Bridgestone Americas is not just an all-star player in the tire industry, the company has also become an MVP in sports marketing. The Bridgestone brand is the official tire of the NFL, NHL and PGA Tour, and sibling Firestone last week became the first official tire of MLB, adding to a roster that also includes the Izod IndyCar Series, the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyPro Series. Bridgestone is also able to reach millions of consumers and fans in the U.S. and Canada via sponsorship of two of sports hottest properties: the Super Bowl half time show and the NHL Winter Classic.

More than 150 million people worldwide are expected to watch the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIV Half Time Show on CBS on Feb. 7, starring The Who, which will mark the company’s third consecutive Super Bowl half time (tying a mark set by E*Trade during Super Bowls XXIV, XXV and XXVI).

Bridgestone also plans to air two new TV spots during the Super Bowl, from lead agency The Richards Group in Dallas; previous Bridgestone Super Bowl spots, including one starring Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, another featuring a screaming squirrel and one with Alice Cooper and Richard Simmons, are ranked among the most memorable by numerous marketing and advertising surveys.

Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone also will be title sponsor for the second consecutive year of the NHL Winter Classic, to be played Jan. 1 at Boston’s Fenway Park. Now entering its third year, the outdoor event has quickly proven to be a favorite among core and casual hockey fans as well as a TV ratings mecca. The Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 1, 2009, played at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, aired on NBC and attracted an average of 4.4 million views, the most people to watch a regular-season NHL game since 1975 and 12% higher than the previous year’s Winter Classic.

Bridgestone recently extended its deals with the PGA Tour and the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational through 2014. However, Bridgestone faces a challenging year in 2010. Its current deals with the NFL and NHL are set to expire, and Tiger Woods, golf’s No. 1, has taken an indefinite leave of absense to resolve personal issues. The economy also led Bridgestones’ parent company in Tokyo to end its association with Formula 1 racing at the end of the 2010 season, where the company has supplied tires since 1997 and has been the sole supplier since 2008.

NYSportsJournalism.com recently interviewed Phil Pacsi, vice president of North America Consumer Tire Marketing for Bridgestone Americas, who is responsible for national advertising, motorsports and promotional programs. He spoke with NYSportsJournalism.com about sports marketing, sports fans and consumers, Tiger Woods and The Who.

[This is Part I of that interview. Part II will appear tomorrow.]

Q: What were Bridgestone’s marketing challenges and accomplishments in 2009?

Pacsi: Obviously the economy was a huge concern. Balancing expenses versus what was happening in reality to make sure that we were spending our money wisely. One of the things we were very excited about, and the fact that our management was very much in agreement with, was that we have very long-term plans that we had set in place specifically with the Bridgestone brand. Growth of the Bridgestone brand and increase of awareness. We were able to that; we were able to keep a lot of our initiatives with the Bridgestone brand in place. That did not mean we were out spending frivolously. We cut costs, we controlled costs in other ways so that we were able to continue to move forward with key initiatives [such as aligning with Major League Baseball and having exclusive sponsorship of the in-stadium balloting for the 2010 All-Star Game].  

Q: Is a key factor driving these decisions the response Bridgestone’s marketing alliances get from consumers?

Pacsi: Absolutely. The tire industry has been down. But we have been able to keep pace or show increases in sales throughout the calendar year of 2009. So that is saying that something is working. We look at some of the regular tracking and research that we do and we are seeing movement. People are recognizing Bridgestone more. People are asking more about Bridgestone: Where do I get Bridgestone tires? The awareness levels are also increasing. So those are all positive movements toward our goal of increasing awareness and sales.

Q: The third NHL Winter Classic will be played on Jan. 1, 2010, and it will be the second with Bridgestone as presenting sponsor. What have you tried to do or seen differently between the Winter Classic played at Chicago’s Wrigley Field this past Jan. 1 and the upcoming game?

Pacsi: The biggest thing is we made the decision for the 2010 Winter Classic much earlier than we did with the Wrigley Field Winter Classic. The Wrigley Field deal was done maybe a month or two prior to the event. We announced the renewal of our sponsorship for the upcoming Winter Classic well in advance of the 2010 event. So we were on board from the start of the NHL’s announcement in July of the Winter Classic and the Fenway Park location. We have been able to take advantage and get the benefits from the point of announcement, including the name integration in the logo. If you saw any of the photos that came out during the NHL’s announcement of the Fenway Park Winter Classic, they had a layout of where the rink would be and what Fenway Park would look like, and there was Bridgestone integration in that. So from the first announcement we were associated with the event, which is huge.

Q: Have you found both internally at the company and the response from consumers that the Winter Classic has gone from an oddity to a major property?

Pacsi:  Absolutely. It is huge. And it is a crown jewel in the NHL’s arsenal of events. We are very excited to be part of it. I believe it was Bob Costas at the 2009 Winter Classic who made a comment during the pre-game show on NBC that the event has quickly become the new standard for entertainment for a sports event on New Year’s Day. And we at Bridgestone believe that’s true.
 
Q: The NHL will not have an All-Star Game in 2010 due to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, which also will be on NBC, and the U.S. Olympic Committee is using the Winter Classic broadcast to unveil the players for the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team. What does this say about the impact the event can have on fans, consumers and marketing partners such as Bridgestone?

Pacsi: The importance of the Winter Classic is becoming more pronounced not just to the NHL but to Bridgestone, NHL marketing partners, NBC, the Olympic community and others. It is not just a one-day game, but an event whose importance is being recognized more long-term by more fans, which has enabled us to leverage the property.

Q: Have you been working with the NHL to expand the events surrounding the Winter Classic?

Pacsi: We have. There will be a Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Spectator Plaza on Dec. 31 and the day of the game, with interactive events and hockey-themed activities. Bridgestone has been sponsoring a Webcam at NHL.com where you can see the inside of Fenway Park and watch people skating on the rink that will be used for the game. So the event and the surrounding activities have grown and expanded.

Q: Have you been able to make a direct connection between people who watch the Winter Classic and those who buy your products?

Pacsi: We aren’t able to delve that deep as yet on that consumer movement, but we are seeing general movement. Bridgestone has been the official tire of the NHL, NHL Players Association and the Hockey Hall of Fame since 2008. We believe that the hockey fan really parallels very nicely with Bridgestone demographics. They are a more tech-savvy fan than any other sport, and we like how that matches up with the technology of our tire brand. And this is not just in the U.S. but also in Canada, which is a huge market for us. So I would say that awareness is definitely up among hockey fans and we feel it is a strong factor in driving sales.

Q: Would Bridgestone want to continue its association with the NHL and the Winter Classic in 2011 and beyond?

Pacsi: Our current deal with the NHL expires after the Stanley Cup this season, and we are in discussions for an extension. We are in negotiations with the league and would want to continue our alliance if it again proves to be beneficial for both sides. It involves not just the Winter Classic but many NHL properties.

Q: The NHL is strongly considering adding a second annual Winter Classic, and there are cities that want to host the game. Would this strengthen or dilute the event?

Pacsi: Adding another Winter Classic is a league decision. Many people would like to have it. But then you have to question if you have one and it has done very well and has been received very well, if you add a second or a third would that dilute or diminish the event? Right now, I don’t know. But right now we are very happy to be affiliated with it.

(This interview by Barry Janoff, executive editor of NYSportsJournalism.com appeared on that site on Dec. 21. See Part II of this interview tomorrow on Tirereview.com)