Campaign aimed at British drivers baffles Aussies, Texans and Japanese commuters
Ads highlight Bridgestone long distance mileage guarantee
The golden rule for outdoor advertising is to go where your customers are. In a new campaign, Kwik Fit, the UK’s leading tyre retailer, has turned that on its head. It has put posters in locations where their customers most definitely aren’t.
The company’s new campaign is leaving people in rural Texas, the Australian outback and the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo scratching their heads – why is a UK company with no presence in those countries placing massive posters there?
The rationale for advertising so far away from the UK market becomes clear when reading what’s being advertised – the long distance mileage guarantee of the Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6 tyre. But the message is not being advertised to Texans, Aussies or the Japanese – Kwik Fit is featuring these overseas posters on its advertising back in the UK.
Using posters in distinctive overseas settings brings to life how far UK drivers will be able to travel on a set of the Bridgestone tyres. And in another reversal of current trends, Kwik Fit decided to place real posters in these overseas locations, rather than create the images digitally.
Tom Gentle, head of retail marketing at Kwik Fit, says: “We wanted to highlight the distance in a genuine way, to underline the solid guarantee that comes with the Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6. Placing physical ads in those locations emphasizes the product promise and gives us a way to bring it to life in an innovative way. We’re pretty sure that we will be the first UK company to be advertising to UK customers with a campaign on the I-10 in rural Texas, Tokyo and Australia.”
The photos from overseas are appearing on posters throughout the UK with the campaign also including a livestream from Australia being shown on a giant digital screen at Tottenham Court Road in London.
