When Michelin’s agricultural division wanted to increase awareness of its patented Ultraflex tyre technology, we recommended partnering with one of the leading farming publications to run a nationwide tyre trial – directly targeting the larger scale farmers most likely to invest in the next generation of tractor tyres.

Working in conjunction with Farm Business, we set up a competition for three farmers to win a set of Michelin Ultraflex technology tyres for 12 months – worth more than £8,000 a set, including wheels. In excess of 120 farmers applied to take part. The entries were of such a high calibre that Michelin sent its technical specialist to visit the top six trial candidates. And in the end, Michelin invested in an additional set of tyres to enable a fourth farmer to take part.

The build-up to the trial was extensively covered in Farm Business, with a further three in-depth follow-up features appearing during the late summer, autumn and winter 2011. These looked at how this latest generation of tyres impacts on safety, soil compaction and fuel efficiency – and considered the business case for farmers to invest in Ultraflex fitments for their machinery.