Milan, Italy - Toyo Tire & Rubber will be the new Premium sponsor of AC Milan. The agreement will see Toyo Tires partner with the Italian team until 2016 and become the first Japanese Premium Sponsor in the history of the club. The partnerships will allow Toyo Tires to improve brand awareness on a global scale and to promote the premium products that it produces.
Toyo Tire & Rubber is involved in a wide variety of global business activities with a focus on the production and sale of tires. The partnership comes as part of Toyo Tires’ decision to communicate the brand through new activities, including football which boasts an overwhelming global popularity.
AC Milan, playing in one of the most popular leagues in the world, Serie A, is one of the most prestigious clubs in the world. The sponsorship with the club will also allow access to other markets, not only in the Middle East and Russia, where passion for football increases yearly, but also in China and Southeast Asia, where the popularity of Italian football continues to grow.
Toyo Tires has seen a huge increase in global brand awareness recently due to new sponsorship activity including partnering with top, internationally renowned athletes. The deal with AC Milan is a new opportunity to further increase brand prestige for all Toyo Tires stakeholders including its global customer base. The agreement has been finalised thanks to the contribution of Infront Sport & Media, a leading international sports marketing company.
AC Milan Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, Barbara Berlusconi, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Toyo Tires as a premium sponsor of the club. We start a partnership which reflects the global reach of our club and we’re glad to be working with such an important international brand. Our shared values of performance and excellence lie at the heart of this relationship. It’s also a way to consolidate and strengthen the links with our numerous fans in Asia through this partnership.”
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. President and CEO Akira Nobuki, said: "Companies must win the support of customers amidst fierce global competition. We wish to promote ourselves as a global player in the tire industry through our association with the beloved AC Milan club. The corporate attitude of Toyo Tires is expressed in our brand statement "driven to perform" (in pursuit of the best performance). We are honored to receive this opportunity to support AC Milan, a club that conforms to our spirit, and we will share our heart as one of the many fans around the world to build a bridge of support."
“We’re pleased to have brought the attention of a Japanese brand with an international profile as Toyo Tire & Rubber to the world of football”, says Marco Bogarelli, Infront Italy President. “The sponsorship agreement signed with AC Milan as Premium Sponsor demonstrates increasing attention for sponsorships in the sports world, which year after year pledge companies with an effective return on investment. Our leadership in the sponsorships market and in the rights management allows us to create synergies between international companies and high profile brands such as AC Milan, going beyond market borders, to reach visibility and create global brand awareness."
About Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd.
Founded in 1945. Capital of JPY 30.4 billion. Toyo Tires has been developing a broad range of products with a focus on automobile tires such as automotive anti-vibration rubber, urethane products, and industrial rubber products, etc. based on the company’s original technology. Toyo Tire has production bases in Japan, the U.S., China, and Malaysia, and supplies products to markets around the world. In the year ended 31 December 2013 the company recorded a record high JPY 370.2 billion consolidated net sales and JPY 37.2 billion operating profit. The company expects to break this record by recording JPY 400 billion consolidated net sales and JPY 40 billion operating profit in the year ended 31 December 2014.
As well as providing the ultra-high-performance tire flagship brand "PROXES" worldwide beginning in Europe, Toyo Tire will roll out its "NANOENERGY" series of fuel-efficient tires, which have acquired the highest grade under world-leading Japanese tire environmental performance standards, globally. Thanks to the company’s advanced technical capabilities, its large diameter SUV / pickup truck tires also have a good reputation and many fans in the U.S.
About Infront Sports & Media
Infront Sports & Media is the most respected sports marketing company in the world, managing a comprehensive portfolio of top properties. Led by President & CEO Philippe Blatter, Infront covers all aspects of successful sporting events – including distribution of media rights, sponsorship, media production and event operation – and has won a reputation for its high standards of delivery. As the number one player in winter sport and with a leading role in football and summer sports, Infront enjoys long-lasting partnerships with 120 rights-holders and hundreds of sponsors and media companies. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Infront has a team of 500 experienced staff working from 20 offices across 10 countries, delivering 3,400 event days of top class sport around the world every year.
