What the IoT, Smart Home and Smart Buildings Can Learn From a Tire Company?

Yes...a tire company. And in fact, a 120 year old tire company called Goodyear. Not usually the first company to jump out of you when it comes to the IoT or the Smart Home or the Smart Building and that’s because it has nothing to do with the technology. It’s all about the story telling, who they want to reach, how they reach them, and where they reach them.

If you live in the Philadelphia or in the Washington DC Metro area you may be familiar with a new retail option popping up in “lifestyle retail locations” called Roll by Goodyear. I’ve been somewhat obsessed with Roll by Goodyear for about 6 months now mostly because I am intrigued with the 180 degree forward thinking approach they have taken and think it is very relevant to smart home, smart building and any company in the IoT industry (from manufacturers to contractors). Why? Here’s what's on my mind:

To start, what is Roll by Goodyear?

They are standalone tire retailing locations in “lifestyle retail locations” like downtown Bethesda, MD targeting the aspirational class, or better known as, those with disposable income that are afforded the opportunity to value time, experience and simplicity because they are affluent. What is paramount about this classification of people, deemed the 'apsirational class' is the way they define themselves - based upon their consumer choices, cultural capital, and not by their tax bracket. The aspirational class gains status within social ecosystems by the brands they support, the physical locations they choose to go to, and how they spend their time. You’ll find them right next to Lululemon, Warby Parker, Peleton, Soul Cycle and your town's favorite cupcake shop. From Goodyear's quarterly reports they mention that they are in an effort to “move closer to the customer” (Q4 ‘18 report) and are a ”new format [that] strengthen[s] our connected business model,” (Q4 ‘18 report). They are attempting to make tire buying more approachable (especially for women and millennials) by creating a shopping experience that is "on your terms" as the consumer. This differs from the company's typical locations that tend to be in commercial areas, seemingly unapproachable, and never visited for a good reason. 

You will see by the picture that they are bright (yellow), merchandised nicely, sparse with messaging localized, clean, and more of an “Apple” feel than a “tire company” feel. They have also thought through the entire experience to go beyond the purchase all the way through to the install and service. They’ve “rolled” out options such as “come visit us, select our valet service or mobile van at checkout.” In other words - “yes.” 

Here is how they are marketing it online:

• “Here to make buying tires as easy as buying shoes”
• “A tire shop that fits your life.”
• “You pick the tires, you pick the place, we do the rest.”
• “Shop on your terms.”
• “Buying tires isn’t always simple.”
• “We may be fresh-faced, but we’ve been around the block.” 
• “We are backed by Goodyear’s quality and legacy, and we combined that with a streamlined tire-buying experience to make your tire purchase as enjoyable as possible.”

You can easily tweak the message and substitute that marketing for any and every IoT product that has main stream (and Main Street) appeal. 

It is impressive to see a 120 year old brand disrupt itself vs sitting around and waiting to be disrupted. Results are early but going by net promoter score (82) and star ratings (5), all signs seem to indicate that it's working. Well.  

So let's bring IoT, Smart Homes, and Smart Buildings back into the conversation - here's why I think we can learn from this brand:

1. They clearly value marketing and doing it mainstream. Outside of the megatechs, most brands in the smart home, smart building and the IoT have left those important, intentional and well developed marketing strategies to the retailers. Perhaps, we can afford Bose a tip of our hat for not falling into this group, but that's the only exception I can truly think of.
2. They clearly value the opportunity to tell their own story. See #1 on how the smart home, smart building and the IoT have handled it up to now. I know its expensive but I believe it would be worth it for most of the older brands in our industry. Imagine if the world could see the smart home, smart building and IoT the same was as those of us who build it, believe in it, ideate over it, innovate for it, and believe in it's potential! If we don't start telling our story in our words, we can't inspire people to see the glimmering light on the horizon. 
3. They are attempting to make buying tires and the brand Goodyear into a lifestyle brand. Outside of Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and some local integrators attempt to do this, I haven’t seen it to this extreme. Seems like an opportunity. I bet you're kind of curious what the experience is like in that store. I know I was - and now I likely won't be buying tires anywhere else. Funny how that works. 
4. They have vertically integrated the experience from show-rooming to buying to install to service. I recognize our markets are different but someone is going to do it. 
5. They are targeting a psychographic of people called Aspirational - not a vertical demographic like Baby Boomers or Homeowners. This, to me, is the most critical point. 

With the disruption from e-commerce, relationships and expectations changing amongst consumers and brands, and the increased adoption of smart technology, I suspect we will start to see more of this and companies like b8ta helping reinvent how its down.

What do you think?

Thank you Erin Mann for contributing and editing!