When car tyre companies want to promote the quality of their latest products, motorsports is the most obvious area that you may think of. However, tyre manufacturers don’t just limit themselves here.
From a marketing perspective, it’s possible to tell sports fans about the strength of their tyres. This is why car tyre companies have had a surprising history acting as official sports sponsors.
Continental Started with the UEFA Champions Leaguee
Nowadays, it is very common for tyre companies to place their advertising in events which do not have much in common with motorsports. This shouldn’t come as a surprise - after all, the large audience and positive emotions that occur in other sports, as well as the act of competing, often act as a magnet for attracting the attention of other industries.
Of course, no other sport has the global range and appeal of football. So it is football stadiums which, for years, have been filled with ads from various tyre manufacturers.
Professional football is a popular area for sports sponsorship.
For two decades, Continental tyres has built its relationship with football at the highest level. The German brand began its sports sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League in 1995. This initial cooperation lasted five years, during which many (if not all) footballs fondly remember the distinct adverts with football stadiums shaped like a Continental tyre.
In the subsequent years, the company sponsored the 2006, 2010 and 2014 world championships, as well as the 2008, 2012 and 2016 European Championships, held in Poland, Ukraine and France, respectively. Continental is also a partner of the English, Irish, Spanish, Dutch and German national teams. In addition. It supports women’s squads in both Ireland and the United States.
Pirelli hand in hand with Ronaldo
The Pirelli tyre brand has also been using football to build its position over the years. In the 90s, the Italian company was undoubtedly associated as the sponsors of Inter Milan FC. The face of Pirelli, at the time, was the world’s biggest football star: the Brazilian Ronaldo. At the end of the last century, several highly successful advertising campaigns, involving Ronaldo’s participation, were produced. This included one of the most distinctive slogans in the history of Pirelli: “power is nothing without control”.
An example of the sports sponsorship between Pirelli and Ronaldo.
It is worth mentioning that, in this market, the Italian brand is also very active outside Europe. It sponsors a number of well-known South American clubs, with its logo appearing on shirts for the Brazilian Palmeiras, Uruguayan Penarol and Argentine Vélez Sarsfield. In 2009-2012, Pirelli was also the title sponsor for the Chinese league.
Other well-known tyre manufacturers also took the football, although arguably on a smaller scale. The Korean Hankook tyres brand is one of the main sponsors for the Europa League and, although only for a few months so far, it also supports Real Madrid.
At the end of 2015, Goodyear tyres signed a contract with Bayern Munich and has had previous agreements with Juventus. Similar sponsorship agreements exist between Nexen tyres and Manchester City FC, Yokohama tyres and Chelsea FC, Achilles tyres and Manchester United FC and, finally, Maxxis tyres with Liverpool FC. Furthermore, the Turkish Lassa tyres have partnership with FC Barcelona, while Toyo tyres are associated with AC Milan.
Goodyear are partnered with Bayern Munich.
Kumho the Patron of NBA
The second flagship sport in which tyre producers are keen to advertise their products is basketball. The lion’s share of this market is the American NBA, in which the most important brand is the Japanese Kumho tyre company.
As of 2014, Kumo has been the official partner of the whole tournament. It is a game played on a very large scale, as the global audience of basketball is popular around the world. In China, it’s popularity equals that of football.
Just like in football, basketball has individual teams that have their own tyre related sponsors. Both the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks are sponsored by Maxxis, while the San Antonio Spurs have Cheng Shin tyres , the Toronto Raptors have Aeolus tyres and both the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors cooperate with Yokohama tyres.
Alongside this more traditional cooperation, tyre producers are often finding creating ways to harness the great sporting spirit these events have. After this year’s NBA finals, where the Cleveland Cavaliers won their first Championship, Goodyear sponsored a set of tyres, as well as baby seats, for 323 families whose children were born in Akron during the tournament for the title.
Akron is an important location for both car tyres and basketball.
Both Goodyear and the Cavaliers share the state of Ohio and Akron is the home of Goodyear tyres, as well as many o
ther American brands. For this reason, Akron is known as the tyre capital of the world, but NBA fans also know it as the hometown of LeBron James, who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Bridgestone Likes the Winter Sports
What else is there besides football and basketball? Every brand has its own path, so it’s not surprising that some companies have chosen sports outside of these two.
The flagship venture for Bridgestone tyres, for example, is alpine skiing. The Japanese company has accompanied the Alpine World Cup for years. This coincides with its commitment to improving the technology involved in its winter tyre production.
In addition to this, Bridgestone is also one of the main partners of the Olympic Games. Most recently, the brand had the opportunity to promote themselves during the medal competitions in Rio de Janeiro. If that wasn’t enough, there is a third, final area where the company from the land of the rising sun likes to promote itself: golf. Bridgestone is part of the prestigious Grand Slam and PGA Championship tournament.
Bridgestone is also involved with Golf.
Tennis, likewise, is no less of a prestigious arena for sports sponsorship, as there are a number of tyre companies actively promoting themselves. Maxxis supports the Australian Open, Nexen supports the Mercedes Cup Tournament and Dunlop is involved with the French Open. It’s important to note that, in Dunlop’s case, it’s important to participate at the highest level of tennis. In addition to tyres, Dunlop is also known for its tennis equipment.
Continental also involves itself in cycling races, such as the prestigious Tour de France, and triathlon competitions. Toyo Tyres also advertises during MMA fights, while Hankook is associated with American baseball.
Sponsorship Outside Of Sports
Okay, so do any tyre companies promote themselves in areas outside of sports? Actually, a few do! Radar tyres, from Singapore, actively supports the fight against breast cancer. For each tyre sold, the company contributes $5 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
In other areas, Firestone tyres sponsors big country music festivals across America. A similar trend was also adopted by Debica tyres - the Polish brand organises the Goodfest Music Festival.