En Englais: Pirelli marketing strategy riding on Formula 1 popularity

MEXICO CITY — Pirelli Tire L.L.C. is developing a marketing strategy in Mexico based on the massive popularity of Formula 1 racing in the country, according to Tomás Grávalos, CEO and managing director of Pirelli México.

The Mexican Grand Prix returned to the F1 calendar for the first time in 23 years on Nov. 1, and was greeted by 120,000 ebullient fans at the Hermanos Rodríguez circuit in Mexico City.

Their enthusiasm electrified an F1 season whose outcome had been settled a week earlier, with the crowning of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton in Austin, Texas, with three races to go.

Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. is Formula 1's sole tire supplier.

Mexico race winner Nico Rosberg, Mr. Hamilton's Mercedes team mate, described the Mexican crowd as “absolutely awesome,” while Mr. Hamilton said: “It's like a football game. I've never seen a crowd like this. The fans have been amazing.”

“We're convinced that F1 returning to Mexico is creating and will create a great boost for our brand (in the country) because the visibility will be enormous for the (Pirelli) brand,” Mr. Grávalos told Tire Business two days before the race.

“Unlike the United States, where F1 is less prominent, in Mexico it is much more followed and particularly by the part of the Mexican demographic that is clearly our target audience — the upper class and upper middle class,” he added.

“The icing on the cake is that we have a Mexican driver, Sergio (Checo) Pérez, who for the first time in his racing career gets to race F1 in his home country. Another Mexican driver, Esteban Gutiérrez, will be on the new Haas Team Americas next season, so there will be two Mexican F1 drivers.”

Pirelli's contract with Formula 1 runs through 2016. It started five years ago and “it will be extended beyond next year,” Mr. Grávalos said. “The wonderful thing is it will give us many more years to increase brand visibility (in Mexico) and the opportunity to further build the brand.”

As Mr. Grávalos put it, Pirelli has motorsport in its DNA. “Our first race was 108 years ago at the Peking-Paris rally. And we do it because it's great for the brand and we develop great technology out of racing.

“We learn a lot. If you can build a tire that is subject to the extreme conditions of racing, then you know what it is to create great performing tires.”

Pirelli brought 3,000 tires to Mexico for the grand prix and the Formula 4 race that preceded it. About 2,500 tires were used for the main event. The tires were manufactured in Pirelli's dedicated motorsport plant in Izmit, Turkey, which is about seven years old.

Last year the company supplied about 40,000 tires for the whole F1 season, according to Rafael Navarro, Pirelli Tire L.L.C.'s New York-based vice president of communications, digital marketing and motorsport, during the same interview with Tire Business. 

According to Mr. Grávalos, Pirelli's business in Mexico is growing “at a double-digit pace — well ahead of the market. We're gaining share, particularly at the very important high-performance end. As a result, we have more to invest (in marketing). Primarily we do outdoor, digital marketing and some print around promotional activities.”

Digital, he said, probably accounts for half of the marketing budget in Mexico. He declined to say how large the budget is. “We do invest aggressively because we understand that by not connecting with consumers, you don't close the sale.”

Apart from supplying the tires at the Mexican Grand Prix, Pirelli played host to 500 guests from across the Americas and Europe during the weekend.

“We've made an important investment in marketing the Pirelli brand in association with F1,” Mr. Grávalos added.

Stephen Downer is a Mexico-based freelance writer who covers that country and Latin America for Tire Business and its Latin America e-newsletter.