News Releases

New Bridgestone Digital Platform Showcases How Olympic Athletes and Tires are Built to Perform

Worldwide Olympic Partner launches Bridgestone Performance Institute to analyze and celebrate the pursuit of world-class performance

Nashville (July 28, 2016) – Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (Bridgestone), a subsidiary of the world’s largest tire and rubber company, has launched the Bridgestone Performance Institute, a digital brand experience now live online in the United States and Brazil. The interactive platform explores the parallels between elite athletic performance and Bridgestone tire innovation and will serve as the digital centerpiece of Bridgestone’s fully-integrated marketing campaign for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The new hub features two primary points of engagement – Anatomy of Performance and Behind the Performance. Through immersive videos and content, as well as first-person insight from some of the world’s best athletes, consumers will be able to interact with the Bridgestone brand and its products like never before.

“We believe that elite performers are not born – they’re built, and Bridgestone’s own passion for performance closely mirrors that of an Olympic athlete in pursuit of gold,” said Philip Dobbs, Chief Marketing Officer, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. “Our Worldwide Olympic Partnership is an incredible platform through which we can engage our consumers around our history of innovation and commitment to being a global leader in tire technology. The Bridgestone Performance Institute is designed to bring our products, our longstanding support for sport, and our own relentless passion for world-class performance to life.”

Anatomy of Performance explores the many similarities between athletes and Bridgestone tires. Users can toggle through side-by-side, in-depth analysis videos that demonstrate how soccer players and DriveGuard tires are built for resilience, how swimmers and Potenza tires are built for precision, and how marathoners and Dueler tires are built for endurance – all showcasing the world-class innovation that drives performance at Bridgestone.

Behind the Performance, launching in July, will bring consumers into the lives of three Team Bridgestone athletes – 2012 Olympic gold medalist and 2015 World Cup champion Kelley O’Hara (soccer), three-time Paralympic medalist Will Groulx (Paralympic cycling) and two-time Olympian Cullen Jones (swimming) – who each share personal stories of how they became the athletes they are today and shine a spotlight on the people who helped build their performance along their journey to the Olympic Games.

As part of its overarching marketing strategy, the Performance Institute will also be connected to Bridgestone’s upcoming television advertising campaign around the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which will be the company’s first as a Worldwide Olympic Partner. Bridgestone Corporation proudly announced its official Worldwide Olympic Partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on June 13, 2014, making a long-term commitment to the Olympic Movement that extends through 2024.

To learn more about the Bridgestone Performance Institute and the company’s Worldwide Olympic Partnership, visit: www.bridgestoneamericas.com/en/index.html .

###

About Bridgestone Americas, Inc.

Nashville, Tennessee-based Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (Bridgestone) is the U.S. subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, the world’s largest tire and rubber company. Bridgestone and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires to address the needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers, automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers, and those in the agricultural, forestry and mining industries. The companies are also engaged in retreading operations throughout the Western Hemisphere and produce air springs, roofing materials, and industrial fibers and textiles. The Bridgestone family of companies also operates the world’s largest chain of automotive tire and service centers. Guided by its One Team, One Planet message, the company is dedicated to achieving a positive environmental impact in all of the communities it calls home.

About Bridgestone Corporation’s Worldwide Olympic Partnership:

Bridgestone Corporation proudly signed on as an official TOP Worldwide Olympic Partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on June 13, 2014. The 10-year partnership will see Bridgestone Corporation serve as one of only 12 TOP partners at the upcoming Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, which is where the company’s global headquarters are located, the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, and the 2024 Olympic Games; the partnership also includes support for the next three Youth Olympic Games. The long-term commitment to the Olympic Movement furthers Bridgestone Corporation’s proud sporting heritage and history of innovation, which extends more than 100 years, and will showcase Bridgestone Corporation’s commitment to community service, social responsibility, environmental stewardship, and respect for diversity – all tenets of the Olympic Charter that also lie at the heart of the Bridgestone brand.