Bridgestone Americas, Inc. teamed up with Olympic track & field legend Michael Johnson to conduct a new internal training and sales incentive program designed to inspire Bridgestone Retail Operations (BSRO) employees in the countdown to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The four-time Olympic gold medalist joined BSRO during the company’s 2016 National Business Conference in Houston to kick off the new program.
Through a series of appearances, educational videos and other training tools, Johnson will share the lessons he’s learned on the track and use his world-renowned coaching techniques to empower and challenge the more than 23,000 BSRO employees at the company’s 2,200+ tyre and automotive service centers in the United States.
“I’m thrilled to partner with Bridgestone and look forward to using the Olympic Games as a great motivator with its retail teammates this year,” said Johnson. “There are so many parallels between sports and business, and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned over the years about motivation, teamwork, goal-setting and perseverance with the Bridgestone team. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and hard work, too.”
As part of the program, Johnson will be featured in an Olympic-themed sales incentive program, a mobile training tour, and a trip to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Training Center in Colorado Springs for BSRO top performers. Later this year, Bridgestone will bring its new Olympic partnership to life through a broader consumer-facing retail marketing campaign complete with in-store, mobile activations and promotions.
“Bridgestone’s people and products demonstrate our company’s passion for performance every day,” said Stu Crum, president of BSRO. “In our stores, we are driven to perform, just like the elite athletes who are training for the Olympic Games, so who better to inspire our team than Michael Johnson, an elite athlete and coach who’s literally brought home the gold. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Michael to the Bridgestone family and to have the opportunity to learn from one of the best.”
“Joining the Olympic Movement as one of just 12 Worldwide Olympic Partners provides an incredible opportunity to grow our business in a way that no competitor can,” added Crum. “The training program with Michael is just one exciting way we’ll be leveraging our Olympic partnership to ignite pride and performance among our teammates at the retail level.”