The tire retail category has long been considered, in industry parlance, "low-interest" — a designation that seems almost too polite for a business whose advertising has historically consisted of men in polo shirts gesturing at radials while a voiceover mentions road hazard warranties.
Arnold, the Boston-based agency owned by Havas Creative, has been named creative agency of record for Discount Tire following a competitive review, the companies announced. The assignment includes work for both Discount Tire and its regional banner, America's Tire, which operates in parts of California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The retailer runs more than 1,275 stores across 40 states.
The appointment brings Arnold an account with an estimated $20 million in annual media spending, according to COMvergence, and gives the agency a chance to apply the comic sensibility it has deployed for Progressive Insurance to a category not previously known for generating laughs. (Or, for that matter, much of anything beyond the occasional jingle about free tire rotation.)
Arnold has built much of its recent reputation on finding humor in categories where consumers would rather not linger — insurance being the canonical example. The question now is whether the same approach can work for a purchase that most Americans make only when absolutely necessary, often while standing in a waiting room that smells faintly of rubber and features a television tuned to cable news.
Brad Filice, formerly of Droga5, joined Arnold as chief creative officer after a nine-month search, giving the agency additional firepower for assignments of this scale.
For Discount Tire, the bet appears to be that even low-interest categories can become somewhat more interesting, provided the jokes land. It is a theory that has worked before, though usually for products that do not require a lug wrench.
Original story published in adweek.com: "Discount Tire Hires Arnold, Declaring the Category Should Finally Be Funny"