THE GOODYEAR BLIMP TAKES TO THE SKIES TO PROMOTE ROAD SAFETY

Goodyear welcomes the return of its aerial safety ambassador as the global tyre giant starts its 2011 Goodyear Safety Tour.

The Goodyear Blimp, which has been absent from the skies for 12 years in Europe, will lead on a number of road safety initiatives as it flies across the UK throughout March and April.

Goodyear will launch its first safety initiative to show how a poor understanding of The Highway Code is compromising road safety. In a survey questioning 5,000 motorists, results showed that a large percentage failed to correctly answer a number of general knowledge and picture questions covering basic road rules.

These shocking statistics have highlighted the importance of road safety and Goodyear will raise the awareness of these pitfalls with the help of the Blimp.

The tyre firm will also produce a book of best practice, which will see Goodyear work with primary and secondary schools to see how they teach and practice road safety.

Goodyear’s UK marketing director Eddy Geerdink said: “We have a number of initiatives in place that will support our road safety campaigns and drive home the fact that people’s understanding of road safety needs to be improved.”

Over the last decade, Goodyear Blimps have been ‘on tour’ in the USA and China, but this tour marks the first European tour since 1999. Between March and October, the Goodyear Blimp will visit a total of 20 countries.

For further information visit www.goodyear.co.uk or www.goodyearblimp.co.uk

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CONNECT PR FLIES AWAY WITH GOODYEAR'S BLIMP CAMPAIGN

Goodyear has appointed Connect PR to handle all UK media relations around the return of its famous brand icon, The Goodyear Blimp.

Connect PR has worked with Goodyear since January 2010 handling PR campaigns around products and safety. This latest appointment will see the agency turn its attention to the giant airship which will fly across the UK in March and April and then again in October 2011.

Absent from the UK for 12 years, the Midlands agency will take the lead in organising a number of consumer focused initiatives as the Blimp embarks on a European safety tour to promote road safety.

Connect PR will also host a number of press events in major UK cities to drive awareness of Goodyear’s ‘Safety Together’ brand campaign, aided throughout by the company’s world recognised airship.

Eddy Geerdink, Goodyear’s marketing director, said of the return of The Blimp: “This is a really exciting time for Goodyear. We are committed to increasing our brand awareness through the airship. The campaign will also see us working with Sky Sports who will use the Blimp as a camera platform, which will be integrated into a number of Premier League and international football fixtures.”

Hazel Crawford-Upton, managing director of Connect PR, said: “Working with Goodyear and promoting the arrival of the company’s brand icon is a real privilege for us and we are looking forward to delivering some fantastic PR driven results for Goodyear this year.”

For further information visit www.goodyear.co.uk or www.goodyearblimp.co.uk

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