• by Karl Greenberg , April 16, 2007

Bridgestone has launched its largest campaign to date, and is gearing up for a new campaign as well for sibling brand Firestone. Both efforts are via The Richards Group, Dallas, which replaced Grey Global as Bridgestone/Firestone's AOR last year.

The two campaigns--Bridgestone's launched last month--aim to differentiate the brands by directing Firestone at families and sports enthusiasts and Bridgestone at more affluent driving enthusiasts, which the company calls "drivers with higher standards," more likely to hit the road in a sports car than a minivan.

Bridgestone's effort includes its largest media buy to date supporting national TV, radio, print and Internet efforts (including search-engine optimization) and title sponsorship as "Official Tire of the PGA", as well as promotions, a branded fleet of delivery trucks and signage in New York's Times Square. Also, the company will bring so-called "image vehicles"--customized import-car hot rods--to events like Hot Import Nights, a national car-customization tour appealing to younger consumers.

The new TV spots for Bridgestone are a big detour from tire-focused ads of the past, which had young dancers moving around tires to a theme song. The new ads show cars and seem to actually be car ads. One has silky photography of different parts of a vehicle without actually showing the whole car as a voiceover describes features like "A six-liter, 48-valve, V12 engine, with 510 horsepower ... custom leather seats with six levels of massage." Finally, the camera pulls back to reveal that the car has no wheels. "And it all means nothing," says the voiceover, "without the right tires." Tagline: "Bridgestone or nothing."

Another spot is a mélange of brief video shots of asphalt, mud, gravel flying through the air, steel plates lifting--various road challenges shot in haiku fashion with this message: "The road has a language all its own. Are your tires smart enough to translate?"

Michael Fluck, advertising and Internet manager at the Nashville, Tenn. sales arm of the Japanese tire maker, says the company began an agency search last spring, with incumbent Grey among 44 agencies pitching.

The Bridgestone and Firestone efforts are the first fruits of The Richard Group's creative development over the past year, per Fluck. "Really, what promoted the change was that we weren't sure we were with an agency that was bringing us a long-term strategic vision and direction for the brand," he says. "The review was less about specific creative than a vision that was more strategic ... we were seeing signs from research we were doing that the two brands weren't as differentiated as we'd like. We hired based on strategy vision.

"There's a new, bigger focus on TV, print, online, in store and event marketing," says Fluck. He says that, for Firestone, the company is focusing on the brand's status as tire supplier to the Indy Racing League and arena-signage presence in NBA, and NHL and Major League Baseball games starting this spring.

Thirty-second spots will first air on video monitors at arena snack stands in some 26 stadiums across the country, with a focus on MLB. The spots will then run on cable sports channels, including in regional markets via Fox Sports Net, per Fluck, who says the campaign creative will trumpet Firestone's heritage. "It's about Firestone's tradition of innovation, that we have a lot of firsts, such as the first tire tread pattern, first Indy winner--it will be a lot of new and old mixed together ... tying into racing," he says. He adds that Firestone's tag remains "Tradition of Innovation," but the ads will use a device in which the Firestone name loses enough letters to spell "First."

Fluck says both Bridgestone and Firestone efforts are in phases, with the former having begun with in-cinema ads in some 15,000 cinemas in late February, followed by TV in March and online activities and print now. "April is full throttle, with full-spread print ad in all magazines, TV and Internet."

Firestone's arena presence starts with week, with TV kicking off in July, per Fluck. He says next month Firestone will also run a national TV campaign for a month-long promotion offering up to a $100 rebate for a full set of tires.