Kumho Tyres has launched a summer campaign, 'Cash for Causes', in the UK. The company says it will donate £100,000 to deserving causes, charities, local groups and projects across the country, via the ECSTA Performance Centre network of independent retailers it supports through its national distributor, Micheldever Tyre Services.
The winners of a Pirelli online competition have completed an exclusive McLaren Formula One team factory tour in Woking, Surrey. Bill Massey and Sarah Cooper were announced as the winners of the competition run on the official Pirelli Facebook page last month. Both winners were allowed to bring one guest for a tour of the team’s headquarters.
Michelin has announced details of a road safety competition for young drivers run through Facebook. The company explains that social media is a logical means for disseminating information to the young; nearly 80 per cent of young Europeans aged 16 to 24 are regular users of social media. They are also the main victims of road accidents, twice as likely to be involved in accidents as older, more experienced drivers. Every year nearly 5,000 young people aged 18 to 24 are killed in road accidents in the European Union on average. Named Tom European Tour, Michelin’s game invites young people who drive – or are learning to drive – to travel with a virtual character named Tom through the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Spain.
Pirelli is offering the chance for followers of its Moto Facebook page to compete in an online “social game” with the top prize of a trip to Los Angeles. The complete content of the brand’s “Ride Like an Angel” contest will become available to users promoting Pirelli’s Moto page within their own social groups and purchasing a set of Pirelli Angel ST tyres in April or May 2012, helping to promote the brand both online and in retail stores. The game involves scoring points by completing four tracks set in Los Angeles districts such as Downtown and Santa Monica.
Kent-based wheel distributor Wheelwright launched its Calibre Couture range onto the UK market and made substantial upgrades to its website, including an improved e-Commerce platform, in the first quarter of 2012. Tyrepress.com spoke to Wheelwright managing director, Kevin Greer, who presented details on why the Calibre range has been “a real success story” following its introduction. Since its launch the distributor has introduced retro, utility and the Couture prestige ranges to its private wheel range, making Calibre its “umbrella brand”. Greer also talked Tyrepress.com through the upgraded website, which aims to serve modern shopping habits, without treading on the toes of the retail businesses it supplies.
MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) title sponsor, Dunlop has announced that it will give away 80 tickets to each of the ten rounds of this year’s series. The tyre supplier is offering a pair of weekend tickets and paddock passes to 40 winners, while entrants will be entered automatically into a prize draw for one pair of VIP tickets per round, including TOCA hospitality and a grid walk. The competition will run on Dunlop’s Facebook page and will close a week prior to each respective race weekend.
Kent-based distributor Wheelwright has launched the Calibre Couture range onto the UK market. The company said the collection of diverse designs would sit above the firm’s Calibre portfolio; the Couture range is aimed at the upper end of the vehicle parc, with several distinguished designs and fitments.
Fast fit retailer, HiQ has announced that it will invest £500,000 into a national advertising campaign, re-entering mainstream advertising as a network after an eight-year absence. The network made “a conscious and strategic decision” to delay this scale of mainstream advertising in order to develop the full HiQ Franchise programme say company sources, with investment funnelled into customer service initiatives and training. The newly announced spending will be part of a seven figure investment in HiQ Programmes in 2012.
HiQ will move “nearly all” of its promotion of the HiQ fast fit network away from traditional newspapers, radio and trade press to more online exposure, the network’s Wolverhampton PR agency Connect has revealed. The move follows the revamp of HiQ’s website for a new look and engagement strategy. Social media streams will be important to the brand’s new marketing strategy, with its website introducing a multi-media blogging channel from the end of March.
It’s now half a decade since TyreSafe first set out to improve safety on UK roads. The 2006-established organisation is celebrating its fifth anniversary, and upon reaching this milestone can reflect with pride that, during the years it has contributed to public awareness on tyre safety, the number of motorists (as reported by DfT figures) killed or seriously injured in tyre related accidents has dropped 38 per cent.
Fast fit network HiQ has launched its new-look website, and it says the improved hiqonline.co.uk site offers more than just a pretty face. In addition to a number of tried and true features retained from the previous site, HiQ says the new site offers users a number of useful tools, including a tyre pressure reminder, ratings and reviews of local HiQ centres, information about the latest promotions as well as printable tyre guides. The site also features a section where customers can leave feedback about their local HiQ experience.
To better target female consumers, Cooper Tire & Rubber has signed a parternship with well-known North American online automotive resource AskPatty.com. This formal agreement continues the tyre maker’s relationship with AskPatty, which began in July with a series of online articles supported by AskPatty’s social media outlets to help educate women on the importance of tyre care.
Continental Tyre Group Ltd has appointed Mark Griffiths as communications assistant to work alongside communications manager, Laura Hardy within this newly created role, covering all aspects of the brand’s public profile.
Griffiths 24 recently returned from a year living in Paris teaching English. Before this, he studied for his BA Journalism degree in 2008 graduating with 1st class honours, going on to complete his MA in Automotive Journalism in 2010 with Merit.
A large blaze that broke out in a warehouse at Neolay Ltd’s tyre recycling plant in Croydon on September 22 is said to have badly damaged the building, however no injuries have been reported and the company states it remains “business as usual” for most of its product lines. London Fire Brigade remained at the scene for most of the day after dispatching at least six fire engines, 30 firefighters and an aerial appliance.
Tyrepress.com is never one to shirk a challenge, and when tyre supplier Maxxis International called the editorial office recently to announce a fantasy football league open to members of the trade and consumers alike, we already had our squad’s two goalkeepers selected (Paul Robinson and Chris Kirkland warming the bench – thanks for asking). The company is offering the chance to win prizes for the top-scoring managers each month. Should you want to join in, you first need to select your team at http://fantasy.premierleague.com. After that, click on the 'Leagues' link at the top of the page and select “Join a league”; chose “private league” and enter the code 1670445-352645 to join. Maxxis has sponsorship agreements with two of England’s top tier’s longest-standing clubs, Liverpool and Aston Villa, at whose grounds the brand will display its advertising materials.
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