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.
Alex Jarvis-Cleaver has been appointed marketing manager for aftermarket specialist First Line Ltd. He has a wealth of experience in marketing, having led marketing operations at a manufacturer of torque tools for six years, prior to a brief career break that saw him take on a trip across the United States.
Kenda has introduced new brand imagery reflecting its “Designed for Your Journey” slogan. The multi-segment tyre manufacturer’s new logo incorporates three design elements in its signature “K”: a check mark on top to represent quality assurance and safety; an inverted V shape on the bottom symbolising a strong foundation; and a diagonal line in the middle that represents the road ahead. Kenda says it wants to refresh the brand to communicate four core values: honesty, quality, service, and innovation.
Prinx Chengshan’s flagship tyre brand has entered the European market in style at a lavish event in Milan, Italy. Hosting tyre distributors and dealers from all around Europe the brand chose the European fashion capital as its launchpad to signify its bullish expectations for the new range, which arrives offering fitments for a comprehensive range of applications, premiumised technologies, and a European marketing strategy openly setting mid-range-plus targets from the off. During a day of driving workshops at Alfa Romeo’s historic La Pista circuit, Tyres & Accessories was able to trial two Prinx tyres fitted to Tesla Models 3 and Y, and Mercedes AMG A Class hatchback and SUV models: the Xnex Sport EV UHP tyre designed for electric vehicle compatibility, and the Quattura 4S all-season tyre. T&A also spoke to several representatives from the brand’s European team about its new products and aspiration to make its mark on the European tyre segment. Look out for full coverage from the event on Tyrepress and in Tyres & Accessories magazine.
When Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. announced at the end of January that 500 jobs are being cut worldwide and linked this to business performance in the EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa) region (see “Goodyear reports losses of $104 million in Q4 2022, points the finger at Europe”, T&A 3/2022, page 18), executives were effectively acknowledging the significant pressures facing the business. When Goodyear published its full-year 2022 and fourth quarter 2022 figures a few days later, the red numbers highlighted the pressing reality of those problems. Within that broad picture, it now seems clear that the US$2.8 billion Cooper takeover initiated two years ago has not yet brought the promised return, something Goodyear’s market capitalisation and the relative profitability of its competitors neatly illustrate. Meanwhile, some within Goodyer refer to the integration as “successfully completed”, but without offering details. In other words, the supposed success of the Goodyear-Cooper integration doesn’t match the company’s sub-par financial performance. With that in mind, here we take a pan-European look at those particularly contradictory perspectives.
While Michelin was found to the be most valuable tyre brand, as we previewed a month ago, the 2023 Brand Finance data also shows Michelin is the strongest brand with a Brand Strength Index score of 88.1 out of 100 and a corresponding AAA rating. However, there were also significant shifts between 10th and 15th place in the ranking of the world’s leading tyre brands. Specifically, Sailun leapfrogged Linglong into 11th place in the “most valuable” category. And MRF rose two places from 15th to 13th this year. Meanwhile, Dunlop’s brand value shrank three-times faster than Sailun Tire’s grew.
On 17 March, Linglong Tire announced that it hired Yu Hang as its vice president. The tyre manufacturer stated that the appointment of Yu Hang is to enhance Linglong’s brand value and competitiveness, optimise and improve its “product + service + value” system, build a world-class brand influence, and enhance Linglong’s international competitiveness.
The complete data isn’t out, but a preview of the Brand Finance Global 500 gives a clear insight into what we can expert from the market research company’s tyre ranking when in is published in the coming weeks. The headline news is that Michelin has significantly extended its lead at the front of the pack when it comes to tyre brands.
Yokohama UK reports that it has appointed Lucie Dalton, as its new marketing manager and Charlotte Hodgson as price and demand planning manager in a move that completes its senior management team.
Yokohama Europe has appointed Tobias Kins as its new head of marketing. The new marketing manager has been working for the Düsseldorf-based Yokohama Europe for over six years and his most recent role was Head of Sales Division.
Bridgestone’s ultra-high performance tyre, the Potenza Sport, has received more acclaim for the manufacturer, as its adrenalin fuelled marketing campaign was made Industry Marketing Campaign of the Year at the NTDA’s Tyre Industry Awards. Bridgestone targeted its 1 April to 30 June campaign at consumers making more informed decisions than the average tyre buyer, addressing their passion for driving.
In its own words, Research Tools, based in based Esslingen am Neckar near Stuttgart, specializes in marketing analysis/market research. The company recently examined the performance of 100 tyre brands on the leading social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube in cooperation with VICO Research & Consulting. The study covers the period from 2 June 2021 to 1 June 2022.
Battery brand Banner has unveiled a new marketing campaign for the impending battery season. “Power Beyond Ordinary” supersedes the “NO BULL Get Real” campaign that has been running for the last two years.
Not only did Giti break into the top 10 of Brand Finance’s annual tyre brand ranking, but it is also amongst the fastest risers. According to the company, this result “underscores the efficiency of the strategies adopted in the last two years to overcome the problems resulting from the Covid19 pandemic”.
Michelin has once again topped the tyre table within Brand Finance’s ranking of the world’s strongest and most valuable brands. Michelin achieved a brand value of US$7.7 billion and a brand strength index score of 85.8 out of 100.
In light of the news of Halfords acquisition of National Tyres and Iverson Tyres, Tyres & Accessories contacted various National Tyres and Halfords executives for comment on the subjects of branding and branch closures. In response, company spokesperson confirmed that the bulk of Axle Group businesses will be rebranded under the Halfords moniker with one or two exceptions.
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First Line
Andrew Bogie/Tyres & Accessories
Prinx Chengshan
Yokohama
Yokohama
NTDA
Tracy Le Blanc; Pexels
Banner
Giti
Brand Finance
Halfords Group