GETTING TO GRIPS
WITH CONTINENTAL TYRES
Continental is one of the world’s leading tyre manufacturers, with a two-wheel division supplying motorcycle and bike tyres to riders across the globe. WDA was brought in to help reposition the brand and give it a personality that matched the passion of the riders.
The Challenge
WDA was first commissioned to work on Continental by Cambrian Tyres (UK), the brand’s biggest UK distributor. The initial brief was narrow and practical: support specific trade and consumer campaigns in the UK market, helping Cambrian move Continental’s two-wheel range.
That work didn’t go unnoticed. It caught the attention of Continental’s marketing team in Germany, who were, at the time, looking to appoint a new agency to deliver a new global brand strategy for the two-wheel range – a step up from UK-only campaign support into shaping how the brand would be positioned worldwide.
To properly understand the product and the business behind it, WDA was invited to Continental’s Korbach plant for a tour of its principal two-wheel manufacturing facility, followed by an official briefing from the marketing team. From there, WDA flew to Continental’s headquarters in Hannover to present strategic recommendations to the wider business.
The brief that emerged: take a well-known but largely functional tyre brand and give it a voice and attitude that would genuinely resonate with motorcyclists, rather than another manufacturer talking about grip and compound in the abstract.
Championed By Those Who Put It To The Test
Designed To Resonate With Real Riders
The Solution
Having spent time inside Continental’s manufacturing operation and heard directly from the marketing team, WDA’s approach was to build the two-wheel positioning around real riders and real riding, rather than technical specification alone.
This thinking became the ‘Real Bikers’ Tyre’ platform – a positioning designed to give Continental an attitude, not just a product story. Rather than leading with performance claims, the brand would be championed through the people who actually put it to the test in the real world.
Round-the-world adventurer Nick Sanders became the figurehead for this – a genuine, credible rider whose exploits gave the brand a level of authenticity no studio-shot campaign could have delivered on its own.
This brand strategy and market repositioning then fed directly into an advertising campaign built around the ‘Real Bikers’ idea. It launched first across both trade and consumer channels in the UK, working closely with Cambrian to bring the new positioning to market.
Once proven in the UK, the campaign was rolled out into wider European markets, taking the same ‘Real Bikers’ Tyre’ attitude and Nick Sanders’ story to a broader audience across the continent.
The Result
Within a few months of launch, Continental became the UK’s fastest-growing tyre brand, with Cambrian reporting a 20% uplift in Continental two-wheel sales. That early UK success gave Continental and WDA the confidence to push the campaign further, rolling it out into further markets including North America, where it went on to deliver a 54% sales uplift.
