Goodyear Using ‘Get There’ Ad Campaign to Lead Race Fans to Daytona

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, USA. (PRNewsFoto/Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company)

AKRON, OH UNITED STATES

Company’s leadership in race tires translates to ‘Follow the Leader’
advertisement

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — As the exclusive
tire supplier of NASCAR’s three largest racing series, The Goodyear Tire &
Rubber Company (NYSE: GT) this weekend is unveiling its newest advertising
messages to reinforce its leadership role in NASCAR and consumer tire
innovation.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050204/GTLOGO )

Airing during the Feb. 17 FOX telecast of the 50th running of the
Daytona 500 will be Goodyear’s newest ad in its “Goodyear Get there”
campaign. Entitled “Follow the Leader,” the ad shows the Goodyear Blimp
leading the way toward a racetrack, with race fans, and even race drivers,
recognizing the blimp above. The final scene shows the blimp in flight with
lines of traffic following the aerial icon to get to the track.

The Goodyear blimp, “Spirit of Innovation,” is scheduled to fly above
Daytona International Speedway this week — including on race day — to
deliver messages to the tens of thousands attending on-site activities,
preliminary races and NASCAR’s Daytona 500. Those messages, via the blimp’s
illuminated sign, will support Goodyear’s latest marketing campaign,
consumer tire and service promotional offers, a variety of charitable
organizations and more.

“The Daytona 500 is one of the most attention-getting sporting events
in the world, and the fact that this year’s race marks the 50th anniversary
adds even more excitement,” said Marty Kozar, Goodyear’s director of
marketing services. “This event, with its thousands of on-site spectators
and millions more watching at home, is a perfect platform for Goodyear to
launch new advertising for 2008.”

In a nod to its products that help carry millions of travelers to their
destinations, Goodyear developed an advertising campaign built upon the
theme of “Get there,” which has appeared in television and print ads, along
with radio, Internet and retail marketing channels since early 2007.

The “Get there” theme takes flight with the assistance of the Goodyear
Blimp, one of the world’s most familiar and popular corporate icons. In the
popular TV spots, blimp pilots are represented as Goodyear’s “eyes” from
above, looking ahead to help drivers find a better way to “get there” to
their destinations.

“While Goodyear is committed to developing best-in-class product
innovations that result in breakthrough technology and award-winning tires,
we know that all our communication needs to be relevant for consumers. In
essence, tire buyers want to know that our products will help them reach
their destination … to get there,” Kozar said.

Goodyear and NASCAR jointly announced in 2007 an extended agreement for
Goodyear to continue as the exclusive tire used in NASCAR’s top three
racing series for the next five years. The agreement through 2012, named
Goodyear the “Exclusive Tire Supplier” of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, the
NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

For more than 50 years, Goodyear has worked to bring innovation to its
racing products, which, in turn, has helped foster heightened competition
on the track. Since it first began supplying tires to NASCAR, Goodyear
tires have logged 1,446 Sprint Cup Series victories, and the number
continues to rise. Goodyear consumer tires are inspired by the innovations
and cutting- edge technology from the race track.

About NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR),
which began in 1948, is the sanctioning body for one of America’s premier
sports. NASCAR is the No. 1 spectator sport — holding 17 of the top 20
attended sporting events in the U.S., the No. 2-rated regular season sport
on television with broadcasts in more than 150 countries, and has 75
million fans that purchase more than $2.1 billion in annual licensed
product sales. These fans are the most brand loyal in all of sports and as
a result, more Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other
sport.

NASCAR consists of three major national series (NASCAR SPRINT Cup
Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series) as
well as four regional racing series. NASCAR sanctions 1,300 races at 100
tracks across more than 30 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico. Based in Daytona
Beach, NASCAR has offices in Bentonville (Ark.), Charlotte, Concord (N.C.),
Conover (N.C.), Los Angeles, New York, Mexico City and Toronto.

About Goodyear

Goodyear is one of the world’s largest tire companies. The company
employs about 70,000 people and manufactures its products in more than 60
facilities in 26 countries around the world. For more tire information on
Goodyear and its products, or to find the nearest Goodyear retailer, go to
http://www.goodyeartires.com.

SOURCE The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

- Via Motor News Network [ http://www.motornewsnet.com/ ] [Inbox MM]