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.
A second harsh winter in a row seems a deciding factor in the latest truck tyre range launched by Michelin in the UK. At this week’s CV show at the Birmingham NEC, the manufacturer’s XDW Ice Grip – available in size 295/80 R 22.5 – will be shown off to UK trade show visitors for the first time.
National Tyres and Autocare is proud to announce the launch of AA Tyres, a new online tyre shop powered by National. National secured the contract to provide the tyre shop which has been integrated into the AA’s own website, offering special discounted prices on tyres online and automotive parts in-branch to AA members. The site, which is now live at www.theaa.com, follows on from a similar move by well-known e-tailer Blackcircles.com and AA-competitor RAC.
A recently signed sponsorship agreement is expected to boost the profile of Bridgestone’s winter tyre line-up. Bridgestone Europe has entered into an agreement to sponsor the majority of events in the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, and under the terms of the agreement the tyre maker will be a main partner at the 34 World Cup Alpine Ski events in eight European countries – Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland – during the 2011-2012 season.
While the 2011 CV Show was well-attended by tyre majors and equipment suppliers alike, there was also a surprising number of tyre wholesale and distribution companies present. These included Kirkby Tyres & Wheels Ltd and RH Claydon Ltd as well as Tyreline OE Ltd and TD Tyres. What the two well-known wholesalers (Kirkby and RH Claydon) had in common was the fact that both firms were showing the latest Chinese-produced additions to their respective tyre product portfolios.
Pirelli Tire North America has renewed its ‘Interactive Agency of Record’ relationship with independent interactive agency Rosetta through 2012. Rosetta began developing an interactive advertising and marketing programme for Pirelli last year, indentifying the tyre maker’s customers and determining how they can be best reached; as part of the strategy developed as a result, Rosetta led Pirelli's search and online display marketing efforts in 2010, the first consistent digital programme Pirelli has executed in North America.
Apollo Tyres currently lays claim to a 30 per cent share of India’s commercial vehicle radial market and to accommodate the after sale needs of its customers is establishing fifty ‘Apollo Radial Service Assistance’ (ASRA) centres throughout the country. On April 4 the tyre maker opened the first such centre in Jaipur, a region with a level of radialisation far above the national average.
The market can change so quickly: Passenger car alloy wheel manufacturers, both large and small, recently and sometimes reluctantly reduced their production capacity while others became casualties of the consolidation that takes place within the sector whenever overcapacity is present in the market. Now the picture is very different. Alloy wheel firms are desperate to find factories whose utilisation capacities are less than a hundred per cent.
Global automotive parts manufacturer Delphi has become the official Automotive Technology Partner of the World Rally Championship, the company has announced in a press release. The company believes that the sponsorship deal will reaffirm its commitment to motorsport, while presenting a “strong 360° communication platform” to promote its products and services to the aftermarket. It says the series will help showcase its products and service solutions and promote the capabilities of its expanding Delphi Service Centre network.
At the start of March, Starco increased its involvement with Schaad products throughout much of the Nordic region. The group’s home market distribution company, Starco A/S, took over the range’s distribution in Denmark and Starco has also taken on a sales and support role for Schaad throughout the Scandinavian market, aside from certain products in Sweden that will continue to be handled by Gripen Wheels.
While Dunlop may have taken the reigns as the title sponsor of the British Touring Car Championship, the franchise retail network HiQ, which was the series’ previous title sponsor, is continuing its presence as the Teams’ Championship sponsor by launching some new features. For the first time, HiQ will launch a YouTube channel, featuring footage from the paddock and the latest views from the leading lights of the track. Fans will also be able to ask HiQ’s mascot, Bertie – now a BTCC reporter – questions that they would like to be posed to the drivers.
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Trelleborg tyres is exclusively equipping all the tractors and combines present at the European launch of the new Deutz-Fahr Agrotron TTV 410/420/430 between 4 and 8 April. Same Deutz-Fahr reportedly picked Trelleborg as its partner in the launch because of its specialist knowledge of the agricultural sector, its capacity to ensure highly professional technical assistance in the field, and for the premium quality and performance of its product and solutions.
Just six months before the next edition Autopromotec, which will be held at the Bologna Exhibition Centre from 25 – 29 May 2011, the organisers are saying that the numbers of foreign exhibitors and buyer/dealer delegations confirmed so far are a “clear sign that the Bologna event is in pretty good health.”
To date, the number of exhibitors confirmed for Autopromotec 2011 remains at the record level seen at the last show in 2009, with an outstanding 35 per cent of foreign companies to highlight the increasing internationalisation aspect of the event. The increase in exhibition space seems to demonstrate that those who were there last time will be back. Only this time they are said to be booking larger spaces to increase their visibility in the professional automotive aftermarket sector. Indicators of this type, in a period which cannot be referred to as one of economic stability, are seen as ways the organisation committee has channelled efforts in the right direction.
Marangoni’s Retreading Systems business has won Kuwait’s sole retreader as a retreading partner and brought it into the Ringtread fold. The Italian supplier of retreading materials, tread and equipment reports this deal has been reached as part of its expansion strategy in the near and Middle East. Kuwait, with its modern road network and long transport corridor connecting Iraq in the north to Saudi Arabia in the south, is considered a hub for all transport into Gulf countries.
A walk around automotive industry charity BEN’s residential care centre facility – and former Victorian country house – Town Thorns in rural Warwickshire presents visitors with an inspiring vision of what the organisation has achieved since it was set up in 1905. The care home, alongside three others spanning the length of England and a day care centre in Coventry, provides shelter for the most vulnerable people with a connection to the British automotive industry, though BEN’s scope has an even greater remit, providing, in its own words, “practical, emotional or financial support” according to their needs. The charity also offers confidential welfare – including emotional in addition to financial support – providing care for the short-term as well as for the more long-term cases seen in the residential homes. BEN officers also receive back-up from “BEN Friends”, who usually keep in touch with beneficiaries. A recent survey suggests that one in ten people in the UK could be entitled to BEN support should the need arise, a number that could rise to one in three in the West Midlands.
Steve Cundy, business development director for Cooper Tire Europe, has retired after almost 40 years of working at the European headquarters in Melksham, Wiltshire.
Having joined Avon Tyres in November 1971 as the company’s youngest Area Sales Manager at the age of 21, Cundy moved up through the ranks. He was UK sales director when the US-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Company acquired Avon in 1997 and since then has continued to develop Cooper’s car tyre business across Europe as well as becoming the head of the company’s motorcycle business unit and sales team in 2008.
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