Goodyear, others take brand awareness to new heights

AKRON You know it's an unusual week when you are compelled to type "Kathy Ireland" and "blimp" for tire-related stories within a matter of hours.

Not that Kathy Ireland, a supermodel whose likeness was plastered on dorm room walls decades ago during my college years, has anything to do with the word "blimp," whether referring to the adjective used to describe heavier people or whether you're talking about the Goodyear airship.

The last week of August, though, was one such week, perhaps the only one ever in a journalism career that spans four-and-a-half decades.

As I was riding in the airship on Aug. 29 — the day Goodyear officially turned 125 years old — I couldn't help but reflect on the blimp and its role in promoting the brand across the globe.

Although passengers can't really see it from above, you know that most people on the ground take a minute or two to marvel at the iconic blue-and-yellow airship, the 19,500-pound floating Goodyear advertisement that, when filled with helium, weighs between 100 and 200 pounds. Case in point: On Aug. 29, my daughter and her family stopped to look at the blimp overhead while visiting the Akron Zoo, unaware I was one of the passengers on board.

That scene no doubt plays out repeatedly, each time one of the three Goodyear blimps — the others are based in Pompano Beach, Fla., and Carson City, Calif. — flies about.

As college football kicked off that weekend, the Goodyear blimp seemed to be everywhere. Wingfoot One, the name of the airship docked near Akron, flew to Fayetteville, N.C., and set up base on the front lawn of its factory there for the long Labor Day weekend.

The blimp — staffed by two pilots and a cameraman (and his camera equipment) — flew from Fayetteville to cover the game between the University of North Carolina and University of South Carolina in Charlotte on Saturday night, then covered the Clemson University at Duke University game in Durham, S.C., on Labor Day.

In between games, the airship provided flights for Goodyear employees at the Fayetteville plant.

And for the Sept. 9-10 weekend, the blimp was scheduled to be in Cleveland to provide aerial coverage of the Browns and Cincinnati Bengals game, as the NFL season kicked off.

Imagine how many tire customers remember seeing the blimp, either in person or on television, before purchasing their next set of tires?

A model ambassador

It was later on Aug. 29 when a news release crossed my email: Turbo Wholesale Tires had signed Kathy Ireland as brand ambassador for its Lexani brand. The American author and fashion designer, who appeared in 13 consecutive Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues in the 1980-90s, was hired to drive appeal among women for the Lexani brand.

"Our brand is about the American dream and about enabling more consumers, particularly women, to achieve it," Turbo Wholesale President Phillip Kane said. "These are stories Ms. Ireland wants to be a part of and to help tell. We're very excited that she's chosen to help us in the telling of ours."

This was the second big splash that Turbo Tire has made this year: Earlier it combined operations with Tire Wholesalers Inc. (TWI) under a common management structure designed to support additional growth.

The move seems like a perfect fit for a company trying to draw attention — and sales — to its value-tier brand portfolio. While women are the intended marketing target, the now 60-year-old Ireland likely will rekindle memories for men who are part of the demographic that ultimately will purchase Lexani's performance-oriented products.

Tire companies, perhaps more than any other industry, find a way to market themselves either through conventional or unusual opportunities.

While sponsorship of mainstream and lesser racing circuits are a huge slice of tire marketing, tire makers both big and small rely on similar icons to continue or increase brand awareness.

Michelin has Bibendum, the Michelin Man known globally. Bridgestone has his flag firmly planted as a Worldwide Olympic Partner, as well as the official tire of the NFL, the most popular sport in the U.S. in terms of viewership.

Continental and its brands market in a variety of traditional and non-traditional ways, including college basketball, professional soccer and professional women's basketball sponsorships. Conti's General brand is a primary sponsor of, among others, a professional fishing organization, pushing fans to buy General Tires for their light trucks.

Hankook and Kumho have aligned themselves with Major League Baseball and the NBA, respectively, in an effort to become more mainstream. Others, including Pirelli, Nexen and BKT, have invested in soccer.

But like Turbo Tire, some smaller brands have cleverly found niche marketing opportunities to draw attention to their brands. They include:

• Fortune Tires/Prinx Chengshan, professional pickleball and three-person ice hockey;

• CEAT, rodeo;

• BKT, Monster Jam and women's professional curling;

• Nexen, NHL teams in Chicago and Anaheim, Calif.;

• Nokian, selected ski resorts;

• Apollo, ski racing; and

• Toyo, professional mixed martial arts.

While some of these sponsorships will be short-term endeavors, others will remain for years to come.

In fact, in two years Goodyear will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its blimp.

Talk about a lot of hot air that is paying big dividends.