Tire maker uses signage as dealer incentive

November 25, 2009 by Dave Haynes

Tire manufacturers probably wouldn’t be the first guys you’d think of as innovators and early adopters in the sector, but Toyo Tire Canada has announced it is going ahead with an expansion of its long-running trial to dealers across Canada.

The company has 79 dealers on its retail TV network and is opening the program up to a potential (repeat POTENTIAL, not actual) of 1,600 dealers, all part of the independent franchise O.K. Tire Stores. The stores have one or two screens and marketing content is divided between messaging from Toyo Tires and OK Tire, and programming is provided by AutoNetTV.

What’s interesting is the business model. 

“As a manufacturer, it’s always important for us to offer incentives for our dealers to carry our tires,” said Ron Golab, Advertising and Marketing Coordinator for Toyo Tires. “Digital signage is a great way to reach our customers, and it’s also an almost instantaneous way to update our current messages. We no longer have to worry if our posters are up on the wall in time to advertise the current retail campaign because they are simply programmed to be on the network.” 

Dealers pay a monthly fee to belong to the network, which is paid in part by a special co-op program between Toyo Tires and OK Tire. The fee covers the monitoring of the network, as well as producing and adding new content to the playlist. Eventually, individual dealers will be able to work with The Data Works (integrator, using Scala)to request store-specific content to play on their screens to promote specific products and services or communicate news to their unique customer base.