Firestone launches ad campaign to reintroduce brand
NASHVILLE (AP) — A multimillion dollar advertising campaign for Firestone tires aims to rebuild the battered brand with American drivers.
The TV ads, pitched to an audience age 18 to 49, cover the range of Firestone products, including passenger, sports utility vehicle, light truck, truck, bus and agricultural tires.
“This is a broad message that isn’t focused on a specific demographic or product,” said Michael Fluck, advertising manager for Nashville-based Bridgestone-Firestone North American Tire. “Our message is: Firestone is back.”
The company, a Bridgestone subsidiary, recalled 14.4 million Firestone Wilderness tires linked to fatal rollovers of the Ford Explorer in 2000. This month it defeated an attempt in California to create a class-action lawsuit against Firestone’s Steeltex line.
The current brand-building campaign updates familiar images and lines from previous ads, including the tagline “Firestone: Where the rubber meets the road.”
The 15- and 30-second ads will run through November on a number of cable TV channels, including ESPN, ESPN2, The Learning Channel, HGTV, VH-1, MTV, Spike TV, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, USA, Comedy Central, FX, Court TV and the History Channel, Fluck said.
The campaign will air on selected local broadcast affiliates but not on the networks. There will be no print advertising beyond what the company now does as part of its sponsorship of the Indianapolis 500 and the Indianapolis Racing League.
Fluck said the company doesn’t release the cost of its ad campaigns but said the multimillion dollar effort developed by Grey Worldwide in New York quadrupled last year’s advertising budget.
John Gamauf, president of the consumer replacement tire division, said sales of passenger tires are up 15.5 percent and sales of light truck tires are up 28.1 percent in the first two months of 2004 over last year.
“Dealers want a strong Firestone brand message,” he said. “When Bridgestone and Firestone merged, the Firestone brand got lost.”
Company officials said the advertising campaign isn’t related to the recent $149 million settlement of 30 class-action lawsuits.
As part of the settlement approved by a Texas judge, Firestone agreed to spend $15.5 million on a consumer education campaign designed to inform consumers about basic tire maintenance, including the importance of maintaining proper inflation.
But the consumer education program won’t begin until all appeals of the settlement are resolved — and that could take years, Fluck said.