Driving innovation with Bridgestone Americas

We often say “don’t reinvent the wheel” when it comes to innovation, but Bridgestone Americas has consistently found ways to evolve from simply being “the tire company” to a leading force in digital products and sustainability. On this episode of Catalyst, Clinton chats with Cam Ahler and Dan Luttrell about how their team is implementing forward-thinking strategies to lead their business and industry into the future while better serving their customers. 

Where the innovation rubber meets the road

Bridgestone is a testament to what can happen when an enterprise innovates without cannibalizing what made it successful by evolving its core offering into compelling new value propositions for its customers. In addition to maintaining its status as the largest tire manufacturer globally, Bridgestone offers sporting goods, fleet management services, tire and automotive service financing, industrial parts and textiles, and more. However, in its current phase, the company is increasingly focusing on digital products and software-based solutions.

Over the past decade, Bridgestone has shifted from “lowercase d” digital transformation practices such as digitizing scheduling and e-commerce to a more comprehensive reinvention of its business. By leveraging telematics, predictive models, and data analytics, the company has developed an API-based ecosystem that not only monitors product performance but also helps customers optimize their operations. For instance, in the B2B space, Bridgestone uses sensors and real-time data to help fleets manage maintenance more efficiently. This highlights the value of not just collecting data, but using it to create better customer outcomes. 

Let your customers lead the way

Putting customers in the driver's seat of innovation is critical for success. There has been a rapid and drastic shift in consumer preferences for digital-based experiences, which has created an opportunity to leverage data and customer feedback to create more effective products, services, and experiences. But delivering those experiences sometimes requires enterprises to look outside themselves, or even beyond their own industry or competitive landscape. Bridgestone often draws inspiration for its customer experiences from businesses in retail, hospitality, and other verticals. Creating familiar and seamless experiences for customers across their digital lives can help to reduce friction and improve satisfaction, ultimately helping to build trust in a time where strong relationships between businesses and consumers are more valuable than ever. 

Serving society with superior quality

In addition to the shifts in customer habits, sustainability is becoming a core driver of business strategy for forward-thinking organizations as sustainable materials, modular manufacturing, and energy-efficient products are increasingly in demand. This has become a major focus for Bridgestone, and a further opportunity to innovate their manufacturing processes, digital services, and materials. But this evolution isn’t happening in isolation. 

Whether it’s co-developing solutions with technology partners or working with customers to identify new opportunities, innovation doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Partnering with other organizations allows companies to tap into broader ecosystems, scale their offerings, and create new value. This interconnectivity with partners, commitment to sustainable values, and smart use of data ensures that companies like Bridgestone can continue to grow and thrive for the next 100 years while also helping shape a more sustainable society for all.

As always, don’t forget to subscribe to Catalyst wherever you get your podcasts. We release a new episode every Tuesday, jam-packed with expert advice and actionable insights for creating digital experiences that move millions.