A Canadian-produced tv spot for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. has snowballed into a North American-wide branding and trade campaign promoting the tire company’s all-weather offerings.
The spot, which features Canadian downhill ski legend Rob Boyd racing a car equipped with Goodyear tires down a mountain, was initially slated to run only in Canada and some Northern U.S. states. However, the spot tested so well and initial reaction was so positive that it now runs in places like Texas and Miami, where winter tires are as rare as a white Christmas.
Ian McIntosh, director of North American marketing communications at Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear, says getting approval to run the ads across the U.S. took some selling.
‘We had a lot of resistance from people who did not see the wisdom of running ads marketing winter tires in states that don’t have winter,’ McIntosh says. ‘But the campaign is so well done it fits with our overall brand story – that we produce tires that operate well under all weather conditions.’
Goodyear is aiming to double its share of the North American winter tire market, says McIntosh, so it made sense to look to Canada, where miserable weather is guaranteed and where winter tires currently represent nearly 60% of the company’s sales.
The company tapped its Canadian agency, Due North Communications, McIntosh says, because it wanted a shop that really understood winter driving conditions.
‘The winter tire market is not that big for Goodyear in the U.S.,’ says McIntosh. ‘We wanted an agency that knew that market well and that was Due North.’
Since the spot started running last month, winter tire sales have seen a noticeable spike, McIntosh says. The campaign has since been expanded to include a point-of-sale promotion featuring Wayne Gretzky, as well as a trade campaign to reinvigorate dealer interest in the traditionally staid Goodyear winter tire market.
Work on the promotion and trade campaigns is being produced by Due North and J. Walter Thompson, Goodyear’s U.S. agency.
Due North is not the only Canadian connection to Goodyear’s most ambitious winter tire campaign in years. McIntosh himself is a Canadian who worked closely with Due North during his tenure as head of marketing for Goodyear Canada.
