More than just tyres and arse Danielle Veldre & Minnie Stewart
IT’S BEEN a popular marketing tool for male-dominated industries for years, but the Pirelli calendar has transcended its less than savoury origins as a girly calendar on mechanics’ walls.
It is now regarded as some of the most sought-after art in the world.
The 2004 calendar was released this week and continues in the tradition of using both the world’s best models and leading photographers.
Past photographers include Herb Ritts and Annie Leibovitz. Ironically—considering the calendar’s background as a pinup for men—this year’s theme is an interpretation of sexuality by women, featuring celebrities such as singers Björk and Courtney Love, and actress Catherine Deneuve.
Pirelli Australia managing director Kai Weick said the calendar had been instrumental in identifying and establishing the Pirelli brand around the world as a mark of quality.
“Has the image of the Pirelli product created the calendar or has the calendar helped create the brand image of Pirelli?” Weick said. “Without doubt, the calendar has further enhanced the image of the Pirelli. But the calendar basically stands for what Pirelli is —excellence in performance and beauty in design.
“It has become the most prominent marketing tool for [The Pirelli brand].”
Calendars are not sold, but are distributed by Pirelli to major customers, “friends” of the Pirelli product and the social A list. This has increased their value as collectors’ items.
A calendar from 1990 was auctioned for US$84,000 and a 2003 copy was auctioned on Ebay for AU$22,000. Weick acknowledges the calendars have nothing to do with tyres, but their reputation as a quality benchmark in photography enables Pirelli to leverage the exposure.
“Having a pointed tool, like the calendar, tends to make us focus on it as a major PR instrument,” Weick said.
In Australia, Pirelli has experienced strong growth. It has increased the size of its market share from 1% to 4–5% over a five year period.
However Weick said Pirelli was not particularly worried about overall market share. Rather the brand was focused on increasing its share of the top end of the market —and on doing so without compromising on price.
“In conjunction with being a niche brand, we are not too concerned about our overall market share, once a certain critical mass is achieved. This is 5% in any market.
“What we then try to do is to optimise and increase our share in the top-end which is where the high value products and high performance products sit.”
“Being a niche brand—and having been so since its inception—means our company, our product and our image constantly have to perform on the highest possible level and create the most exclusive image,” Weick said.
“We as a company have to ensure our product gives us an extra margin over our market-share driven competitors.”
