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.
The Pirelli Grand Prix Challenge, which first went live in the US in 2011, has now been expanded to the UK market. The tyre maker has high expectations for the online Formula One prediction game – last year, the American GP Challenge website received 140,000 unique visits and had over 700,000 page views. Prizes to be won through the challenge include a trip to the 2013 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
Despite trends pointing towards ever-increasing rim diameters, tyres for smaller vehicle categories still enjoy strong customer appeal. This is due not only to rising demand in Central Europe but also to the trend towards growing numbers of smaller cars in the compact and medium-size categories. Traditionally strong in the OE business, thus Continental expects a healthy response to its latest summer tyre, the ContiPremiumContact 5.
Goodyear Dunlop has tested 1200 Goodyear and another 1000 Dunlop branded tyres ensuring that these are ready to meet the new EU tyre labelling regulation that takes full effect on 1 November 2012. The tests covered 70 and 50 tyre types for Goodyear and Dunlop respectively.
According to the company, the grading of all the tyres took nearly a year and was done at the Goodyear Innovation Center in Luxemburg, which is the company’s main tyre research and development facility in the region. The new regulation requires each manufacturer to test tyres internally for the new gradings, based on strictly defined EU testing methods.
Since its launch in 1998, Ford Focus held the crown of overall UK sales leader for 10 consecutive years until 2008 when Fiesta took the number one spot. Sales reached a significant milestone earlier this month, when the 1,500,000th Ford Focus was delivered to 22-year-old Jaik Mickleburgh, a right-handed batsman playing for Essex Cricket first team and who has also played for the England U19s.
Sometimes punctures are unpreventable. That is why Bridgestone UK is so pleased by its latest breakdown response times. According to the company, the figures show average call out response times of 48 minutes anywhere in the UK – day or night.
The network has more than 300 independent outlets and 1,000 service staff that are trained specifically on servicing truck tyres, reassuring customers that it can properly provide service cover across Europe.
Art experts take note – the 10 May deadline is approaching for the Dunlop Art Car Competition, in which racing fans and artists have the chance to design the livery for a Ferrari F458 Italia competing in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. This is the fourth year that a Dunlop car’s design has been created by competition winners – but Dunlop says this year there is a big difference – designers/artists have a much freer canvas for designing the look of the Dunlop-sponsored Ferrari F458 Italia entered by JMW Motorsport.
The Reifen 2012 show gets underway in just over a month’s time, and B&J Rocket will be there. The Switzerland-based firm reports that it will present its new hallmark ‘Quality Plus’ to trade visitors from all over the world during the exhibition. The programme was initiated by Andreas Müller, managing director of B&J Rocket, to demonstrate to partners and customers how the company achieves and maintains quality at the highest level. This process begins with the careful selection of raw materials and its suppliers.
The latest instalment of Yokohama Tire Corporation's consumer education-focused video series – "Tire Tips" – features an updated version of how to read a tyre's sidewall.
Goodway Integrated Industries Berhad – or GIIB, as the company’s new corporate branding would have it – will exhibit its retreading solutions at Reifen 2012 (Hall 4, Stand 110). Amongst the product line-up of Supercool Beluga tread liners, GIIB Rübtek rubber compounds and Speedflex cushion gum, the company will be talking to visitors about its new GIIB Supercool Retread Franchise business solution model and its software-enhanced GIIB Management Solutions for Tyres. The company says the GIIB name unifies the brands and presents customers with a more dynamic message.
The Haribo Racing Team has announced it will use Falken’s race tyres on its Porsche 997 GT3 R for the VLN series and Nürburgring 24 Hour race. The team said its move to the Japanese brand’s tyres, developed specifically for the 997 GT3 R, was completed after a successful test at the recent ADAC Westfalenfahrt race. “We were very satisfied with the way the race went, delivering fast, consistent lap times,” reports Marco Alfter, Haribo’s head of corporate communications.
Hankook Tire has reported continued sales growth during the first quarter of 2012. Growth was experienced in North American and European markets, and the company said demand for its ultra high performance tyres had rapidly increased during the first three months of the year. Seung-Hwa Suh, vice chairman & global CEO of Hankook Tire said: “Despite continued global economic downturn, we have been able to set global sales growth and operating profit based on consistent tyre quality improvement as well as brand equity enhancement.
Michelin Tyre PLC has announced a successor to Martin Covington, who retired as head of Truck and Bus Marketing after a 37-year career at Michelin. Tyre industry newcomer Sharn Samra has been appointed to the role, with responsibility for the UK and Ireland. She joins Michelin from Wolverhampton-based lock and home security firm Yale, where she had worked since 2004, initially as the company’s head of Product Management and Marketing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa before taking over as head of Business Development in 2009. Prior to working at Yale, Samra spent three years as a product manager at Staffordshire-based Newell Rubbermaid.
Commercial vehicle venture Speedline Truck, created by global wheel manufacturer Ronal, has appointed SP Holding as the UK aftermarket agent for its new range of forged truck wheels. Marketed through an independent sales and distribution centre based in Italy, the new range represents the Ronal group’s response to what it perceives as a growing demand for forged aluminium truck wheels.
Tyre repair material and wheel service solution producer Tech Europe is a long-term supporter of the Reifen exhibition, and returns to Essen this year to exhibit the latest products and services in its Tech and Truflex/Pang ranges. As the European arm of Tech International, a supplier of over 5,000 products into 110 countries worldwide, Tech Europe will be presenting its complete range of Tech tyre repair material, Truflex/Pang tyre repair material, tools and accessories, balance weights and valves, and, most significantly this year, introducing its new offering of TPMS solutions.
Bridgestone has detailed the new organisation of its retail network, bringing together its current UK and Ireland operations. As part of the company’s regionalisation strategy – essentially northern European operations being streamlined from the UK – the division is headed by Alex Watson, retail managing director UK and Ireland, who takes up responsibility for Kingsway Tyres Ltd, Fast Fit Tyres and also the First Stop network. He has been involved in Kingsway Tyres Ltd since 1996 and stayed with the company when it was bought by Bridgestone in 2004, becoming its managing director during the acquisition. There are 170 First Stop centres in the UK, and around 2,000 across Europe.
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