74 Tyre Asia April/May 2018
COVER STORY
In a tough and crowded market gaining a pole position requires clever and
impactful branding exercise. Apollo Tyres is known to unleash high-octane creativity
when it comes to launching compelling brands. Its logo, for example, was conceived
as the launch pad into the global market for branded quality tyres. It is important
to generate excitement and communicate to customers about the product quality.
Finding the right platform and engaging with customers are a tough job. Brand
marketers device platforms and seek to sponsor high-profile sporting tournaments
and other international prestige events. Here Apollo Tyres has scored well as it
knives into the European market by building a credible strong brandPath-breaking
Branding Plans
A
pollo Tyres has taken a two-pronged
approach in building brands. It tied up
with Premiere League teams, Manchester
United and Crystal Palace football clubs,
as their global tyre partner, and with Borussia
Monchengladbach in the German Bundesliga.“We are leveraging these associations, along with our
relationship with premium OEMs in Europe, to build
both the brands in Europe and beyond, “ Neeraj
Kanwar, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of
Apollo Tyres told Tyre Asia in an interview.
The branding exercise with Manchester United has
enlarged Apollo’s brand recognition across Europe.
Its advertising and marketing cooperation has grown
to 69 countries. An additional 67 countries will
cover virtually all of Europe – and even as far as
Turkey, but not Russia.In 2015, Apollo acquired German multi-brand
tyre distributor Reifencom. “This will help us
significantly scale distribution both online and
offline,” added Kanwar who is currently based in
London overseeing the European operations where it
has a 3 per cent share of the market.
Since Apollo Vredestein’s relocation from the city
of Enschede in the Netherlands to Amsterdam,
it now has a more focussed strategy to develop
branding and marketing.
Mathias Heimann, President of Apollo Vredestein BV,
said the company is now more focussed on global
manufacturing and quality functions with Europe as
the major target. It has come up with path-breaking
branding exercises that include the successful
Apollo Vredestein Dealer Partnership programme.Under this, the company provides premium
signage and point of sales across Europe, with new
retailing outlets in Belgium, Hungary, Italy and
the Netherlands. Similar projects are planned for
Austria, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.TA News Bureau