Company hopes scented tires produce sweet smell of success
Who knows? Maybe some day the CEOs of major tire companies will be sitting in their offices around the globe muttering to themselves, "Why didn't we think of that?"
But, for now, Kumho Tires has the smell-good auto tire market to itself. One in particular is lavender scented.
"It's kind of a crazy idea," says Rick Brennan, director of marketing for Kumho Tire U.S.A.
Maybe not so crazy. Smelling good is big business in the United States. Air fresheners are used in almost 75% of U.S. households, and the market has doubled since 2003 to $1.72-billion.
Despite what you might think, the aroma tire was not conceived late at night by a bunch of college students sitting around their apartment drinking beer.
Nope, this was the brainstorm of a bunch of tire professionals trying to come up with ideas to create a buzz, a unique product that would "cause people to talk to other people" -- about the less than captivating topic of car tires -- specifically, tires made by the Korea-based Kumho.
"You sometimes joke about things and someone said, 'Gee, what if we could make tires that have a unique smell?'" Brennan says.
"In focus groups, the men said, 'You guys are stupid,' " but the women kind of liked the idea, he says. So the ECSTA DX aroma tire was launched.
Someone, probably a hungry someone, suggested they go with the smell of barbecued chicken wings. But the tire people settled on floral.
http://www.nationalpost.com/life/driving/story.html?id=133498
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