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.
“If Nick says it’s good then it must be,” says Mark Gregory, national franchise manager for Punctureseal, when asked about the company’s tyre sealant. Nick Sanders, the person he refers to is a renowned adventure/endurance biker who is well known in biking circles for his world moto challenge, where he circumnavigates the globe on his Yamaha R1. Nick advocates the brand by both using it on his own tyres and recommending it to all that travel alongside him.
Yokohama Rubber Co. established Yokohama Tire Korea Co. Ltd., a wholly owned sales subsidiary, which will now handle all marketing and sales efforts in South Korea, Tire Review has reported. Previously, a local distributor represented Yokohama in that country. The subsidiary, established in mid-January, will begin operations this month, according to Yokohama Rubber Co. Yokohama said it hopes to reach $10 million in sales in South Korea within three years.
Bridgestone UK has appointed Junichi Kumano as marketing director at Bridgestone UK. Mr Kumano has worked for Bridgestone since 1988 in countries including Singapore, India, Vietnam, and his home nation of Japan in various sales and marketing roles. His most recent position was manager of export sales at Bridgestone Japan. His new post is his first outside of Asia.
“I am honoured to have joined Bridgestone UK as it has always been an ambition of mine to work in Europe,” said Mr Kumano. “I am looking forward to working with each member of the marketing department to ensure we achieve the company’s objective of ‘steady, profitable growth’ while continuing to meet our customers’ needs.” Mr Kumano replaces Chikuma Otsuki, who is now director of sales and marketing for commercial products at Bridgestone Europe.
Matador is celebrating its 100th anniversary by touring western Europe with its presentation truck. The company first used its presentation truck in 2004 and will now use it to remember its long history and highlight its objectives for the future. The truck provides a suitable environment for presentations, training activities, business negotiations and has exhibited at exhibitions and motorsports events.
Last year the truck embarked on its central and southern Europe tour with the intention of focusing on training markets of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Greece. Mr Reich, head of the marketing department of Matador Tyre division described last year’s tour: “It is understood that our objective was to get closer to our customers. And I could say from my experiences of last season that this form of presentation got quite a warm welcome from our business partners.“ The presentation truck will be touring during April and has planned stops in France, Belgium and the UK.
Michelin is set to sell its wheel business to the German Mefro group. According to Michelin, the new owners will keep both manufacturing plants and their 1800 strong workforce intact. Mefro, a family-owned company, has an annual turnover of approximately 160 million euros and aspirations to become the “number one European wheel manufacturer.” Now in light of the recent purchase, the company sees itself as a significant competitor to European steel wheel producers Gianetti and Hayes Lemmerz.
Phoenix-based Tire Service Equipment Mfg Co, has acquired the manufacturing and marketing rights to seven products manufactured by Safe Shop Tools Inc, according to Tire Review.
The new product portfolio includes; PakPress, portable wheel stud remover and installer; Tweel Handler, a tyre and wheel handling system; Back Buddy II Tool, a hub and drum tool; Clever Lever, a tyre and wheel caddie; Versa Vac, a radiator pressure tester and coolant dam; Striver, an S-cam bushing driver; and Stepper, a portable tyre step.
Tire Service Equipment also operates Saf-Tee Siping & Grooving Inc, which produces and markets a line of tyre sipers, as well as nitrogen inflation systems and Cheetah brand bead seaters.
Nokian Tyres’ Vianor tyre chain has announced that it is aiming to open a total of 30, mainly franchised based outlets in Russia during 2005. The company says it will invest approximately 10 million euros in establishing the operation. The news follows the chain’s opening of outlets in Rostov and St Petersburg, and its acquisition of two tyre shops in Sweden. The company says the expansion of the Vianor chain will boost Nokian Tyres’ sales in Russia and give the company direct contacts with Russian consumers. “Tyre distribution is increasingly taken care of by the tyre shops and Nokian Tyres wants to be in the lead of this development,” said Kim Gran, president and CEO of Nokian Tyres.
In Sweden the chain has acquired two new shops Sjögrens Vulk AB and Degerfors Vulkcentral. All Vianor outlets share the same operational model and marketing concept. Vianor outlets sell mainly Nokian branded tyres, but also other well-known tyre brands. In addition, Vianor provides its customers with selected car related products and services, such as tyre hotels.
Michelin North America’s “Michelin Man” ad-campaign won a silver award at the annual Advertising Marketing Effectiveness (AME) Awards. Presented as part of the New York Festivals, the AME Awards are the only global forum recognising the effectiveness as well as the creativity of advertising and marketing. The agency responsible for the campaign, Campbell-Ewald, won a total of six gold, silver and bronze medallions. Amongst them the company took gold for Chevrolet’s “An American Revolution” campaign.
For most, January marks the beginning of a new year, but for Federal 2005 represents the end of its golden jubilee. During 2004 the company celebrated 50 years of a business that has grown significantly since its earliest days and announced that it would expand its total production capacity to 8 million units in 2005.
In recent times, a number of companies have investigated the possibility of manufacturing in China. Federal too has sought to take advantage of this emerging market. Federal’s explanation for moving to the people’s republic is because of Taiwan’s “high labour costs.” Now, although work at the Federal Taiwan plant continues, the company also produces in China. According to the company, “the potential of the China plant is massive with capacity growing from 1.5 million units at the end 2003 to 2.5 million in 2004. “This figure will soar to 3.5 million by 2005 and the trend will continue until Federal’s total capacity, including its Taiwan plant, reaches 8 million units. The major expansion will take place in the China plant, which provides huge opportunities for any potential OE business in China,” says Jamie Ma.
With the growth in automobile manufacture in China and with most manufacturers intent on securing a manufacturing base, the potential of emergent companies such as Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp and China Brilliance have attracted Federal.
Commenting on the Chinese market Mr Ma said: “High-tech tyres such as the Hero Milanza UHP will definitely be a tyre that should generate great market demand. We intend to market the tyre, not simply by emphasising its price competitiveness, but rather by its trendy look and remarkable performance.”
One advantage Federal believes it has over other manufacturers is its delivery times. “Unlike many large-scale manufacturers that have delivery lead times of 90 days from order, Federal’s delivery time is typically one month. Although the unprecedented huge order volumes received earlier this year affected the delivery time, urgent measures have been adopted to cope with this increased demand and our customers will confirm that the delivery service is returning to previous levels,” explained DaWu Chen, senior manager at Federal’s global business department.
Now, half a century down the line from its beginnings, Federal wants to expand its influence around the world. “We intend to bring this same reputation for ultra high performance tyres to Europe and particularly for markets that have a significant demand for UHP tyres. The extended territory and market size of the EU provides a considerable growth potential and Federal plan to explore every new opportunity in this area,” said company president, Jamie Ma.
Federal won’t be drawn on where its marketing focus is, instead its states that its concentrates “on a general basis worldwide.” DaWu Chen suggests that other expansion into other European markets may follow a similar pattern to the how things have worked in the UK. “The kind of partnership seen in the UK, where an independent wholesaler has taken a proactive lead with aggressive marketing and promotion of the brand and the targeting of key customer groups, is fundamental to future market expansion in other European markets.”
Japanese based tyre manufacturer Yokohama has officially launched its Advan brand. In an effort to unify its global image, Yokohama will now adopt one name for its premium products, instead of the regional variations that currently exist. According to Yokohama, the newly launched brand reflects the company’s “highest performance” and “highest quality” image. From now on, the Advan name will adorn all of the company’s new global high performance products. At the same time as launching this new product concept, the company also released two new Advan branded high performance products, the Advan Sport and Advan ST.
Although Yokohama only launched Advan as its “global flagship brand” recently, the name has actually been rolling around for a while, having first been introduced in 1978 as a motorsport tyre. Prior to its international re-launch, Advan was also associated with sports category products, mainly in Japan. In terms of branding, Yokohama considers itself to be something of a pioneering company. It claims to have challenged tyre manufacturers involved in motorsport activity at that time, by sponsoring a “works coloured” vehicle.
Speaking to Yokohama HPT managing director, David Seward revealed that next year Yokohama, and therefore Advan, would be involved in 26 motorsport events. In addition, the company will be running a UK dealer scheme in order to further promote its flagship brand. While attending the Advan launch in Dubai, Tyres & Accessories also learnt that Yokohama would be involved in Le Mans Endurance Series and would also be likely to take part in the Le Mans 24 hour race.
The so-called 2003 Advan Le Mans project is probably the most high profile event Yokohama has been involved in recently. In this instance the car not only ran on Advan tyres, but was plastered top-to-bottom in Advan colours and marketing paraphernalia. The car was driven by Japanese ex-Formula 1 driver, Ukyo Katayama, who was also on hand in Dubai to testify to the products’ quality. According to the Kamikaze Katayama, as he is sometimes known, any doubts he had about the quality of the tyres were proved wrong by the end of the race.
Now having publicised that it will use the new brand globally, Yokohama plans to continue with its “aggressive” two-pronged marketing strategy. That is, motorsport involvement and securing high profile OE contracts. The most recent example of this is the Bentley Continental GT. The GT is capable of speeds up to 198 mph and as such is fitted with ZR rated 20 inch versions of the new Advan Sport. In this instance the tyre features an embossed Bentley ‘B’ logo highlighting both the exclusivity of the vehicle and its associated tyres. Yokohama Rubber says it plans to continue pursuing this type of co-development opportunity and other similarly high profile associations look likely.
Yokohama plans to develop the Advan name into a “top-of-the-line” brand across all of its tyre categories including its Luxury and SUV lines. That is why the company released two new products and launched the Advan brand simultaneously. Available in 17 to 22 inch sizes, the ZR rated Advan sport, is described as a tyre that “boasts ultrahigh performance as well as driving comfort and quietness.” The ADVAN ST is a SUV tyre designed for use with high-powered SUVs. During production Yokohama tested the tyres’ high performance capabilities on the Nurburgring circuit. The company also assessed the product’s real-life high-speed proficiency on the German autobahn.
It was no coincidence that Yokohama chose to launch its new “global flagship” brand identity in Dubai, a country with growing associations to motorsport. One obvious reason for travelling to the United Arab Emirates was for the company to present the opportunity to test its latest offering on the Dubai Autodrome. The new course is competing to become a future Formula 1 venue, and therefore is certainly capable of testing the products’ high-speed resilience.
Pirelli Tyres has confirmed its continued involvement with motorsport series across the British Isles. In the 2005 season the manufacturer will support the Kwik Fit Pirell British Rally Championship, The Irish Tarmac Championship and the Maranello Ferrari Challenge, to name but three.
Amtel’s acquisition of Vredestein Banden might result in the Russian brand’s introduction to the North American market, Marc Luyten, Vredestein Banden’s director of marketing and sales, according to a Modern Tire Dealer Report. Mr Luyten’s suggestion follows the news that Amtel will buy Vredestein and is planning initial public offerings on the London and Moscow stock exchanges.
Through its participation in the 2006 World Cup, Continental AG is aiming to further enhance its reputation and awareness of the Continental brand. This huge sporting event is said to be the ideal scenario in which to ‘emotionalise’ spectators. The World Cup offers another advantage, according to Lars Fahrenbach, marketing director at Continental’s passenger car division and responsible for the European replacement market: “Everybody else is in motorsports.”
Although US produced Pro Comp tyres have a good reputation in the states, they are not so well known in the UK. That’s why Midlands based 4×4 distributor, John Craddock Ltd, jumped at the chance to become the brand’s sole importer for the UK & Ireland. Tyres & Accessories spoke to marketing manager, Jamie Stevens.
In its recent first half 2005 results, Toyo Tire & Rubber reported that operating income rocketed 120.8 per cent. This was said to be due to a 25.9 per cent increase in sales of high value products, with general sales improving by 8.7 per cent. Now, having exhibited at the Autosport Show, Toyo is claiming to have “kicked into overdrive” with its “best show ever.” Tyres & Accessories took the opportunity to catch up with marketing director, Mike Rignall.
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