1CCR

JULY 2013

MEXICO

COSTA RICA

VENEZUELA

COLOMBIA

BRAZIL

CHILE

ARGENTINA

14 CONEXIONLATINA

3CCR

Bridgestone Firestone Argentina ón de llantas de desecho para elaborar maceteros y una coordinada campaña de educación para combatir el dengue permitieron a la Asociación Programas Sociales de Dominical de Puntarenas, ganar un millón de colones otorgados por Bridgestone Firestone de Costa Rica el pasado mes de diciembre.

CONEXIONLATINA

Corporate ActivitiesPublic RelationsConsumer Marketing Publicity

EnvironmentRoad SafetySocial Activities

CCR CSREDITORIAL

ARGENTINA

BRAZIL

CHILE COLOMBIA

COSTA RICA

MÉXICO

VENEZUELA

StaffBSAR – Liliana Nasiff / Ma. Luz HerreraBSBR – Josiene M. de SantanaBSCO – Pamela Alarcón

BSCR – Ana María ArceBSMX – Amelia Vives BSVZ -Mayela Carta / Jasergui González / Daniella Vera

Regional TeamCorporate Relations and Social Responsability

Bridgestone Latin America Tire Division, BATO LA.

Editorial 04News Release 05/06/07Bridgestone Libertadores

Social media implementation guide 08At the most important tournament in America 09Brand presence at important 10exhibitionsBridgestone introduces its Technologies at 12/13Agricultural FairE- Commerce: the new marketing 14platform in BrazilBridgestone new promotion offers 15 discounts to consumers Fans participate in Copa Bridgestone 16/17Libertadores promotions Formula Truck 2013 starts in Tarumã 18

Bridgestone Chile was present at 22Copa Bridgestone Libertadores

Bridgestone gets closer to consumers 24through social media. New Service Center at Los Libertadores 25

Copa Bridgestone Libertadores 27in Central America

Launching Dayton, a new brand 33Promotion “Looking for a race driver” 34Indy 500Bridgestone is recognized as 35Superbrand 2013

Bridgestone launches a new web site 38

Women’s month at Bridgestone 11

Road show trailer promotes 19knowledge and entertainment Children and adolescents receive sports 20/21wear donated by Bridgestone

CPR Course 23Bridgestone Solidarity

With full success, Bridgestone Colombia 26runs the “Think Before You Drive” campaign

Bridgestone gets ecologic blue 28/29 flag award 4777 hours of altruistic, deliberate, 30/31and purposeful volunteer workBridgestone Costa Rica trains its suppliers 32and distributors on Social Responsibility

Road safety campaing for holy week 36Program “Think Before You Drive- Kids” 37for five years in a row

Bridgestone Celebrates Tree Day 39Over three thousand vehicles checked throughoutthe inflating pressure program developed by BFVZ Bridgestone Center: A place 40/41for training and entertainment

SUMMARY14

Editorial

5CCR

The regional Corporate Relations (CCR) and Corpo-rate Social Responsibility (CSR) team is glad to intro-duce the fourteenth edition of Conexión Latina, which releases results and successful events at Latin Ame-rica level for the first half of 2013.

These results reflect teamwork and spirit of coopera-tion with other areas of the corporation as Marketing and Trade Marketing within the segments of Consu-mer Market and Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions BBTS. In a joint effort we strive to take our brand to the highest levels, thus fulfilling our mission “to serve society with superior quality.”

Among these activities, and as a big success, and real historic landmark for Bridgestone in our region, we can mention our debut in Copa Bridgestone Liberta-dores as title sponsors through an agreement with the South American Confederation of Soccer (CON-MEBOL) effective as from 2013 until 2017. Then, we should consider promotional campaigns through so-cial media developed by the marketing area showing our passion for this sport.

Further, in terms of social responsibility, diverse ac-tivities have been implemented by each Bridgestone subsidiary in Latin America, not only bearing in mind compliance with the 22 Points for C o r p o r a t e So-cial Responsibility set by our corporation in Japan but also truly contributing to every country as a respon-sible corporate citizen, which has led our company to set up a regional Volunteer Program designed to standardize actions and measure our impact in the Latin region to leave our footprint, to create a better world for present and future generations.

414

PublicityEditorial

Finally, an action that deserves recognition for its success and enormous contribution is the formal presentation of our Crisis Communication Manual for Latin America, a functional guide addressing cri-tical scenarios. It includes instructions for the re-gion and reference documents such as working and analysis sheets or briefing tools that enables us to manage actions designed by the team in charge, in times of crisis. Throughout this year the team will continue working on its dissemination and imple-mentation at each subsidiary. We hope you will enjoy this edition!

Country Volunteers Hours

Costa RicaVenezuelaArgentinaMéxicoTotal

288 55 76 37456

477727622160 2229921

The following charts show the levels of appearance of our actions on communication media within the context of Copa Bridgestone Libertadores. In turn such data allow us to quantify the cost such publicity would have had if the company had had to afford it.

Country Numberofpublication

USDEquiva-lency

BrazilColombiaCosta RicaMexicoArgentinaVenezuela Total

56411215148146

$74,012$78,796$21,593$14,168$15,980$21,660$226,209

Mediatype Numberofpublication

USDEquiva-lency

TVRadioJournalWebMagazine Total

42271112146

$7,483$3,480$48,327$164,412$2,507$226,209

Publicitybycountry $90,000$80,000$70,000$60,000$50,000$40,000$30,000$20,000$10,000$0

Brazil Colombia Costa Rica

Mexico Argentina Venezuela

Num

ber

ofP

ublic

atio

n

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

$180,000$160,000$140,000$120,000$100,000$80,000$60,000$40,000$20,000$0

60

40

20

0

80

100

120

TV Radio Journal Web Magazine

Num

bers

ofp

ublic

atio

ns

Publicitybymediatype

Publicity by media type

USD Equivalency

Copa Bridgestone LibertadoresNews Release

7CCR614

BATO LA starts promotional activities by launching its new web site http://www.bridgestonelibertado-res.com /, a digital space devoted to those soccer fo-llowers in the region, to say thank you for their trust and support.

It is the passion that connects us across Latin Ame-rica, the same passion Bridgestone seeks to share with family and friends surrounded by moments with those who love this sport. It is for this reason that the brand has developed a web site for “Copa Bridgestone Libertadores”, where fans from each country closely follow all the details of the championship such as: Match schedules, scoring results and photo albums among news of interest.

Copa Bridgestone LibertadoresActivities

APPNewWebSite

Participants try to make the highest number of correct predictions on match results within the Copa Bridges-tone Libertadores. This contest is valid in Mexico, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatema-la, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela. The winners from each county will be awarded a trip for two to the Copa Bridgestone Libertadores final match.

To participate, Bridgestone invites its followers to sign up through www.bridgestonelibertadores.com; click on Qiniela to be able to enter your prediction on the corres-ponding phase for groups, round of sixteen, quarter final and semifinals. Users will be able to consult their fore-casts, modify them (up to 12 hours before the match) and know their ranking against other participants.

“Sports Reporter” is the second regional contest, through which the brand invites soccer fans having skills as sports reports to win a trip for two and have the leading role in videos, interviews, behind the scene, parties and special events during the Great Final Match of Copa Bridgestone Libertadores.

This contest consisting of two phases, a national and a regional one, is effective until June 30 in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

The rules to participate in the game are: to record a 30-second demo video and upload it to Bridgestone Fa-cebook official page in each participating country or on the web site www.BridgestoneLibertadores.com; later on, the contestant will receive notification via email that will confirm the acceptance of the video and finally he/she will be entitled to invite friends to vote, who will take a chance of winning a trip for two to Copa Bridgestone Libertadores final match.

Contest“SportsReporter”“Quiniela”Contest

Publicity

Development of the APP mobile for iPhone and An-droid, as part of promotional and social activities for Copa Bridgestone Libertadores. This application in-cludes all the information on the championship such as match dates, calendars, general news and social media. This application is available in Spanish, Portu-guese and English, as well as for iPhone and Android systems (available at App Store and Google Play). APP users can consult daily schedules for matches, program an alert system daily to follow the matches clicked as favorite; also, it discloses news relating to the championship and it is possible to share soccer team positions and results on Facebook and Twitter. Application users will also learn about promotions and location of nearest Bridgestone Service Centers.

CONEXIONLATINACCR

Social media implementation guide

Bridgestone Argentina developed a Social Media Manual that outlines the correct use of social media by our retail network.

It goes without saying that the impact of social media on our business is very powerful. Day by day we need to participate and to be seen not only to foster effective communication but also to generate bonds with our end users.

Fully aware of this fact, Bridgestone Argentina develo-ped this Social Media Implementation Guide that will help retailers to apply corporate guidelines when they are exposed to the media. The tips included in the guide will allow them to develop profiles in line with their bu-siness and engage in appropriate online communication with clients.

This tool includes issues such as web site design and look & feel criteria, guidelines on updates and sugges-ted topics to include, among others.

The objective of this guide is to smooth out this commu-nication channel between POS and end users, making the most of all the tools in social media a daily offer.

8ARGENTINA14

users and journalists watched the matches from the VIP box while sharing a catering service that con-tributed to strengthening bonds bet-ween the company and its people.

the most prestigious tournaments worldwide. Consequently the au-dience is really huge; nobody would dare miss their favorite team’s match. Taking advantage of this passion, the company organized at each match exclusive entertain-ment activities for its red carpet guests. Thus, end users, retailers,

At the most important tournament in America

To optimize the widespread brand presence of the company in all the matches played in Argentina, Brid-gestone made the most of these encounters by fostering bonds with clients, users and journalists.

Soccer is, by far, the most popular and attractive sport in Argentina and Copa Libertadores is one of

Bridgestone actively participated in Copa Bridgestone Libertadores matches in Argentina

9CCR

CONEXIONLATINACSR

Brand presence at important Exhibitions Bridgestone participated in Arminera while Firestone exhibited its agricultural products in Expoagro.

Arminera opened in Buenos Aires May 7 through May 9; the main companies in the mining sector were there and a total of 10.000 visitors attended the most impor-tant exhibition of this industry in the country.

Bridgestone had a modern stand to exhibit its tires for mining machinery and to entertain guests and visitors looking for further information about products and ser-vices offered by the brand.

Firestone, on its side, participated in the seventh edition of Expoagro where it celebrated the 80th anniversary of the creation and production of agricultural tires of the brand by its founder Harvey Firestone.

At the 300-square meter stand the public could see the new technologies developed by Firestone to improve product performance. Visitors also had the opportunity to refresh the most important landmarks in the history of the brand close to the farming sector..

Firestone also showed a novel simulator in which parti-cipants experienced the different benefits of radial tires compared to conventional ones through a ground com-paction simulator.

This kind of exhibition offers a suitable environment for our brands to show products and services while doing business with important clients from the different in-dustrial sectors in Argentina.

Women’s Month at BridgestoneBridgestone Business School at Llavallol celebrated Women’s Month by delivering a talk especially designed for ladies.

Bernardo Stamateas, a well known professional, addressed the issue ‘women and stress’. It goes without saying that today women play im-portant roles in the business world besides having an active family and personal life, which ultimately ge-nerates high levels of adrenaline daily.

We counted on an excellent res-ponse from employees, suppliers, clients, consumers and teachers within Bridgestone community; the auditorium at Bridgestone Business School was packed full with more than eighty ladies.

The speaker, bachelor in Psycholo-gy, family therapist and sex expert offered tips to have a relaxed and happy life besides sharing exerci-ses, examples, anecdotes, tests and a segment for questions and an-swers all participants joined in.

After the talk, ladies entertained themselves at a tea party, which the speaker also shared. All of them had the chance to exchange opi-nions about the talk.

10CCRARGENTINA14 11CSRARGENTINA

CONEXIONLATINA CCR

12BRAZIL14

Bridgestone introduces its Technologies at Agricultural Fair

14th Cotrijal Expodireto: Exhibition carried out March 4 to 8 gathered the main segments of the worldwi-de agro-industry supply chain; that is the reason why it has become an ideal meeting point to get access to technology, information, compa-nies and publicity of products and services directed to the primary sector.

12th Comigo Tecnoshow: It is mi-lestone in the agrobusiness fair segment in Brazil due to the variety of attractive features it offers; the fair was carried out April 8 through April 12 and the original expecta-tion was to attract over 78,0000 vi-sitors.

Agrishow: The event, which cele-brated its 20th edition this year April 29 through May 3, is regarded as the most important event in the agricultural sector in Latin Ameri-ca, the chance to get to know the latest news in the agro-industry.

With its usual distinctive feature and the popular Far West stand, as successful as ever at agricultu-ral events, Bridgestone launches its next generation technology at the main events in this sector to strengthen the brand even more.

(Firestone- 11 years in a row as Top of Mind Tire). Through a strong sy-nergy with distributors in the region where events took place, Bridges-tone reached outstanding sales fi-gures, both in the agricultural tire sector and the truck tire segment.

25th Coopavel Rural show: Agri-cultural program that showed te-chnologies centered on improving productivity of small, medium-sei-zed and big companies. February 4 to 8, near 200,000 visitors learned about the activities of more than 400 exhibitors.

13CCR

CONEXIONLATINACCR

CONEXIONLATINACCR

14BRAZIL14

Consumers value high performance on roads as well as when purcha-sing the best tire for their vehicles. With that on mind, Bridgestone Brazil launched its e-commerce section, an online store that will supply, basically, the southern and southeastern regions, with expan-sion expectations to cover the whole country by next year.

In 2012, electronic trade grew by 26% in Brazil, as survey shows *. “It is a fact. A consumer enters to Internet to find information on tires and having the option to make the purchase in the same web environ-

ment is an additional benefit. To at-tract these people we had to speak the same language and therefore we created an online store”, com-mented Alexandre Lopes, Director of Sales and Consumer Market at Bridgestone.

Tires available includes passen-ger, light trucks and SUV tires. Payment facilities, by credit card or bank note, fast delivery, two-five days door to door, assembly at offical distributors are outstanding features among all the advantages offered by this new channel. Pro-ducts bought from an online store

also have the Super Bridgestone guarantee, an additional six-month guarantee against cuts, punctures and heavy impact.

Consumers can contact Client Service by phone, e-mail or onli-ne chat. To know our online store, just visit web site Bridgestone www.bridgestone.com.br and click on ‘Online Store’. This web site is part of the brand digital strategy with a strong investment in internet pre-sence in the country.

E- Commerce: the new marketing platform in Brazil.

15CCR

Bridgestone developed the pro-motion “used tire pays for a brand new one”, granting up to a R$ 200 discount on the purchase of four passenger tires and up to R$240 on 4WD tires. The promotion was valid at all POSs taking part in the pro-motion across the country March 1 through April 30.

When purchasing and assembling Bridgestone and Firestone tires at participating concessionaires, con-sumers left their old tires to win an automatic discount based on model. Consumers received purchase dis-counts according to model.

“This action benefit consumers by offering purchase discounts and it created a benchmark distinctive feature through better client servi-ce and stronger Bridgestone com-mitment towards environmental responsibility by the rebate of used tires for recycling purposes, making good use of discarded material”, comments Alexandre Lopes, Direc-tor of Sales and Consumer Market at Bridgestone.

Bridgestone new promotion offers discounts to consumers

CONEXIONLATINA CCR

Fans participate in Copa Bridgestone Libertadores promotions

Bridgestone is developing several actions to strengthen its brand among the Brazilian public within the sponsor-ship of Copa Bridgestone Libertadores. Since the start of the championship, several activities have already been implemented:

16BRAZIL14

“WinaT-shirtofyourfavoriteteam”Promotion

Consumers that purchased a set of four tires, Bridges-tone Potenza and Turanza lines, besides Dueler 4WD ti-res, won a T-shirt of their favorite team. The promotion included the six Brazilian clubs that participated in the championship 2013 edition

CopaBridgestoneLibertadoresStand

The action was carried out in commercial centers in six cities and the stand allowed consumers to know the company’s line of products/tires, win promotional cards and participate in activities that offered unique gifts, as “virtual penalty kick”; a consumer shoots out and scores a goal; he can take out a picture and share it on Facebook.

Blitzes

While Brazilian matches were played out of the cities, a Copa Bridgestone Libertadores branded mini van visited bars located in areas of high concentration of fans. Besi-des distributing flyers on tire care and preventive main-tenance, there were gifts and draws of several prizes including hats, balls and even game tickets.

BridgestoneFans

There is a Bridgestone fan area in gas stations on the main highways of Brazil, where you can find a huge screen to watch games, stands, food amenities and gifts for drivers visiting the store eager to watch the games.

“BuyandWin”Promotion

When purchasing two truck tires Bridgestone and Fi-restone at a participating associate, clients win a gift: a necessaire or an exclusive bath towel. This promotion is valid until stock lasts, with sales target fully focused on independent drivers.

17CCR

18CCRBRAZIL14

Formula Truck 2013 starts in Tarumã

wear of the tires, learning a bit more about the five mile “thieves”.

Nationally regarded as the most popular category in the country, Formula Truck follows its way to in-ternational recognition. The event that already has a step carried out in Argentina may expand to other cou-ntries in Latin America.

the state of Rio Grande do Sur, af-ter being out of the category for five seasons.

Taking advantage of Formula Truck on the weekend, Bridgestone also carries out the Bridgestone Truck Stop all along the legs, where con-sumers can get information about safety and comfort on roads. The initiative is directed to independent drivers, offering a free check-up of the truck, identification of possible mechanical failures, need of tire adjustment, among other repair services. Drivers also receive ins-tructions on how to avoid premature

Bridgestone is part of Formula Truck as it has been for 18 years to date supplying 100% of the tires assembled at the race, Bridgesto-ne R227, supporting and promoting several actions to outpace competi-tors. Besides tires, Bridgestone as-sociates all over Brazil offer repair service- assembly, removal and ba-lancing.

Formula Truck, which appeals to Bridgestone audience, is an exce-llent opportunity to show product performance; it will include ten ra-ces and it began on March 10 at Ta-rumã car track, in the city of Viamão,

CONEXIONLATINACCR

19CSR

CONEXIONLATINACSR

This year, Bridgestone na Estrada will travel along Brazil’s highways promoting conferences and enter-tainment activities for independent drivers such as access to Internet and projection of national movies for the local community; it will also be used as a mobile stand at the main regional fairs within the sector. There will a total of 87 stops along the main highways of the country at points having strong concentration

of truck drivers, with the objective of taking the brand even closer to our target public, the independent dri-ver.

“Bridgestone trailer will allow us to have a stronger presence in our target public daily life. This project promotes a three- dimensional ap-proach focused on: relationship, training and brand presence. It is a way to be on the spotlight, promo-ting knowledge and entertainment”,

commented Marcos Aoki, Commer-cial Sales General Manager at Brid-gestone Brazil.

The trailer will travel along the main highways of the states of São Paulo, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná and Bay, visiting 11 cities.

Road show trailer promotes knowledge and entertainment

BRAZIL

20BRAZIL14

Children and adolescents receive sports wear donated by Bridgestone

CONEXIONLATINACSR

To foster sports activities, Bridges-tone donated Sports wear to 400 socially handicapped children and adolescents between 8 and 14 that attend soccer schools run by Santo André prefecture.

“Soccer is a sport that awakes public’s passion and encourages team work, essential values of our brand. Therefore, we are glad to contribute to the individual de-velopment of these children and adolescents through sports“, com-ments Ariel Depascuali, president of Bridgestone.

“I would like to congratulate Brid-gestone for its donation of sports wear as a contribution to the pro-ject undertaken by the prefecture. It is very important to encoura-ge youth to take up this sport; by means of this activity we can put them to work, to learn positive ha-bits“, comments Carlos Grana, Mayor of Santo André.

The donation took place on May 28 in one of the soccer training grounds, during a ceremony atten-ded by Carlos Grana, Santo André Mayor, Mr Ariel Depascuali, Pre-sident of Bridgestone, other offi-cers from the company, besides kids and adolescents participating in this project together with their parents.

21CSR

Bridgestone Chile was present at Copa Bridgestone Libertadores

22CCRCHILE14

To accompany Copa Bridgestone Libertadores actions at regio-nal level, Bridgestone Chile had brand presence during the mat-ches played in this country.

Next to the circle center a tire shaped image opens out before each match and during the half-time; Bridgestone also appea-red on the air-inflated tunnel for players to reach the ground. This presence was enhanced by brand exposure on press personnel’s wear, ground and production staff. Also, at the end of each match, Bridgestone gave a brand trophy to the “best Player of the Game.”

A team made up of 20 people wor-king for the events, the Copa Brid-gestone Libertadores is, no doubt, a great display opportunity for the brand that can reach thousands of people in Chile as much as in the remaining countries of South America and worldwide.

With great brand exposure the company was present at sta-diums where the local matches were played.

CONEXIONLATINACCR

neighbors, especially children at social risk, visit the place. This last fact was the primary motivation for our company to offer its part.

Among the different activities de-veloped at the center we can find Soccer, Futbolito, Baby Football and Rugby, which are practised by chil-dren, youths and adults. The center also develops aerobics gymnastics targeting senior members of the community and housewives.

The ground was reopened last Au-gust 11, when there was an exhibi-tion of all the disciplines practised

at the center. The main attraction was a friendly football game bet-ween Colo-Colo 91’ and a team made up of community members. Bridgestone ran its advertising ac-tivities to enhance brand presence at the event.Fulfilling the commitment under-

taken at the press conference orga-nized at the end of Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana 2011, the company made its contribution for the recons-truction of a soccer ground, remode-ling restrooms, dressing rooms and open galleries in the premises. This sports facility is located in the com-munity of La Florida; different com-munities, institutions and groups of

23CHILE14

Bridgestone Solidarity

CPR Course

With the objective of being a com-pany that applies safety in all its va-lue chain, Bridgestone Chile’s mem-bers all attended the first CPRcourse (cardiopulmonary reanima-tion) delivered at the company; it took 2 hours and included theory and practice exercises.

This is an action that undoubtedly will make us stand out form our competitors if we apply it in all our Family Channel stores to offer high standard services.

CONEXIONLATINACSR

CONEXIONLATINACCR

24COLOMBIA14

Bridgestone gets closer to consumers through social media.

@BridgestoneCol

/BrigestoneColombia

/BridgestoneCol

With the objective of coming even closer to consumers in our country, Bridgestone Colombia takes a step toward social media through its Fa-cebook page (www.facebook. com/BrigestoneColombia), its Twitter account, (@BridgestoneCol) and its official channel on YouTube (www.youtube. com/user/BridgestoneCol), by means of which consumers can find information on the different ac-tivities developed by the company in our country, social responsibility campaigns and tips on road safety. “With this initiative, in which we inte-

grate different digital media available nowadays, we can offer information to the market on how to optimize sa-fety when driving and how to contri-bute to having a healthy environment. Additionally, and thanks to our par-ticipation as Copa Bridgestone Sud-americana 2013 sponsors, we can share relevant information with sports fans”, pointed out Carlos Eduardo De Araujo, CEO at Bridges-tone Colombia.

This strategy applied to the media

has enabled Bridgestone Colombia to have a closer approach to its con-sumers and to get to know its users better. All this is done in an effort to anticipate their needs and provide products with the quality and tech-nology they have always had.

25CCR

All car owners at Boyacá may get Bridgestone high quality and technology at the new service center Los Libertado-res, in Sogamoso city.

Their experience, over 10 years in the market, their kind and professional treatment to clients has turned this fa-mily owned company into an excellent option in Sagamo-so and surrounding areas.

“The strategic alliance built with Bridgestone to open this new service center makes it possible for us to transfer the experience, quality and technology the company has

to offer”, pointed out Alex Nova, General Manager at Los Libertadores. “We are a well known company for its ac-countability and professionalism; we are sure we can con-solidate our business side by side with Bridgestone to get greater recognition in the region, he added.

New Service Center at Los LibertadoresBridgestone quality and technology reaches the new Service Center Los Libertadores, in Sogamoso, Boyacá, Colombia.

26CCR 26CSRCOLOMBIA

With full success, Bridgestone Colombia runs the “Think Before You Drive” campaign

With the purpose of raising aware-ness among Colombian drivers about the main risk factors that can lead to seriousor deadly accidents, Bridges-tone Colombia has been developing the social responsibility nationwide campaign “Think Before You Drive”.

So far this year It has already been developed in different Service Cen-ters, and chain stores in Bogotá and Cali to expand to Medellin, Cúcuta,Barranquilla and Tuluá,

“ Bridgestone’s commitment stems from its passion to improve safe-ty and users’ living standards all around. Through our mission, wework hard in order to be a trustwor-thy company, a socially responsiblecompany”.

14

CONEXIONLATINACSR

27COSTA RICA14

Copa Bridgestone Libertadores in Central America

Since last February and until concluding the tourna-ment by mid year, Bridgestone Costa Rica has been or-ganizing events for distributors, friends and end users. The official presentation of the sponsorship took place in El Salvador in February and in Honduras and Costa Rica in March together with journalists, distributors and special guests.

About 150 people were present at the tournament mat-ches and enjoyed snacks, sodas and football clinics prepared for all the followers of the main tournament in South America.

The activity was used to draw promotional products and to inform about the activities to be carried out at POSs, also about the applications developed for the tourna-ment in its android and smartphone versions, the web site www.bridgestonelibertadores.com and the promo-tions on facebook to win two tickets to the tournament final match.

CONEXIONLATINACCR

28COSTA RICA14

Bridgestone gets ecologic blue flag award

New environmental actions aim at obtaining Carbon neutral Certification 2013.

CONEXIONLATINACSR

29CSR

The technical committee of Eco-logic Blue Flag Program granted Bridgestone Costa Rica a four-star award in the category Actions to cope with Climate Change for its actions and achievements in terms of environmental issues.

The company got top grades in all parameters evaluated and became the award winner for having a Was-te Management Plan, (PGR- Plan de Gestión de Residuos), ISO 14001 and 9001 certifications, as well as a Carbon Footprint Calculation.

According to Sylvia Alfaro, Regional Manager of Environmental Issues at Bridgestone Costa Rica, this achievement is the best way to set the example to those who are part of BSCR family and the commu-nity in general since it embodies the positive performance in terms of environmental indicators shown by the company throughout these years, as well as the wish to accept new challenges that will lead us to be number one, striving for conti-nuous improvement..

HardWork

Given that sustainability is a fun-damental pillar for Bridgestone management, its business is deve-loped around three fundamental pi-llars, binding environmental, social and economic evolution.

As regards environmental matters, the company abides by ISO14001 standards, focusing its efforts on three important areas:

• In harmony with nature, it contri-butes to biodiversity through habitat improvement and conservation as well as by means of environmental education directed to stakeholders and those working on their behalf. • To value natural resources by the continuous improvement of its ope-rations in tire manufacturing foste-ring a rational use of natural re-sources, also by improving design to become more efficient.

• To reduce CO2 emissions, minimi-ze green house emissions interna-lly and continuously with the purpo-se of complying with our corporate goal of diminishing CO2 emissions by 25% by 2020 and supporting the country Program of reaching Car-bon Neutrality by 2021.

Thus, Bridgestone has succeeded in developing a series of activities and actions leading to controlling, improving and minimizing the en-vironmental impact arising from its internal processes.

On the other hand, different projects have also been developed to reach environmental sustainability at both internal and external levels, among them responsible management of solid waste, reduction of energy consumption and CO2 emissions, own water consumption, treatment of waste water, disposal of waste tires, campaign against Dengue, among others.

30COSTA RICA14

4777 hours of altruistic, deliberate and purposeful volunteer work

CONEXIONLATINACSR

31CSR

A choir, a theater group, a campaign on highways, the program Leaving a footprint at schools, typical initia-tives from different departments, the delivery of Books for All to chil-dren in Belén, tires removal in Tár-coles river are only some of the projects that added 4777 volunteer hours thanks to the effort and com-mitment from BSCR stakeholders.

In 2012 a total 280 people worked for the community well-being, the en-vironment and the promotion of art and culture.

“At Bridgestone we are extremely satisfied with our performance in 2012 and what’s more, we are gra-teful to all our volunteers for their contribution to the different actions, in terms of knowledge and abilities. In spite of the myriads of challenges we did an excellent job using the group’s resources and abilities. The objective is to increase the number of volunteer hours and maintain our first place position as an environ-ment friendly company, emphasized Ana María Arce, Corporate Rela-

tions and Community Coordinator. Besides local actions, soon there will be corporate volunteer work projects at each of our subsidiaries striving for a Latin-American inte-gration of volunteer work in one for-ce.

In2013

Many of the programs carried out successfully will continue in 2013. Besides, some other interesting volunteer actions have been pro-grammed as a visit to Talamanca indigenous reserve to improve its infrastructure and foster integra-tion of community members, main-tain volunteer work in Tárcoles river and promote blood donation, among others.

Bridgestone Costa Rica trains its suppliers and distributors on Social Responsibility

After this audit, the company works on a plan of improvement develop-ment in the areas where it obtained lower marks by getting internal tra-ining and working on projects and strategies that allow them to impro-ve. This whole project is financed by BSCR, FUNDES and to a smaller de-gree by distributors and suppliers.

Soon the process will be over; re-sults on improvement will be dis-closed as well as sustainability knowledge and social responsibility applied throughout the project.

The process applied to Value Chain consists in carrying out, as first step, a self evaluation about the current situation on these issues within each company using a tool PyMES, measured with the sup-port of a consultant and through the parameters settled down by AED, among them internal public, gover-nance, community, generation of public politics, responsible retailing, environment and suppliers.

Bridgestone Costa Rica together with the Business Association for Development (AED), the German Te-chnical Cooperation (GTZ) and the organization for business Develo-pment MIPYMES (FUNDES), under the project Value Chain, trained se-veral clients and suppliers on issues relating to Sustainability and Corpo-rate Social Responsibility in Costa Rica.

Reenfrío and Trac-taco are repre-sentatives of our distribution chain; Group HAS, IONICS, Elvatron and TAS belong to the suppliers area; the former were selected for the im-pact their operations have on Brid-gestone Costa Rica and their clear interest in continuous improvement.

The objective of the company is to align practices among those wor-king with us, sensitive to social res-ponsibility management for them to develop their business activity and achieve sustainable and socially responsible processes.

32COSTA RICA14

CONEXIONLATINACSR CONEXIONLATINACCR

33MÉXICO14

Launching Dayton, a new brand

On April 16 Bridgestone Mexico, through its division Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions (BBTS), in-troduced its new brand DAYTON and tire designs for load transporters and passengers Radial Metro All Position and Radial Drive Deep Skid, new tires for high tech truck manu-factured in USA, and which offer as main benefit a low cost and solution of excellent renewability.

Unlike our competitors’ tires in the same segment Dayton tires are manufactured in USA with a Quality Assurance System issued by Brid-

gestone, counting on compound, design and production processes that aim at securing safety for dri-vers and passengers.

“For Bridgestone introducing a brand as Dayton in Mexico means a an opportunity for further growth since we aim at satisfying a market segment by providing a wider range of high quality products that gua-rantee physical safety as much as cost reduction by kilometer,” said Alejandro Cortés, BBTS division Commercial Director, who was the host at the main event.

Nowadays in the country automo-bile transportation carries 80% of the load; this is the reason why we should offer products that meet the demand of such an important sector in our internal economy; in turn, tourism through highways has taken an outstanding position lately, which highlights the need of high quality products that guaran-tee savings and safety when trave-ling across Mexican roads; Dayton has met those needs.

CONEXIONLATINACCR

34MÉXICO14

Promotion “Looking for a race driver” Indy 500

35CCR

Bridgestone is recognized as Superbrand 2013

Bridgestone Mexico has been re-cognized as one of SUPERBRANDS 2013 by the Mexican Brand Board.

Superbrand Mexico is a global branding independent authority present in more than 80 countries where it identifies, evaluates and acknowledges the most prestigious brands in the market to be publis-hed in a collection book.

The company was chosen among a group of more than 1000 brands that were evaluated according to the following criteria: (1) back-ground; (2) market presence; and (3) consumers’ loyalty. Only com-panies that obtain “outstanding” rating in all categories are entitled to get the award.

“For Bridgestone it is an honor to be recognized once again as a SU-PERBRAND in Mexico, mainly in such a competitive market as ours, which represents a great challenge for all brands,” commented Amelia Vives, Manager of Corporate Rela-tions and Social Responsibility at Bridgestone Mexico on receiving the award.

“At Bridgestone we have set out corporate, promotional and ob-viously marketing strategies that have made us a market leader.

Bridgestone is positioned as a brand of excellence thanks to our brand va-lues and our corporate philosophy, following our mission to serve socie-ty with superior quality”, added Ms Vives

With the objective of bringing the public closer to a unique experience in motor sport, Bridgestone México launched its competition “Looking for a race driver” to take winners to be part of Indianapolis 500 miles, one of the most important events in motor sport history.

Firestone and Indy 500 have always been a duet full of passion for spe-ed and great tradition in the racing world; it is for this reason that they pull together their strength in this competition in Mexico to come clo-ser to the public that has bestowed trust and support on them through

time. “Looking for a race driver” is a social media promotion effective until April 26 and will take 5 winners and their navigators on a free trip to Indianápolis 500 miles.

This social media contest was laun-ched through Firestone México Fa-cebook (/FirestoneMX). Inside the application users followed five races (or chances) that consist of three turns or rounds of questions that would put their Indy 500 knowledge to the test.

Winners received a free trip for two all inclusive to Indy 500 that took pla-ce May 24 to 26, 2013.

During the trip, the winners spent their stay with Bridgestone México officers and race organizers. The

fortunate winners and their navi-gators attended Indianápolis Motor Speedway, regarded as the biggest sports facility in terms of capaci-ty, and together with other 400,000

spectators they shared the emotion of the hair raising 200 turns on this historical race. At the end of the race the winners of “looking for a race driver” greeted Tony Kanaan, winner of Indianapolis 500 miles 97th edi-tion, who spoke about the impact of this victory when becoming the four-th Brazilian race driver to receive this award.

36MÉXICO14

For four consecutive years, Brid-gestone Mexico has carried out its road safety action during Holy week vacation through its cam-paign “Think before You Drive” on the main access roads to Mexico City, Guadalajara and Merida.

The company has experts in safe-ty matters when it comes to taking care of tire performance.That is why, based on numerous validated studies and tests, our company re-commends drivers should have tire conditions checked monthly and get tire inflating pressure checked by an expert, available at a service center; drivers should also ensure tire rotation as well as basic alig-nment and balancing; in turn, it

is important to have a look at tire wear and vehicle overload befo-re heading for a highway, among other tips.

“At Bridgestone we are very proud of carrying out outstanding actions relating to road safety such as this campaign on Holy week, an activity that promotes practical advice ba-sed on our campaign “Think Befo-re you Drive,” commented Amelia Vives, Manager of Corporate Re-lations and Social Responsibility at Bridgestone México. “This is the fourth year in a row we have im-plemented this initiative based on road safety actions due to the great success it has always shown for we provide first hand information

to thousands of drivers eager to spend a pleasant vacation time.

For the implementation of this ac-tion on Holy Week, Bridgestone promoters together with the safe-ty buddy, Mr Dummy, advised tra-velers by handing out informative flyers including important safety tips before setting out on a trip. The action was developed on busy access roads from Mexico City to Cuernavaca-Acapulco, Toluca, Pue-bla and Querétaro highways; in turn this year this action was extended to other cities on Merida-Cancun and Guadalajara-Nayarit highways. At the end of the program, this ini-tiative reached around 30 million travelers.

Road safety campaing for holy week

CONEXIONLATINACSR

37

“Think Before You Drive- Kids” For five years in a row

CSR

To go ahead with this successful program “Think Before You Drive KIDS”, Bridgestone Mexico promo-tes well-being and road safety for kids at national level through an in-teractive show with a blend of tea-ching and amusement for school children, emphasizing road safety tips such as using safety belt, kids on the back seat to avoid any dis-traction source for dad or mom.

The tour “Think Before You Drive –KIDS” visited several public and pri-vate schools in León, Guadalajara, Querétaro, Cuernavaca, Merida and Mexico City, reaching an estimated impact of above 154,000 kids in the Republic of Mexico, outpacing the 150 shows last year.

The show “Think Before You Drive KIDS” tells an amusing story about Mr Dummy, a puppet that together with the scientist at Bridgestone test center, explains to kids what safety rules to follow when on board of a vehicle to prevent accidents.

“We are surprised at the success this program has had year-over-

year since schools and parents alike have accepted Bridgestone’s initia-tive favorably for taking an educa-tional and funny approach to road safety rather than an alarming one. Many parents feel grateful to this program as it raised kids’ aware-

ness on safety, for themselves and their family”, explained Amelia Vi-ves, Manager of Corporate Rela-tions and Social Responsibility.

CONEXIONLATINACSR

38CCRVENEZUELA14

Bridgestone Firestone, Venezolana, C.A., has a new web site that helps consumers to find a suitable tire so that they can make the right pur-chase more easily and in a pleasant environment. The web site is www.bridgestone.com.ve

The new site design was conceived for users to get acquainted with the product they need, to learn about fea-

tures and properties. It also offers a wide range of images that can be managed from mobile devices, which will also facilitate the location of the nearest Official Service Center at any moment.

This initiative is part of the strategies implemented by Bridgestone Corpo-ration across Latin America to get closer to consumers; therefore each

subsidiary will reinvigorate its pre-sence in the digital world to offer the public further benefits. Consumers accessing the web site will also have the brand latest news, products, pro-motions and points of sale in each country.

Bridgestone launches a new web site

The corporation refreshes its platforms across Latin America

39CSRVENEZUELA

Bridgestone Celebrates Tree Day

BFVZ volunteers together with students and academic staff.

Complying with our Corporate En-vironmental Mission Bridgestone Firestone Venezolana, C.A., through its volunteer force organized an Envi-ronmental Day in the municipality of Guacara, Carabobo State, where its plant is located.

The initiative, framed within the Tree Day commemorating activities (May 26), was a donation of araguaneyes trees to the Escuela Básica Estadal 19 de julio, where workers planted trees together with students and

Bridgestone Firestone Venezolana, C.A., reinvigorated its program “In-flating Pressure” just before Carnival and Holy Week this year to raise road safety awareness when traffic flow increases across the country.

The company carried out two ses-sions that added a total of eight ac-tion days, during which 3,485 vehicles circulating along Autopista Regional del Centro, one of the busiest roads in Venezuela were checked; quali-

fied personnel examined each tire to determine air volume, and discard possible irregularities (distortions, cuts or swells) that could harm per-formance.

With this initiative, the organiza-tion has reinforced its commitment towards road safety and the environ-ment since caring about appropriate inflating pressure contributes to re-ducing risks of accidents and reduces the emission level of polluting gases.

delivered a talk on environmental awareness.

The activity is part of a series of work-shops developed by the company in line with its environmental com-mitment embedded in the program “An araguaney tree for my school and my community” belonging to its Social Responsibility Management conceived to enhance the importan-ce of the national tree of Venezuela.

A total of 300 students participated actively in the activities developed by Bridgestone volunteer force in the classrooms. Children clarified doubts on the steps to follow when planting a tree and learned about the importance of protecting the environ-ment.

BFVZ reinforces its commitment towards the environment and road safety.

Carnaval and holy weeks activities

CONEXIONLATINACSR

Over three thousand vehicles checked throughout the inflating pressure pro-gram developed by BFVZ

The web site will guarantee higher level of comfort to visitors

Bridgestone Center: A place for training and entertainment

Dozens of adults and children enjoy CAB facilities.

40VENEZUELA14

CONEXIONLATINACSR

Bridgestone Firestone Venezola-na, fully committed towards wor-kers’ well-being, has adapted part of its facilities located in Valencia (Carabobo State) to consolidate company training and entertaining programs, directed mainly to its personnel, also relatives and mem-bers of the nearest communities.

“Bridgestone Center” modern struc-ture covers 410 square meters, with four training rooms, a multi purpose room and common areas. The acti-vities developed in the center are mainly Human Talent and Social

Responsibility initiatives, also tra-ining courses and trades; the goal is to teach competences that enable participants to have better living standards and even to generate an additional income at home.

For kids, the offer includes dancing, karate, cuatro, guitar and English lessons as well as the possibility to get vocal and music training with a Kids Choir. Adults can be part of a Vocal Ensemble and improve physi-cal shape by taking the daily yoga, pilates and dance therapy sessions available.

At present over 60 kids and adoles-cents attend these activities, ages ranging between 6 and 17. The number of adults that attend acti-vities regularly is around 40 people, besides the dozens of workers that enjoy the facilities when participa-ting in courses or workshops that are programmed activities organi-zed by the different departments in the organization on specific dates during the year.

41CSR

42AMERICA LATINA 14

CONEXION LATINAJULY 2013