For Yokohama-ATG, marketing an off-highway tyre is less about simply selling a product and more about understanding how that product performs in the real world. The company, which operates across 130-odd countries, houses the Alliance and Galaxy brands, catering to diverse applications across agriculture, construction and other off-highway sectors.
Alliance, a more than 70-year-old brand, is positioned around engineering and technological advancement, while Galaxy, with over 100 years of heritage, focuses on application-specific, purpose-built tyres. Together, the brands have built a portfolio of around 4,400 SKUs. According to Gaurav Phull, VP, Marketing, Yokohama-ATG, two things bring the global portfolio together: “A strong native workforce and our field engineering model.”
The approach is designed to balance global consistency with local understanding. “For the customer, we give him the confidence that they are dealing with a local entity who understands their application, who understands their terrain,” says Phull. While the relationship is localised, “the brand promise remains global.”
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This philosophy also underpins Yokohama-ATG’s shift from a product-led to a solutions-led approach. Phull points to field days and field engineering as the ‘backbone’ of this transition. The company aims to be ‘present at the point of use and not only at the point of sale,’ allowing it to understand customer pain points first-hand and feed those insights into product development.
The company’s India journey, however, is still relatively nascent. Addressing its current market share, Phull remarks, “The market shares and numbers are not very relevant, because if you talk about incumbents, they have been playing the game for much longer.” He adds that the company’s customer-centric approach ‘is resonating well with the customer and we are all about it.’
Phull also points to the technology parity Yokohama-ATG offers Indian customers. “We are offering the same; giving access to the same quality, same technology and same product which we are giving to our European and American customers,” he says. The company has also introduced a bias range in India, recognising that the market remains predominantly biased.
The brand expects its India share to build over time, but Phull says the replacement cycle itself needs to be factored into any assessment. “Typical replacement cycle in this space is five to seven years,” he notes, adding that the company would need to wait through at least one replacement cycle for a clearer reflection of its position against incumbents.
This customer-first approach extends to how the brand communicates. Its marketing spans B2B and B2C, with field days, agricultural shows and influencer marketing playing an important role. Rather than relying solely on conventional advertising, Yokohama-ATG focuses on demonstrating expertise and ‘standing with the customer, instead of talking at him.’
That also explains its limited reliance on television. With tyre purchases in agriculture being high-value decisions that can occur only once every five to seven years, Phull believes communication needs to be more consultative and customised.
For the brand, even influencers are rooted in product experience. “These are the guys who have used my product over a significant period of time,” he says. And when it comes to brand ambassadors, Phull is clear about who already plays that role: “My field engineers are my brand ambassadors. My influencers are my brand ambassadors.” The strategy reflects Yokohama-ATG’s larger marketing philosophy: understand the customer’s application, identify the pain point and demonstrate how engineering can solve it.
