Bridgestone adjusts Olympic marketing efforts in wake of postponement

NASHVILLE — As the eyes of the world watched, it was supposed to be a celebration of pride and success, the culmination of four years of hard work, preparation and determination.

For the athletes who were going to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics and subsequent Paralympics — and for Bridgestone Corp., a longtime Olympic sponsor about to showcase the city where it was founded and is headquartered — it was the time to step on the global stage and showcase their best.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed that.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) postponed the Olympics — originally set to run July 24 to Aug. 9 — until 2021. The 2020 Summer Olympics will be held July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021.

The postponement certainly disappointed Bridgestone, the world's No. 1 tire maker in terms of global sales.

"We support the IOC and their decision to postpone, because we do feel like, given the situation with the pandemic, that it was the right decision for the safety of athletes, the organizers and all of the spectators," said Amber Holm, vice president, marketing, consumer and customer engagement, U.S. and Canada, for Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO).

"While we were disappointed it won't take place this summer, we certainly had put in a lot of preparation and planning," Ms. Holm told Tire Business. "The Olympics ... is such a great event. We're sad it's not going to happen this summer, but we're looking forward to 2021, and we were excited by the fact the IOC was able to postpone the Games and (find) a new date in our home city of Tokyo."

The postponement certainly had ramifications for Ms. Holm's customer engagement team. She said Bridgestone had planned an aggressive digital and social campaign to highlight the Bridgestone brand as well as its Team Bridgestone USA stable of Olympians.

"We had in-store activations with our customers," she said. "Much of that can be successfully postponed for a year. We are just currently evaluating scenarios now as we try to stay abreast of where the consumer sentiment is, and how we can appropriately activate next summer."

The Team Bridgestone USA group is a key component of Bridgestone's Olympic and Paralympic marketing focus.

Before each Olympics and Paralympics, Bridgestone identifies a broad base of athletes who embody the Olympic experience. Then, company officials narrow the group down, using multiple criteria to select a handful of athletes who not only have a strong story to tell, but also match the tire maker's brand positioning message of "clutch performance when it matters most."

"We certainly want to support these athletes whether or not they medal or make the Games," Ms. Holm said. "But we do try to find athletes that we think have a strong chance of success for game, and in some cases, athletes with a proven history of success."

The most famous Bridgestone Team USA member, perhaps, is Allyson Felix, the only female track and field athlete to win six Olympic gold medals. Ms. Felix is tied with Merlene Ottey as the most decorated female Olympian in track and field history, with nine Olympic medals.

"She's a great ambassador of the Bridgestone brand," Ms. Holm said.

Along with Ms. Felix, this year's group includes: Scout Bassett (Para track and field); Jordan Burroughs (wrestling); Missy Franklin (swimming); Will Groulx (Para-cycling); Jessica Long (Para swimming); and Ryan Murphy (swimming).They have a combined 48 Olympic and Paralympic medals. Ms. Franklin, a five-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, is the lone retired athlete.

In addition, two-time Olympian Aaron Brown of Canada is Team Bridgestone's first Canadian athlete ambassador as he heads to his third Olympics next summer.

Latin America also has its own group of Team Bridgestone athletes.

Once the Olympics were postponed, Bridgestone began to produce some social videos and posts from the athletes, discussing how they are dealing with pandemic. Those videos are available on Bridgestone's Instagram page as well as on each athlete's individual Instagram channel.

"It was interesting to hear from Olympic athletes," Ms. Holm said. "Certainly the postponement has a big impact on them for something they've been planning for all lives. All of our Team Bridgestone athletes took (the postponement) with an optimistic and forward-looking attitude, so that's something we wanted to share with our consumers."

The postponement of this year's Games means the Summer and Winter Olympics will be held less than six months apart: The 2022 Winter Games are scheduled for Feb. 4 to 20 in Beijing. That, too, presents a challenge.

"Certainly the postponement of the Tokyo Games means there's a short window," Ms. Holm said. "After the Paralympics ends, we will have to turn around and begin work (on the Winter Olympics). We're still working through the planning and communications in terms of when you might announce our team Bridgestone athletes for Beijing."

Bridgestone is among 14 global Olympic partners that also includes Japan-based Panasonic Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. Other global partners include Coca-Cola Co.; Dow Inc.; General Electric Co.; Proctor & Gamble Co.; Intel Corp.; Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.; and Visa Inc.

Bridgestone became a global partner in 2014, and it began its sponsorship with the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. The current agreement runs through the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

Ms. Holm's customer engagement team also handles promotions in other sports, including Bridgestone's sponsorship of IndyCar, the National Football League, the National Hockey League and the Professional Golfers Association.

With all those sports sponsorship opportunities, why does the tire maker invest so many resources into the Olympics?

"We position the Bridgestone brand around clutch performance and tires that perform when you need it most, so we felt it was important to have a strong activation platform to build our brand positioning on," Ms. Holm said. "The Olympics are the world's top sport property and the top sports property here in the United States.

"We have found it to be strong a platform for the brand, both from a reaching our consumers and end-users with an integrated media plan, as well as partnering with our customers for in-store promotion and building a relationship with them. It's been strong here in the U.S., ... and we are able to active in other regions as well."

Ms. Holm said the hunger for sports is apparent after their prolonged absence due to the pandemic.

"We realize really what a key piece of fabric of our society and their lives it is," Ms. Holm said. "We know they'll be looking forward to the Olympics, being the world's largest sporting event.

"We still do plan to be there. ... We are just continuing to adjust to the situation."