information on how much Apollo had so far spent on the programme.
Singh Ahluwalia has announced plans to retire next year, ending a 32-year career with Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire. The president of truck and bus tyre sales for the recently formed Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions will retire as of Mar. 1, 2009. He will also be leaving his position as a as member of the BFNAT board of directors. Ahluwalia will be succeeded by Kurt Danielson, currently vice president of marketing, who will become vice president of sales and marketing for BBTS. To provide a smooth transition, Danielson’s appointment is effective Nov. 1. Danielson will report directly to Saul Solomon, BBTS president, and will be responsible for all new and retreaded truck tire marketing and sales activities.
“After 32 years of dedication to our company, Singh has certainly put in his time and earned the opportunity to retire and enjoy more free time,” Solomon said. “Almost all of our major milestones in this business occurred during Singh’s tenure – the overall explosive growth in our TBR business, our long-standing relationship with Ryder and our partnership with Paccar. Above all, it was Singh’s vision that ultimately led to our merger with Bandag, a transaction that has given us so many opportunities across the globe.” (Tire Review/Akron)
Tyre supply and title sponsorship for the British Formula 3 International Series, the domain of Avon Tyres since 1982, will be handed over to parent company Cooper Tire as of next year.
“Through our many years in British F3 with the Avon brand, we know that it is a genuine stepping stone of great drivers on the way to F1, and therefore requires the very best components in every area,” said Cooper Europe managing director Julian Baldwin. “Avon Tyres is very well established in British and European motor racing and, as Cooper Tire grows as a brand in Europe, we want it to stand for the same standard of quality. Cooper’s racing tyres deserve to be allied with a high-profile championship in Europe and you don’t get much bigger than British F3.”
Michelin is once again the leading tyre brand on the internet, according to research conducted by online analysts Envisional. The unique online brand ranking exercise, which has been published exclusively in association with Tyres & Accessories since 2005, also found that Pirelli was the biggest faller and that the gap between premium and following brands is widening.
The Michelin brand retains the top spot from the 2007 report and has performed strongly online since the first tyre branding analysis in 2005 when it came third. The 2008 report shows the French manufacturer’s strongly positive ‘sentiment’ score kept it right out in front this year, though Dunlop (climbing from third to second) and the strongly improving Goodyear (up from sixth to third) also turned in good performances. Bridgestone will not be so happy, having lost ground a little and dropped down the sentiment rankings from second to fourth place.
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