The basketball sponsorships follow successful partnerships with three NFL teams, the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons, plus UCLA and USC college football. Yokohama also sponsored two minor league baseball teams last season, the Triple-A Columbus Clippers and the Double-A Reading Phillies.
"NBA basketball is popular on a global level, making it a great venue to showcase our world-class lineup of tires, including ADVAN, S.driveT, Parada, Geolandar and AVID," said King. "All the tie-ins we have planned with these teams should score points with our dealers and their customers."
Much like the football sponsorships, the NBA deal will help Yokohama execute promotions that will drive traffic to dealers. For example, there will be a special NBA jersey giveaway where dealers in the specific markets offer free, authentic replica team jerseys to every customer who buys four tires. Yokohama will also have signage, product displays and special events at the basketball arenas, plus radio spots, presence on the teams' Websites and newsletters, hospitality events for dealers and other corporate identifications.
Yokohama Tire Corporation is the North American manufacturing and marketing arm of Tokyo, Japan-based Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., a global producer and distributor of premium tires since 1917. Servicing a network of more than 4,500 points of sale in the U.S., Yokohama Tire Corporation offers a complete line of tires, including high-performance, light truck, passenger car, commercial truck and bus applications. For more information on Yokohama's extensive product line, log on to www.yokohamatire.com.
