Yokohama Tire Corp. has inked a deal with the Los Angeles Angels baseball team that will see Yokohama signage displayed at the Angels' ballpark. Yokohama also will be promoted via in-game announcements, on the Angels' flagship radio station and more.
"Yokohama has had great success the last three years with NFL sponsorships in Baltimore and Cleveland, with the NBA in Boston and San Antonio, and with college football teams like USC and UCLA," says Dan King, Yokohama vice president of sales and marketing.
"Our dealers are able to generate store traffic and create local consumer excitement within their communities. Plus, sports sponsorships offer incredible brand visibility and are a great platform to promote our line-up of tires. Now we have entered baseball, a perfect fit for us because of its immense popularity in the U.S. and Japan."
Sports sponsorship packages are not a one-size-fits-all proposition, say Yokohama officials.
Yokohama worked with the Angels to create a package "focused on raising brand recognition and driving consumer traffic to its dealers in the L.A./Orange County region," according to Yokohama CEO and President Takao Oishi.
"We partnered with the Angels to develop a deal that is advantageous at various levels." The tiremaker "is receiving amazing exposure throughout the second-largest market in the country and -- as we have experienced with our NBA and NFL sponsorships -- we expect our dealers to increase their sales through our connection with a sports team that has loyal, dedicated fans like the Angels have."
