According to the website of the United Steelworkers of America, Bridgestone Firestone is seeking major wage and benefit concessions from the union. Furthermore, the company says that it “cannot and will not follow a pattern agreement ” like the one recently agreed with Goodyear. A spokesman for Bridgestone Americas said that the company would not negotiate in the media.
It was a quiet day on the legal front for Goodyear yesterday, with only one more law firm announcing that it was going to bring a class action against the company, following the recent admission that income had been over-stated. Reaction to recent events has been mixed, with website message boards showing a sharp divergence of views – unsurprisingly, there are bitter comments about the management, both past and present, but there are harsh words too for the lawyers, who some see as exploiting an unfortunate situation for financial gain. Taking Goodyear’s share price as a barometer of opinion shows that yesterday it rose 17 cents, to close at $6.72.
CWMre, the Welsh Market Development Initiative for recyclate managed by The Wales Environment Trust aims to develop economically and environmentally sustainable markets for recyclate.
The website of the United Steelworkers of America shows that, of the 10 Goodyear factories that have voted so far whether or not to accept the proposed new labour deal, thrashed out between the company and the union, nine have voted for acceptance. The lone dissenting voice is that of the factory at Union City, Tennessee, where 52 per cent of the workforce voted to reject the deal. In order to be ratified, the deal needs the support of the majority of the plants and of the majority of the union members.
The Internet must surely qualify as one of the greatest inventions of the modern era, as there are very few aspects of domestic or business life that have not been profoundly affected by it. So ubiquitous has it become that it is all too easy to forget what a comparatively recent invention it is in little over a decade, it has become an indispensable tool and source of information for the developed world. The Internet has wrought a major change in the way we access information and in the resources available to us. What the Internet does do is give people time and time, as they say, is money. Some of us will remember being impressed by the speed and immediacy of communication afforded by telex, which was hailed as a great invention in its day. When was the last time you sent anyone a telex? Telex was superseded by the fax machine, which in turn is giving way more and more to e-mail. Not only does it give you very rapid communication, but you can send words and pictures – even moving pictures, which is something no fax can do. Immediate communications and a seemingly-limitless amount of information – no wonder so many people and businesses have taken to the Internet so warmly and so quickly. Business or information? There are two distinct types of website; those which are used to transact business and those which supply information only. Let’s look at the latter type first. The website has become, to many companies, the latest status symbol, replacing the full-colour, glossy brochure. Company history, product portfolio and a piece from the chairman saying how important customers are and how the staff is one happy family – all can be accommodated on a corporate website which can (and all too often does) go on for page after page. Like the glossy brochure, the website can be in glorious colour, but there are many advantages; the website does not need to be printed or mailed out and, should one million people suddenly decide that they want a copy, you do not have to order a reprint. There is also the advantage that a website can be an evolving entity and can be amended the same day. With many sites existing for the purpose of imparting information clearly and succinctly, it is surprising how many seem to try to make it difficult for the reader. Your corporate colours may look great on your company logo, but it can be a mistake to insist that everything on your site is corporately branded – people will soon get fed up if faced with pages of, say, bright yellow words on a red background. By all means show the logo somewhere, but never forget that words are designed to be read. Business sites And so we move to those websites that are designed for the purpose of enabling customers to do business. It goes without saying that these should be easy to understand and navigate and that they should be totally secure. It helps too if the company is able to stick to any promises made regarding delivery periods and so on. Does it matter if the site is a business-to-consumer or a business-to-business site? There could be an argument made that a B2C site might be made to look more attractive in order to tempt the consumer, but the overriding criteria in both cases should surely be speed and ease of use. In the tyre world, it is notably the wholesalers who have pioneered B2B websites and it is probably true to say that orders through this medium represent a small percentage of their total sales. It is the same with B2C sites – more people visit Tesco stores than Tesco.com to buy their groceries. This fact is eagerly seized upon by those who are suspicious of the Internet, pointing out that a) people would rather deal with other people and b) the small percentage shows that the idea isn’t catching on. This rather misses the point, as we are talking about a totally new way of doing business, in a medium that is barely over a decade old. However technologically sophisticated we may imagine ourselves to be, there tends to be an innate suspicion of anything new or technologically advanced. This is especially true among the older generation – when did you last hear a teenager moaning about computers (except when they do not work, or the game is suddenly terminated)? The point of B2B sites is that some people are using them and, granted this might be a small percentage at the moment, few doubt that the numbers will grow as the Internet becomes more of a part of people’s lives. Think what a marvel television must have been when it first made an appearance and the effect it must have had on people, yet today it is taken for granted – children grow up with it and never once ask what it is, or how it works, it just is. And so it will be with the Internet one day.
Analysing some of the marketing opportunities open to the retreading industry and how it might approach a common strategy. In doing so, the retreading sector, will initially have to face the fact that as an industry it has never been in a position where it has had to design a classical marketing plan before. Retreads traditionally were taken for granted as the budget option for the tyre industry. All tyre shops stocked passenger retreads and these were automatically sold to budget oriented customers. Budget new tyres did not form a viable competition to retreads at the bottom end of the market because retreads still enjoyed a significant price advantage and many budget tyres were of poor quality. To secure a sale all retreaders needed to do was to assure good prices, good product quality and good service to the retailer. Nowadays, it is clear that these attributes alone are no longer adequate. In the truck tyre market the situation is somewhat different. Retreads have long been part of the life cycle of the tyre. The market has always been considered healthy and so the question as to whether the industry’s marketing strategy was being efficient in reaching its message to as much of the potential market as it should was seldom raised. However, with pricing issues now becoming more relevant, the issue of the optimisation of the market is becoming more critical. The impact of the downturn in car tyre retreading has been particularly severe in the UK where sales by UK retreaders fell from 4.4 million units in 1995 to around a million today, with a number of high profile retreaders being forced into receivership. This situation was exacerbated by the strength of Sterling resulting in the almost overnight disappearance of vital export markets. It has to be recognised that passenger retreads are now niche products. There is still a place for passenger retreads in Europe but, unless the generic marketing of passenger retreads is improved, the fear must be that the market will follow a similar path to the United States, where it has now almost completely disappeared. To counter this, a sample marketing plan has been drawn up, the key elements of which are as follows: A scientific research programme to ascertain the performance qualities of retreads, using the results as part of a PR campaign. Direct lobbying of government departments and public bodies with a view to highlighting the environmental message that the retreading industry wishes to portray. At government level, the aim would be to persuade individual departments to accept retreading as the best practical environmental option and to include retreads in their purchasing policy. The incorporation of tyre dealer seminars and training days. This proposal generated some considerable thought as it was felt that there was not much point wasting money trying to change the views of tyre dealers and fitters whose minds were already set on opposing the sale of retreads. Instead, the idea would be to use funds to help in the training and support of dealers who had proved themselves to be positive towards retreads. Allied to this is the decision to create a “Green Tyre Dealer Scheme” backed up with the production of a retread buyers guide. This would allow the retreading business to channel sales through dealers who support the retreading industry, thereby reducing switch selling. A promotionally effective presence at exhibitions. This would include car and truck shows as well as events frequented by the environmental lobby. A comprehensive PR campaign is proposed, aimed at the tyre trade press, environmental magazines, motoring magazines, the national and regional press and other consumer interest groups such as women’s magazines. In addition, the incorporation of a press monitoring service to measure the success of the campaign. It has also been planned to introduce a response service to react to bad press in the same way as TRIB does. For the truck and bus market an informative newsletter is suggested dealing with tyre related issues in general but, allowing plenty of scope for promoting the argument in favour of retreads. This activity is based upon the knowledge that the regular truck press is editorially light on tyre related issues and indeed rarely covers anything concerning retreads. Other activities include the design of a campaign website, the increased use of environmental newsgroups on the internet to promote retreads, the production of brochures and presentation materials for use by fleet engineers, the police, schools and tyre dealers and the production of promotional merchandising items such as cab stickers, tacho holders, mugs etc. Finally, a comprehensive but highly targeted advertising campaign focused on environmentally friendly consumers. Part of this strategy would be the promotion of the “Green Tyre Dealer Scheme” mentioned earlier. These are the main elements of a package which could make a considerable contribution towards improving sales of retreaded tyres.
The 2 billion Yen investment in production expansion in Yokohama Philippines (T&A website May 2003) is to go ahead after “a perceived improvement in the business climate of the Philippines” according to Takashi Sugimoto, managing director for overseas business. This follows the resolution of a court case involving a dispute between Yokohama and a trade union, decided in favour of the management. The dispute involved the laying off of 70 employees.
The Cooper Tire & Rubber Company’s new business to business website, which was recently launched by the Findlay, USA-based tyre manufacturer, currently only allows U.S. customers to place orders via the internet. However, It is planned to make the service available in Europe early next year.
Hayes Lemmerz, the wheel manufacturer that has been undergoing difficult times recently, has filed for restructuring under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. The company is at pains to point out that it has not “gone bankrupt”, neither is it going out of business and that Chapter 11 is a court-supervised restructuring proceeding, not a liquidation proceeding. It also applies only to Hayes Lemmerz’s own operations in the USA and that operations outside the country (except for one plant in Mexico) and joint ventures are not included. Declining market conditions and excessive debt were blamed for the action. Hayes Lemmerz shares fell to 52 cents at the news.
The National Tyre Distributors Association has announced that, following the success of last year’s inaugural TyreCheck Safety campaign, the association has joined forces with road safety lobby group BRAKE for this year’s event. TyreCheck 2001 will run alongside the BRAKE Road Safety Week (31st March to 6th April) and is open to all UK tyre retailers. The 2000 TyreCheck found that 10 per cent of tyres examined were below the 1.6mm legal minimum tread depth.
RubberNetwork.com, the electronic global purchasing marketplace set up by six tyre manufacturers, has taken a step forward. Transactions are due to begin in April and Bob Webster has been appointed as vice president of operations. A chief executive officer will be appointed at a later date. The organisation has also launched its own website.
The tyre industry is faced with a new method of doing business: e-commerce. Continental has developed a new product that enables smaller customers to check stock availability and order product at a time to suit him. Called ContiContact, it is essentially an electronic catalogue giving information on product and prices in real time and is available to any dealer who has a PC and a modem. ContiContact is designed to complement, not replace, traditional methods of ordering and Continental will continue with its EDI and call centre operations; the new service is part of Continental’s desire to be known as “a company that is easy to do business with”. It has been on trial with selected customers for a year and is now ready to roll out to a wider customer base. Continental has also introduced e-billing, which allows customers with internet access to log on to a website where they can view or download their invoices. The advantages are space and time saving (Continental can archive invoices for customers if required) and less chance of mistakes, lost invoices etc. The system is totally secure and records are stored electronically at two separate locations, in case of accidents.
Ford Motor Co are using the Internet to publicise their part in the Bridgestone/Firestone recall. A banner advert used on some 200 sites leads surfers to a comprehensive Ford run website publicising the recall and the details of the tyres involved, advises replacement tyres and authorised replacement dealers. The publicity has the potential to reach 564 million readers.
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