IMSA Insider: The Strategy Behind Michelin’s Big Weekend

You likely won’t see much of Michelin branding inside college football stadiums during “Week 0” of the season this weekend. The sports marketing effort will be focused on and around a racetrack in Virginia.

“When you think of traditional sports marketing, football and basketball stadiums or jerseys might come to mind,” said Tom Sullivan, Motorsports Marketing Director of Michelin North America. “But our efforts are really through motorsports because that’s what makes up our DNA.”

Competition has been at the heart of the tire manufacturer since its founding more than 130 years ago.

Michelin joined the biggest cycle race held around that time, the 1891 Paris-Brest-Paris 745-mile race. Charles Terront won the race by nine hours.

“An event in place to get people to actually use their tires and demonstrate performance goes to the backbone of our company,” Sullivan said.

“We also want to showcase how it relates to everyday life through enduring performance.”

Today, Michelin looks to further that by their track-to-street connections, creating opportunities to partner with manufacturers and use data from long-duration runs to develop better products for consumers.

All of this can be found in IMSA.

“We have 18 different manufacturers that operate within IMSA,” Sullivan said. “That allows us to be shoulder to shoulder with all these potential customers and partners to develop the next range of tires for race cars and production cars.”

The IMSA race at VIR takes Michelin’s marketing efforts to the next level with the title sponsorship for the weekend.

“It’s the only race we have a title sponsorship of in North America,” Sullivan said. “The partnership dates back to 2016, even before Michelin was the Official Tire of IMSA, when we were in GTLM.”

The strong connections to the production-based race cars open the door to one of the more unique fan activations. Fans get the chance to feel the performance of Michelin tires on VIR’s Patriot Course.

“Mercedes-AMG, BMW, Ford, Toyota, Lexus and Hyundai are allowing us to showcase their latest models of vehicles on our tires,” Sullivan said. “We have original equipment partnerships with these manufacturers, so we’re able to showcase what the performance is like on cars you’ll find at the dealership.”

Of course, the Michelin Man will be a superstar during Michelin GT Challenge. A Michelin Man statue welcomes teams and fans into the paddock. He’ll wave the green flag and take pictures with fans.

But the most sought-after moment with the Michelin Man comes from drivers. Podium finishers win a specially designed trophy of the Michelin Man holding a checkered flag.

“We have an iconic brand that allows us to do something like that,” Sullivan said. “The Michelin Man trophy and the statue also show the tight partnership we have between our brand and VIR.”

Whether you’re coming to the track or watching the race on television, get excited for a full weekend of Michelin.