Promoting a Tire Brand by Sponsoring a Sport With Samuel Felberbaum, President at Prinx Chengshan Tire 

Samuel Felberbaum is President at Prinx Chengshan Tire. He came to Prinx from Toyo Tires, where he was the Director of Sales for eight years. His passion is in helping companies set up and implement marketing initiatives that increase customer growth, improve retention, and drive revenue. Samuel is a big sports enthusiast, especially when it comes to the New York Yankees.

---

In this episode…

What is the best way to reach your target customer demographic? Is it always through social media, or could there be another effective way? What if it was to be the main sponsor of an event that features an increasingly popular activity? 

According to Prinx Chengshan Tire’s Samuel Felberbaum — whose company promotes the Fortune tire brand and targets business-to-business, regional wholesalers — his executive team has recently signed a multi-year deal to be the official tire of USA Pickleball. Samuel said it was a good fit for Fortune, and his team is hopeful that this will be a great way to gain new customers and expand the brand.

On this episode of Gain Traction, Mike Edge is joined by Samuel to discuss marketing a tire brand to business-to-business wholesalers. Samuel speaks about his past experiences, which have proven valuable in his current position, becoming the official tire of USA Pickleball, the region of the U.S. where the Fortune brand is sold, ways customers can find Fortune tires, and upcoming challenges and goals. Don’t miss it!

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• Samuel Felberbaum discusses his background and shares what led him to Prinx Chengshan Tire
• Who are Prinx’s ideal customers?
• The tire brands Prinx works with 
• Samuel makes a big sponsorship announcement.
• What past experiences were valuable in preparing Samuel for his role as President of Prinx?
• The biggest challenges in the tire industry with the Fortune brand

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Samuel Felberbaum on LinkedIn
• Fortune Tires
• Traction Summit 2023
• Smithers
• Mike Edge on LinkedIn
• Tread Partners

Transcript

Announcer:

Welcome to the Gain Traction podcast, where we feature top automotive entrepreneurs and experts and share their inspiring stories. Now let’s get started with the show.

Mike:

Hello. Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast. I am Mike Edge, your host today. The Gain Traction podcast is where I talk with top automotive business leaders about who they are, where they come from, and what they are focused on today. Before we get started, I’d like to promote the Traction Summit hosted by Smithers. This year’s summit is May 23rd to the 25th in San Antonio, Texas, where attendees will have the opportunity to understand and discuss the future of the tire industry, while also networking with fellow colleagues and professionals. This year’s theme is sustainability and tires. Smithers has been in the tire testing market since the 1920s, providing independent expert opinion on tire performance. So visit tractionsummit.com to find out more information. That’s tractionsummit.com.

This episode today is brought to you by Tread Partners. You might be asking yourself, what is a Tread Partner? Tread Partners is a digital marketing agency dedicated to the tire industry and automotive aftermarket. Tread Partners provides unparalleled support to tire dealers, distributors, manufacturers, and auto repair shops to generate real revenues while minimizing the cost to do it. Tread has profitable customized programs to acquire new customers, retain existing customers, and win back lost customers. So for more information, visit treadpartners.com. That’s treadpartners.com.

Samuel Felberbaum is my guest today. He has had a distinguished career in tires. He grew up in New Jersey and now resides in Southlake, Texas. He graduated from Purdue University with a BS in Management and later received a Master’s in Marketing from Temple University. Sam spent a lot of time with Michelin North America in various row in the commercial side and BFG brand. He was regional director for 10 commercial centers and two retread plants, Retire Centers Inc. owned by Michelin, national account director of International Marketing Inc., VP of operations for 52 locations nationwide for Speedco, sales director for Del-Nat Tire, director of sales for Toyo Tires.

In July of 2022, he was named president of Prinx Chengshan Tire North America. He has been married for almost 25 years to his wife Nicole. They have a 20-year-old daughter and an 18-year-old son. He’s a huge sports fan, especially the New York Yankees. And now he’s also a big fan of pickleball for reasons we’re going to discuss in this interview. Sam, welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast.

Samuel:

Hey, Mike. Great to have me on. Thank you.

Mike:

Yeah, we’re excited to have you here. I want to learn more about… Well, one of the things we want to learn more about and just a little bit is the Fortune brand, but tell me a little bit about yourself. So you came from New Jersey, what was the first job you had out of college?

Samuel:

Well, I started direct with Michelin North America. When I was originally hired, we were brought down to Greenville, South Carolina. And to my surprise, I ended up on the commercial side of the business. And at that time I had a pretty stunned look on my face because I didn’t even realize that Michelin made a commercial tire back in 1992. When I started there, I was asking where the babies were and the commercial that you would always see, the small tires. And they let myself and my other 19 classmates know we’d be selling commercial products. So that’s how it started right out of Purdue when I graduated.

Mike:

So you went from basically Lafayette or is it West Lafayette or Lafayette-

Samuel:

West Lafayette. Yep.

Mike:

All the way to South Carolina then, huh?

Samuel:

To Greenville, South Carolina. I had about eight weeks off before I started in July 13th of 1992.

Mike:

That’s a nice town, not a bad place.

Samuel:

It’s really grown in the last 30 years. I could tell you when I landed there, you came out through the trees from the airport, which had four gates at the time. Two for Delta and two for US Air, and by the corporate headquarters for Michelin. There was the Marriott Hotel and there was a windmill restaurant. I think that’s still there. I don’t even know if it’s still operational and California Dreaming. That was it. And today, Greenville, South Carolina has exploded. Very pretty area.

Mike:

You can see the mountains, which is cool. I recently had experience there, so fun atmosphere, definitely. So tell me us a little bit about as your career. I mean, look man, you’ve got a ton of tire experience. I love the fact that you do and that we’ve got you on the show today. But let’s talk about Prinx and the brand Fortune. You ended up with Prinx last summer and you’re promoting this brand Fortune. Let’s talk about it because I think it’s a good brand.

Samuel:

Well, yes. So I was hired, as you mentioned earlier, back in July of 2022. We do have two brands, Mike. We have the Prinx brand, which today is distributed and marketed by TBC. And then we have the Fortune brand. And both lines are complete lines with passenger, light truck, ST radio, and TBR to meet the needs from minivans all the way to tractor trailers.

Mike:

Awesome.

Samuel:

The company has been around since 1976 is when Prinx Chengshan started making tires. We have two plants today. We have one for the US market that is a state-of-the-art facility in Thailand, and we still manufacture for other parts of the world in China. We also make our ST semi steel trailer tires in China.

Mike:

In the US, now that you’re involved, you’re getting your boots on the ground with these guys, what is your all’s focus, particularly here in the US? What’s your ideal customer right now?

Samuel:

Well, we’re looking for, it’s all B2B, so we deal with wholesalers regionally, and then we also will deal with retailers directly as well. However, one of the main things is that we are 100% container program today. So in order to do that, you need to be able to have the capability and warehousing to be able to receive containers. So that is why the distribution process through distributors is crucial and in working with them to help them find homes for the Fortune tires in the marketplace.

Mike:

Awesome. Good to know. And so recently, I think this is a great big announcement, but Fortune brand is now the official sponsor of… You want to make the announcement here?

Samuel:

Yeah. We signed a deal, a multi-year deal, to be the official tire of USA Pickleball, which is really the grassroots organization of this emerging sport. We thought it was a very good tie in for us in what we’re hopeful to be an emerging brand within our segment. And so between myself and my other executive leadership team members, we thought that this might be a way for us to work to gain new customers, expand the brand, while also being able to be outside and have some fun at the same time.

Mike:

No, absolutely. Well, I’m a participant. I can’t say I’m a big time participant in the sport, but I do think when someone asked me recently, “Well, tell me about pickleball,” or whatever, they hadn’t tried it yet. And I said, “Well, just think of it as like a tennis for old people.” But the weird thing is kids love it, too. So it’s gotten so competitive on so many levels and where I live, and so in our hometown in Owensboro, they already have courts supported by the city, maintained by the city. There’s a league, they got dues. I mean, it’s really taken off and I applaud you guys for jumping on that sport. I think it’s such an up and coming. I don’t see it going anywhere. I see it expanding only right now.

Samuel:

I mean hopefully we’ll get lucky with this sponsorship, but we really thought, as you mentioned, it can be played by people of all ages. And you could play with your grandparent with a grandchild, you could play husband and wife, you could play with your kids. There’s just a lot of opportunity for it. And we saw it as a way to expand our brand and to hopefully drive business to our retailers that are promoting the Fortune brand and will be able to service these customers. And I agree, it is expanding all over the place. I live in the Dallas Fort Worth area and there is a new restaurant that they put in called Chicken and Pickle. Not to give them any free advertising, but you can’t even get in there to sign up to play because they’re out like 45 days and it’s open from 10:00 AM to midnight and it’s impossible to schedule. So all I know from the rules is you have to stay out of the kitchen. That’s the main thing. Stay out of the kitchen.

Mike:

That is a heck of a concept and you’re telling me they’re that booked up.

Samuel:

I tried to schedule my son’s birthday party there. They said we couldn’t get anything in until June. His birthday was last week. And they have beginner classes where if you don’t know how to play, you can learn, they will teach you. And that was booked out until mid-May or something. It’s unbelievable. So we’re really pleased, we’re really hopeful as we get going with this. We have the opportunity within the sponsorship to be the title sponsor at a couple events, the presenting sponsor at the championship amateur event that’ll take place in December in Florida. So we’re really excited to be a part of it.

Mike:

I’m excited for you, guys. Well, personally, I like the name Fortune for the brand. I mean, I think it’s good and just a positive brand, but talk, and I don’t know if it’s possible, but say some of my listeners are listening right now, if they wanted to try a Fortune brand on one of their vehicles at their house, what are some of the areas that you’re most prominent in right now that they could maybe find the Fortune brand?

Samuel:

I think right now, Michael, Mike, we are really… Our strength is in the southern part of the US. I mean, if you took I-70 and divided the US north to south, I would say that that is our strongest part of the country right now. That is not to mean we do not have distribution and we do in the Detroit area and Indianapolis and up in the Northeast. But from where are the main focus of customers right now that we have from a wholesale distribution side reside from California across I-70. That being said, we’re in the process in the next couple weeks, we’ll have a new dealer retail locator that you’ll be able to find at fortunetiresusa.com.

And you’ll be able to hit the dealer locator button, and you’ll be able to search for a retailer near you that will be carrying the Fortune brand of product. Now, that could also be for passenger light truck, but we’ll also have a commercial button. So if you have some listeners out there that have some tractor trailers or they have classified vehicles that they’re looking for product, we’ll be able to service them as well.

Mike:

That’s awesome. No, I’m glad you mentioned that. Going back to your career a little bit, you said you started with Michelin and you ended up in South Carolina. What’s some of the experiences that you’ve had that led you to what you feel like gave you the strength or the knowledge and the ability to get this role now as president? And really, I mean, you’re developing a market. I mean, you’re really growing a brand and that’s a lot of excitement with it, but it’s also, I’m sure there’s a little bit of anxiety with it sometimes.

Samuel:

Yeah, I told everyone, at least those close to me, that as long as my hair didn’t fall out or turn completely gray in the first six months, I would consider it to be a success. So, so far so good, except I think the gray is starting to show up. You know, Mike, I think each step of the way with the different experiences that I had has prepared me to lead the Prinx Chengshan Tire North American division. And whether it was working as a representative for Toyo, checking Tread thefts out in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, or when I was VP operations for Speedco prior to it being bought by… It was initially bought by Bandag, and then subsequently bought by Bridgestone, having all those different opportunities as well as being at Toyo Tires and part of the leadership group over there, and being immersed not just in sales but in marketing, in product development, I think all those different experiences have enabled me to have the opportunity to lead this company.

And I think along the way is my goal to try to bring some major brand thought and process to what I think most would consider to be unbranded or tier three, tier four product. So that’s what we’re trying to do. At least that’s what I’m trying to do with my team here at Prinx in moving both the Fortune brand and Prinx brands forward.

Mike:

Wow, that’s awesome. Well, you have such a extensive background in tires. I could see why they wanted you in the row. And then particularly the sales part of it, I think that’s really, whether people realize it or not, everybody in an organization’s always in sales, right?

Samuel:

Always selling and you’re right. And by moving companies, I think sometimes people think it’s a negative. And I’m sure there’s some to it, but I’ve looked at each move that I’ve made as being positive and I’ve been able to meet and work with people in different companies in different areas. The tire business, while some may think is really big, it’s actually really small. And when you end up at events, you see the same people that have been at different companies, whether it’s manufacturer’s side or distributor’s side, and your acquaintances stay with you. And so when you’re get into something new like this, it does help to at least open the door well and they’ll at least take your phone call.

Mike:

Well, and I think you have the privilege of you get to help define culture and by being in multiple organizations or experiencing multiple organizations, you see the good and bad and hopefully take the good with you.

Samuel:

Exactly. I think that’s a great point. One of the things that we are working on here is what is our culture going to be for our North American team? And how does that fit in place with what we have established from our head office overseas? So we’re working on that as well as trying to sell more Fortune product too, at the same time. So you’re right, we’re always selling no matter what it is.

Mike:

What do you think for the next couple years, what’s your biggest goal and what do you think your biggest challenges are in the tire industry with the Fortune brand?

Samuel:

Well, our biggest goal is going to be working with our current distribution and where we have open space looking to add more. We do have a big factory that we do need to feed, so to speak, with orders, to make sure that it’s running as efficiently as possible since our teammates in Thailand count on us to bring in orders and as well as our team here in the US. So that is one of our goals is to continue to promote and expand the Fortune product. That doesn’t mean that we need to have 18 dealers in a market or 18 distributors in a market, but we do need to have sufficient coverage. So that’ll be one of our goals. And then again, as you mentioned with pickleball being one of our sponsorships is to look at ways that we continue to market and promote the brand.

Now, in terms of challenges, we always got to be concerned with the tariffs. We have to be concerned with logistics and the port out in the West Coast. The contract even today is still not settled even though there’s been no disruption, which has been good for all importers, but that could change at a moment’s notice. And so I’m always concerned about that along the way. I’d also like to be able to get some US warehousing for our products that will help to minimize any type of disruption. And I can tell you that has been a challenge and since I’ve started, because finding warehousing isn’t terrible, but finding it with ESFR, fire suppression, and racking and equipment, because not everyone wants to take tires in storage, has been a challenge. It’s not been insurmountable, but it’s been a challenge for sure.

Mike:

Not that this is even remotely a possibility, but I’m always one that you never know. Is there someone they should contact in the organization if, let’s say somebody’s listening today and might be able to support you guys in some form of warehousing?

Samuel:

Yeah, sure. They could reach out to myself, Mike. They could reach out to myself and I’ll be happy to put them in touch with the right people. So I’d be happy to, if any of your listeners out there have warehousing and they’d like to discuss with us on a 3PL situation, we’d definitely like to speak with them.

Mike:

Okay. Do you want to provide them your email address right now?

Samuel:

Yes, sure. It is Samuel, samuel.felberbaum. So I’ll spell that phonetically. That’s F like Frank, E-L-B, like Bob, E-R-B, like Bob, A-U-M, like Mary @prinx, P-R-I-N-X.us.com.

Mike:

Perfect. I think that’s a great idea there. Well, let’s get to another tough question. We’re kind of wrapping up our timeframe here, but you have a funny moment in your career you could share with the audience or maybe even embarrassing moment?

Samuel:

Yeah. I think I could go back to my initial Michelin days when, back in the day, maybe some of my softer skills were not where they should have been. There was a dealer, I guess I’ll leave them unnamed because we don’t want to dredge up any bad history, but back in the day, I was a young rep with Michelin. And the dealer had committed to buy, I’ll say 500 tires, and they said that they weren’t going to do it. And I said, “Well, you gave us your word that you were going to buy.” And he said, “Oh, no, I’m not going to do it.” I said, “Okay.” I said, “Well, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to go back to my house,” and they had one of these big Michelin signs on the front of the building that was kind of detached. It wasn’t a wall-mounted, but it was like bracketed. I said, “I’m going to get a big rope. I’m going to tie it to the back of my trunk in my company car and I’m going to rip it straight off the building.”

Mike:

Oh, God.

Samuel:

“And I’m going to try to get back.” And the dealer was about 30 miles from the Michelin office. And so obviously the dealer, who’d been a longtime Michelin dealer, got pretty upset. And looking back, it’s pretty funny now. And my boss called me and he said, “I think I’d like to see you in the office.” And I said, “All right, I’m on my way.” And so yeah, I had to take a little bit of a beating there. So every once in a while…

Mike:

You need a refresher on some soft skills probably.

Samuel:

Yeah. I had another moment to where it was my first time leading. I guess I got a lot of stories, Mike, I could go on for now.

Mike:

Keep going. No, keep going. I love these.

Samuel:

These are some classics. So I knew that the guys were getting new cell phones, but when you’re sitting in a meeting for sometimes things that should take 30 minutes take two hours because everybody’s looking at their phones. And this was back in the Nextel days and we really weren’t texting. It was more two-way radio stuff. And I had gotten really upset and I said, “Okay, everyone put your phones right in the middle of the table.” They did and I took a hammer out and started smashing each one around the table and the guys were getting close and I was on the table with the hat and I said, “Okay.” I said, “We’ll no longer take more than 30 minutes for these meetings because we have to pay attention and concentrate.” Well anyhow, they all had new phones coming and they were for the trash, so it got their attention, too. So those are just a couple. There’ve been a bunch over the years.

Mike:

That was priceless. I wish there could have been a video on that last one. That would’ve been great to see the facial expressions.

Samuel:

Well yeah, I’m sure HR would’ve like to have seen.

Mike:

No, actually, I would’ve liked to see the dealer you said that to. You’re going to do what?

Samuel:

Yeah, that was back in 1992. It was a dark gray day in my first stop in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania region that I worked at. So yeah, that was-

Mike:

[inaudible 00:24:06] well, all right, so I’m going to ask you another tough one. What’s one of your favorite places to visit or place you would want to visit?

Samuel:

Well, I would tell you my favorite place to visit when I get some time with the family is we do like to go out to Hawaii. It’s pretty nice out there and we enjoy being out on the island of Maui more than anything. Although one of the places I’d like to visit, and I hope to do it in the upcoming years with the family, is to go out to Normandy. I think it’s really important that from a history standpoint, we shouldn’t always sit on the beach. We should go out and learn something. And I think seeing Normandy and the sacrifices that people made is really something to see down at Omaha Beach. So I hope in the next couple of years to get there. I was supposed to get there in 2020, but with the pandemic that canceled that trip for the family. But in due time, we’ll get out that way.

Mike:

Well, no, that’s great. I couldn’t agree more, Sam, in regards to just the value. Yeah, it’s nice to go sit on the beach, but there has to be a little bit more sometimes and it’s nice to see what the price was paid for us to be able to do those wonderful things like that.

Samuel:

Yeah.

Mike:

Well, the thing that gets me, I mean, some of these guys at Normandy, I mean, we’re talking about 19 and 20-year-olds.

Samuel:

That’s right.

Mike:

Now that we’re at our age and we’ve got kids that age, man, it just seems like they’re babies.

Samuel:

That’s right. It really makes you think when they talk about the greatest generation and sacrifice, I mean, it’s really something. And I think sometimes we should all take a couple minutes to revisit history and remember.

Mike:

I’m glad you [inaudible 00:25:58]. Well, Sam, thanks for being on the Gain Traction podcast. It’s been a pleasure.

Samuel:

Mike, it’s a pleasure having you. And again, if anybody’s out there listening, we would be happy to discuss if they have some warehousing for some 3PL. If you’d like to learn more about Fortune Tires, please feel free to visit us at fortunetiresusa.com. And Mike, thanks again, and it’s been a pleasure being on your show. Thank you.

Mike:

Absolutely. So to all our listeners, thank you for being part of the podcast today. If you’d like to recommend a guest for us, please email me at [email protected]. Until next time, be safe, and have a great day.

Announcer:

Thanks for listening to the Gain Traction Podcast. We’ll see you again next time and be sure to click Subscribe to get future episodes.

• Gain Traction
• Mike Edge
• Prinx Chengshan Tire
• Samuel Felberbaum
• Tread Partners

Transcript