PIRELLI F1 TYRE COLOUR CODING.

Anyone even half interested in F1 racing couldn't help but notice the introduction of colour code system into the competition over the last two years. The idea has been to keep the audience/spectators informed at a glance of what compound tyre each driver is racing on. The code is as follows,

Red – Super-soft
Yellow – Soft
Silver – Hard
Green – Intermediate
Blue – Wet

Last year the differences in lap speed between compounds was up to 1.5 seconds so judgement on the part of teams and drivers as to what tyre to use has become a crucial part of overall race strategy.
So far this F1 season has been the most competitive and exciting in years and Perelli have very much added to this with this new system. Anyone watching last weeks race at Valencia would be in no doubt as to the role, tyres played in the overall result.

 For Perelli the introduction of the new colour system has been a huge success. It keeps the audience engaged and informed while at the same time exposing millions of people to their brand. It is a master class in brand marketing and has also been great for the sport. So hopefully everyone wins.

At Heffernan Tyres we have long been a supporter and partner with Pirelli. We have been a Pirelli ''Driver'' accredited depot for many years and we welcome their audit of our business quality and standards annually. We can testify to the genuine quality of their Passenger car range with P7, P6000, Scorpion and and course P ZERO Rossa all proving themselves over the years. Perelli produce an excellent product. We are delighted to recommend Perelli tro our customers and always carry a full range of sizes and patterns.
We look forward to Silverstone next week and another exciting race. How important will tyres be in the changing weather conditions of the British circuit?

THIS WEEKS COMPETITION. IPOD NANO

THIS WEEKS COMPETITION PRIZE IS A FABULOUS I POD NANO. IDEAL FOR EXERCISE OR BEACH. TO WIN  JUST LIKE and SHARE OUR HEFFERNAN TYRES FACEBOOK PAGE.
WE WILL DRAW A LUCKY WINNER WHEN WE REACH 700 LIKES. GOOD LUCK!

KILDARE TOWN

€50 GIFT VOUCHER FOR KILDARE VILLAGE OUTLET CENTRE

€50 VOUCHER TO BE WON!!!!

Heffernan Tyres are located in Kildare town. Amongst the many local attractions are The National Stud, The Japenese Gardens, St. Brigid's Cathedral, Curragh Racecourse and Kildare Village Outlet Centre.

To enter just Like or Share our Heffernan Tyres Facebook Page. When we reach 300 likes we will draw a winner. Good Luck! We look forward to seeing you in Kildare.

EURO 2012 A TRULY ''CONTINENTAL'' COMPETITION.

Watching the current Euro 2012 each night for the past week and a half you couldn't help but notice the abundance of Continental sponsorship and signage around the grounds in both Poland and Ukraine. Since the World Cup in Germany in 2006 Continental has been closely associated with the beautiful game and is to be welcomed as a positive alternative to some of the usual or traditional sponsors of sport.

So why would it be welcome? There has been much discussion over the appropriateness of Tobacco, Alcohol , Fizzy Drinks, Fast food brands and their company's sponsorship of sport. In the case of tobacco it has all but been eliminated from sport but alcohol lives on. The end of tobacco sponsorship created much argument for and against. The pros simply because of the money involved and an argument that all the tobacco companies were attempting to do was to compete in an existing market for market share. The antis would  argue that any association with a healthy activity like sport on the part of smoking or drinking is wrong. Anyone who has ever been addicted to tobacco and was in the process of quitting would probably tell you that watching your favourite brand racing around Monte Carlo at 200 MPH, associated with affluence and good times does not make it easier to quit. Advertising alcohol with sport often seems to suggest that one couldn't possibly contemplate watching soccer or rugby anywhere else other that a pub or on a couch with a can. For these reasons alternative industries with strong brands are needed for sponsorship if  the quality of tournaments is to be maintained. Continental ticks those boxes. And so should be welcomed.
Multi National food and drink companies could also be blamed for promoting obesity and poor health by associating themselves with spectator sports. Again, there is merit in this argument given the impulse nature of  consumption where such products are concerned. Tyres, whilst not necessarily a healthy product are somewhat benign by comparison.
So what is in it for Continental? Tyres are probably the ultimate distress purchase. Ask a consumer where they'd prefer to spend €500; A Dentist or a Tyre Shop?. The Dentist would probably come out tops. People buy tyres only when they need them. There is little of a  feel good  factor where the purchase is concerned. The advertiser can really only target the ''Secure needs'' of the consumer when pitching tyres to the marketplace.Hence most ads we see are about the safety features of tyre. How much better it is in the wet, does it keep your family safe?,etc.

The pitch side billboards at Euro 2012 do not deliver these messages.They're too complex in a fast moving sport. In fact they rarely feature anything other than the Euro Logo and The Continental Brand. It is Brand recognition that Continental is striving for and in truth they are succeeding.
There are now hundreds of tyre brands on the European market with imports from China and the far east contributing to an already competitive marketplace.However there are only a handful of household brand names. They are Michelin, Bridgestone, Goodyear, Pirelli, Dunlop and Continental. In some markets Hankook, Kumho,Semperit, Firestone and others have strong recognition but the big six mentioned above have the lead in consumer familiarity.Continental have definitely broken into that six in recent years and deservedly so. The R&D behind their products is second to none and shows in their performance. At Heffernan Tyres Kildare we are seeing excellent performance results in all Continental product groups.
The Corporate side of the Continental has really stepped up a gear and their stand at Reifen Essen Tyre fair 2012 was probably the most professionally organised and presented. They had some innovative new products and transparent yet professional presentation of same.

PREMIUM CONTACT 5 NOW AVAILABLE

In Ireland Continental Tyre Group are very active in the area of market research and surveys. They have conducted much research and produced valuable statistics and MIS in an effort to improve road safety for motorists and promote good driving habits. They are a standard driver in retail and introduced the Semperit Retailer Of The Year in 2010 to promote professionalism in our industry. Heffernan Tyres has won this prestigious award two years running. Continental Tyre Group provide us with up to date information and data regarding the marketplace we operate in and are for the most part, a pleasure to work with. We are happy to recommend Continental products to our customers. UEFA and FIFA should be happy to be associated with Continental Tyre Group also. Long may these relationships continue and prosper.

BIBENDUM - THE MICHELIN MAN.

Bibendum is an ever present character in our depot and office. His image appears in much of our point of sale and indeed current promotions. We even have a statuette of him behind the sales desk.
 I was thinking the other day what my earliest memory of him was and decided that he goes back as far as I can remember. He was on the maps and guides in my Dads glove box and on garage walls everywhere when I was growing up. So I decided I would give a brief history of him.
So who is Bibendum, the man of tyres?
''Nunc est Bibendum'' translates from Latin as, ''Now is the time to drink''. Edouard Michelin suggested in a presentation to Paris City Council in 1894 that his tyres for the Paris trams ''would drink up obstacles''.
At the Paris Exhibition that year he remarked on a display of a pile of tyres ''if you put arms and legs on it, it would look like a man''.
And so By the time of the Lyon exhibition of 1898, the man was born complete with glass drinking up obstacles and the Latin caption .He quickly became a celebration of mobility in France and beyond.

Here he is in 1898 raisng his glass to celebrate his triumph over nails and objects. He is white because at that time, tyres had no Carbon Black in them and so were whitish in colour.

He continued to partner with his creators through the revolution in bicycle tyres which was made possible by Michelin's one piece pneumatic tyres. Bibendum led the way in the Paris-Brest-Paris cycle years of the 1890's and 1900's.With the invention of the motor car, a whole new market opened up for Michelin and Bibendum followed. As motoring became a hobby and pass time, so maps and guides were required. Michelin produced these and branded them with their hero,celebrating with a cigar. Synonymous with good times.
As cars developed so did tyres and Bibendum was on the the first radial tyres invented by Michelin and the first run flat tyres also.
Through the years his physique has been changed considerably. He's slimmed down, given up drinking, smoking and appears as a more energetic figure. He adorns the finest restaurants and hotels of the world, the former compete for his one, two and three star accolades. Pubs can achieve ''Bib Gourmand'' awards where they excel in food and hospitality. Bibendum is with us everywhere.
He is one of the worlds oldest corporate mascots, shaded maybe only by the Quaker pilgrim and is one of the top 20 recognised figures in the world. He has figured in motor sports since their inception and continues to be associated with the best drivers and riders in the world.
The company he represents continue to prosper as a Fortune 500 company and have been world market leader in tyres for many years.
The enduring survival of Bibendum as a corporate mascot says much about the vision of his creators back in the 1880's. He is as recognisable today as ever and people the world over know him as the man behind Michelin. He will be with us for some time to come.

At Heffernan Tyres, we have a long history with Michelin. We have stocked Michelin Tyres since the 1960's in all product groups. We supplied tyres during the construction of the Kildare Bypass. Michelin Tyres excelled in those tough site conditions. We have hauliers using Michelin truck tyres and as a business we always recommend quality to our motorist customers. Michelin car tyres fit that niche.
 We were the first Irish business to receive the Michelin Accreditation and we continue to recommend Michelin as a top of the range product.

NIGEL AND THE SWALLOWS.

It's summertime in the Irish countryside, difficult to believe some days, but honestly I checked the calendar. Here in County Kildare we are surrounded by natural beauty. Our business backs on to the world famous Curragh. It's as green as it gets at the moment. It's great to see the jockeys out training the thoroughbreds in the morning as I drive to work.
In our back yard our summer visitors, the swallows, criss cross the yard hunting for flies on the long summer days. They nest in the eaves of our building and on the ledges in the corner of our Scrap Tyre container.

They have neglected to notice that it is on wheels. Every month or so when it's full we have the forty foot container picked up and replaced by Crumb Rubber Ireland. Naturally this presents a difficulty for the swallows as the container is then shipped to Dundalk. Whilst I remember hearing on the radio, that on the Rhine in Germany, the swallows nest on barges. They hunt on the river and follow the boats as they go from Koblenz to wherever. It doesn't bother them apparently and they treat the boat as a sort of mobile home. However a forty foot container travelling at 100kph up the M1 would probably present an altogether different prospect.

I asked Nigel our floor manager about this the other week when I noticed the birds were building a nest. He explained to me that it wasn't a problem. When the new container comes, it's exactly the same design. He uses a ladder to access the ledge. Then places the nest and birds on a tray which he then replaces in the same corner of the new container. As he explained, the birds get agitated for a time but settle down and adapt to their new home quickly. They've been coming back for years so it mustn't bother them too much. I thought that this was a nice story from an industry that doesn't have the greatest environmental reputation.

The Simpsons always provides good social commentary on a range of issues. Murdoch, Nuclear Energy and the Tyre industry are open season. Springfield's only major tourist attraction is the Tire Fire, burning since 1989.

Thankfully there are no Tyre fires in Ireland. There are however Tyre stockpiles. In recent years, loopholes in legislation allowed some scrap merchants to stockpile waste tyres on the basis that they ''intended'' to dispose of them in an environmentally friendly manner. In some cases over one million tyres were accumulated in quarries in the west of Ireland or even in fields. Retailers had been lured by a cheaper fee for removal and convinced by the scrap licence credentials that all was legitimate. Once collected, the tyres have been left discarded by unscrupulous dealers who have declared insolvency. The result is an environmental mess which must be cleaned up at the expense of the taxpayer. Waste tyres are not biodegradable and cannot be buried in landfill. They have a high oil and carbon component and can be regarded as a pollutant.

At Heffernan Tyres we have never compromised on the environment. We have used Crumb Rubber Ireland for years. We never entertained claims from cut price merchants who promised that they would do the right thing with our waste. The only way to operate in the space of tyre disposal is to have the plant and equipment to carry out the job. Crumb Rubber Ireland tick all of the boxes. They have a state of the art facility in Dundalk and have received much acclaim for the service they provide including a Green Award 2010.This is what they do,

 "Tyres are 100% recyclable. We process end of life tyres into shred, chips and granulate for Rubber mats and coloured garden chippings for the sports and leisure industry' . We produce new and innovative products in our manufacturing plant and through this process ensure that the waste tyres we take in are taken, in their entirety, out of the waste stream."

So, when and where choosing to purchase your tyres, don't be embarrassed about asking where the take offs are going. You are paying for it after all and if it's not done properly we all pay. Alternatively shop where you know that quality and standards are never compromised. At Heffernan Tyres that is our commitment.