• by Karl Greenberg , October 5, 2007

Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire will cross the pond with the National Football League, when the Miami Dolphins take on the New York Giants in the U.K., the league's first-ever regular-season game outside of North America.

The arrangement is part of the Nashville, Tenn.-based tire maker's new multi-year status as the league's first-ever "Official Tire." The agreement includes a marketing partnership that gives the company exclusive promotional opportunities, including the title sponsorship of Bridgestone International Series, to be played on Oct. 28 at London's Wembley Stadium.

The partnership agreement also includes trademark rights and broadcast and online media elements. Bridgestone plans to support the NFL partnership with an integrated marketing plan including national advertising and consumer marketing programs and promotions.

Phil Pacsi, vice president/marketing at Bridgestone, says the company has dipped its toes into the NFL waters in the past with efforts tied to NFL DirecTV and the NFL Yearbook--"so we had some feelers out there." But he says the company ramped up sports activity last year, with such programs as its "Official Tire" sponsorship of the PGA Tour. "And as we look for ways to gain awareness for the brand, we saw the success we had had with NFL."

Pacsi says the effort--and the company's association with the Wembley game in particular--supports its efforts to position the Bridgestone brand as an international brand, aimed at the high performance-tire buyer.

In February, the company launched a new campaign for its Bridgestone brand, via Dallas-based The Richards Group, which won the account from Grey, N.Y. last July. The new theme line: "For drivers who want to get the most out of their cars: It's Bridgestone or nothing!"

This year, the company also expanded sports-related sponsorships for its Firestone brand to include Major League Baseball. "We floated trial balloons with MLB with advertising and promotions in stadiums. As for Bridgestone: "When this opportunity presented itself, it seemed a great way to deliver a global message both to the U.S. and the U.K. that we are an international brand."

Michael Fluck, e-business and Internet manager, says the company will have tickets to the Wembley game--and other NFL games in the U.S.--to use toward loyalty and promotional activity.

For the U.K. game, "there will be ads during the game on Sky and in-stadium signage. And there will be a tremendous amount of Bridgestone signage, and broadcast reaches outside the U.K. to include the U.S., so a large portion of the U.S. will see it," he says, explaining that because of the time differential, the U.S. broadcast will be mid-day. "It will be a Sunday afternoon game."

He says the company hasn't developed creative for NFL-specific Bridgestone spots, but that the "Official Tire" message and logo will be applied to ads.

Fluck says Bridgestone has focused interactive marketing efforts on search-engine optimization, and--aligned with the PGA Tour--a presence in the Tiger Woods digital game for Xbox, wherein players who play online get Bridgestone ads delivered.