Continuing to build the Double Coin truck tire brand will remain the focus of Double Coin Holdings Ltd. and its U.S.-based marketing arm, China Manufacturers Alliance LLC (CMA), says CMA Vice President Aaron Murphy. “We’re not here to sell production. We’re here to sell a brand.”
New products will be part of Double Coin’s long-term brand-building strategy, he tells www.moderntiredealer.com.
Both an associate truck tire brand and a Double Coin wide-base truck tire are in the works. “We’ve begun the process of developing (wide-base tires). I think it will be 2011 until we start seeing prototypes and testing, but it’s something that’s on the drawing board and something we need to provide for our customers.”
On the program side, Murphy says Double Coin’s national account and government pricing programs have been well-received by tire dealers. Thanks to the national account program, which was established in early 2008, “we now have the ability to electronically handle (fleets’) transactions. We’re trying to streamline the process for fleets and help the dealer, as well.”
The government pricing program has enabled dealers to sell Double Coin truck tires to federal, state and local government fleets. “It’s been very successful,” says Murphy.
“While we’ve done a very good job of pushing tires into our dealers and offering them quality products at a quality price, we also realized we needed to create some awareness in the marketplace. Our strategy… has been to have end users become more brand-aware of Double Coin.”
A new advertising campaign launched in early April will help in that regard, adds Murphy. The campaign includes testimonials from both tire dealers and fleet managers.
“We think our growth is outpacing the market because of the fact that people have had to look at alternative methods of purchasing tires and equipment because of the economic downturn, and we are a very good alternative.”
