feature
100 years and counting
While Cooper Tire celebrates the century mark, the author puts the last 29 years in perspective By Bob Ulrich
N
ot a single person who helped bring the Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. to life in 1914 is still alive. Tere are no eyewitnesses to the events leading up to its creation, or with whom to share insightful stories about its formative years. All 100-year-old companies have that problem, Cooper included. If it weren’t for yellowed newspaper accounts and a company’s own record keeping, the early years might more appropriately be labeled the forgoten years. An examination of recent history, however, allows extra room for perspective. It is also potentially more relevant and illuminating because it is more current. I have written about Cooper Tire since joining Modern Tire Dealer in 1985. My experience with the company only represents 29% of its past, but that time period was not without signifcance. Three major events, which Cooper Tire’s total advertising spend in I experienced 1997, including its association with Arnold firsthand, were Palmer and the Bay Hill Invitational Golf impactful not Tournament, was a company record. only for their time, but also on the way the company does business today. Tey each represent a direction that has evolved into something nobler and far-reaching. 1. Cooper Tire hired hall of fame golfer Arnold Palmer as its spokesman in 1997. 2. Te Cooper Advanced Management Program, or CAMP, armed independent Cooper tire dealers with business knowledge and best practices beginning in 2002. 3. Cooper signed its frst “original equipment” radial tire contract in 2008.
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Te ultimate goal of all three initiatives was to help Cooper’s network of independent tire dealers sell more tires. And in each case, history has since repeated itself.
Arnie’s Army “Nice shot.” Tose two words were spoken to me 17 years ago by one of the greatest golfers ever, Arnold Palmer, on the 18th tee at the Bay Hill Club in Orlando, Fla. Cooper announced its partnership with Palmer to the media on a fight from Akron, Ohio, to Orlando in February 1997. “Arnold’s reputation and status will provide an invaluable ‘stamp of approval’ on the Cooper brand,” said tire division President John Fahl at the time. “Our intention is to create an emotional bond with customers through Palmer’s endorsement.” Promotional materials such as 60-second radio spots recorded by Palmer were designed to help Cooper tire dealers create brand awareness in their local markets. Te company also served as an associate sponsor for the Bay Hill Invitational Golf Tournament, a nationally televised Professional Golfers Association Tour event hosted by Palmer. Members of the media played the course, which Palmer designed, then joined the golfng legend and his wife, Winnie, in the clubhouse aferward. But we met Palmer on the 17th green. He watched us tee of on the par 4 18th hole, and I was fortunate enough to hit a drive straight down the middle, earning Palmer’s praise. Cooper’s association with Palmer ended quietly in 2004, about the time the company began sponsoring its own racing series. Te goal was to promote the new Zeon ultra-high performance
Cooper supplies racing tires to IndyCar’s three Mazdasponsored “minor league” series, including, for the frst time, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires.
MTD July 2014