Hankook Tire Scores With Another Sports Marketing Coup: 2005 NCAA College Football Stadium Signage Program

    WAYNE, N.J., Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- In an unprecedented move in sports
 marketing, Hankook Tire America Corp. enters NCAA College Football stadiums
 this weekend as its logo will be prominently displayed around the playing
 fields at five Division 1-A schools. The kick-off for Hankook Tire's 2005 NCAA
 College Football Stadium Signage Program will be Saturday, September 3rd as
 the new signage will make its debut at QUALCOMM Stadium where the San Diego
 State University Aztecs will host the UCLA Bruins and at Memorial Stadium in
 Berkeley where the University of California Golden Bears will host the
 Sacramento State Hornets.
     On Sunday, September 4th, Hankook signage will be unveiled at the Carrier
 Dome in Syracuse, NY as the Syracuse University Orange battle the Mountaineers
 of West Virginia University. This game will be televised nationally on ABC at
 1:30 PM EDT.
     In addition to Syracuse University, San Diego State University, and the
 University of California, Hankook signage will also be featured at the Miami
 Orange Bowl, home of the Miami Hurricanes and the Los Angeles Memorial
 Coliseum home of the defending NCAA National Champion University of Southern
 California Trojans.
     Hankook's 2005 NCAA College Football Stadium Signage Program calls for the
 Hankook name to appear in fixed signage at the venues of these five top-rated
 NCAA football teams throughout the 2005 season. The stadiums of these five
 teams have seating capacity for more than 365,000 people combined -- times six
 home games on each schedule. This will log hundreds of thousands of Hankook
 brand impressions with in-stadium game day attendance and literally several
 million more impressions via local, regional, and national television coverage
 including ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and FoxSportsNet -- as well as game replays and
 highlights on countless local and national sports news programs.
     "Hankook's presence at these highly regarded universities within their
 NCAA football stadiums is a significant expansion of our aggressive effort to
 promote the Hankook brand name and appeal to a wide demographic profile via
 sporting venues," explains Bill Bainbridge, Hankook Tire Marketing Director.
     Hankook's sports marketing program has made tremendous strides in helping
 to raise consumer awareness of the Hankook Tire name since it began in 2001.
 "Sports marketing has evolved as a major component of our overall advertising
 and marketing strategy," Mr. Bainbridge says, "and implementing a stadium
 signage program with NCAA Football for 2005 is a natural extension of an
 already successful endeavor."
     The sports marketing program has garnered Hankook widespread exposure
 while reinforcing the Company's brand image in major markets nationwide, and
 in some cases worldwide. These sports marketing relationships are a direct
 result of efforts by Hankook's advertising agency, G.P. Clarke Advertising,
 Inc. of New York. "One of our goals is to build brand impressions and to
 channel them to Hankook's growing dealer network," says Richard A. Clarke,
 agency president. "A creative sports marketing program further lays the
 groundwork for ongoing and future advertising and marketing efforts."
     The Hankook name and logo appear prominently in Major League Baseball
 venues around the country, including many of the teams still chasing a pennant
 in 2005. Hankook signage has also been prominent in NBA, NHL and NCAA
 Basketball arenas posting literally billions of brand impressions with sports
 fans via live audiences as well as regional and national television audiences.
     "Since we share our football stadium with an NFL team, the addition of the
 field wrap signage adds to our home field advantage," notes Wayne Guymon,
 Assistant Athletic Director, Corporate Partnerships, San Diego State
 University. "Thanks to the support of sponsors like Hankook Tire, we are able
 to make our stadium 'Red and Black.' The entire stadium takes on a different
 feel on Saturdays because of the new field wrap signage."
     Hankook's 2005 NCAA College Football Stadium Signage Program was developed
 in conjunction with The Van Wagner Sports Group/Dorna USA, a pioneer in sports
 advertising and marketing.
     "The Van Wagner Sports Group/Dorna USA is proud to have an advertiser like
 Hankook Tire as a founding partner for our new NCAA College Football 'Stadium
 Domination' Program," says Michael Levine, President of Van Wagner Sports
 Group/Dorna USA. "Hankook has demonstrated a deep understanding for the power
 of in-game branding, with their MLB, NBA and college team partnerships. This
 fall, Hankook will continue to be ahead of its peers on the sports marketing
 landscape, with this new entree into NCAA College Football."
     As a technology-focused, market driven company manufacturing a wide range
 of High Performance and Ultra-High Performance Passenger, Light and Medium
 Truck, Winter Radial, Original Equipment, and Truck and Bus Radial tires,
 Hankook is at the forefront of new product innovation and development. Hankook
 Tire America Corp. markets tires through a nationwide network of independent
 tire dealers and retailers.
 
 

SOURCE  Hankook Tire America Corp.