03/19/2004

• Communication for the premium tire brand: TV commercials with brand ambassador Timo Hildebrand
• Partnership with the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006TM fully integrated in print and online campaigns
• ContiFanWorld now available in five languages – Continental presents Destination Germany

Here you can watch the TV Spot online...

Hanover, March 2004. Continental AG, Hanover, is intensifying its communication activities for its Continental premium tire brand, banking on the world's most popular and attention-grabbing sport, football. Continental has made a TV commercial with the brand ambassador Timo Hildebrand of VfB Stuttgart, who was introduced at the beginning of February 2004.

The commercial will be aired starting March 20, 2004 (shown for the first time at 18.53 p.m. on ARD - "Die Bundesliga") for Continental as an Official Partner of the 2006 FIFA World CupTM throughout Europe. The television campaign focuses on football programs and broadcasts on the Eurosport, DSF, SAT1 and ARD channels, all of which have a high affinity to football and thus address the target group - football enthusiasts - very well.

Here you can download the press release as a rtf-file (71 KB).

Football sponsoring plays major role in the communication mix

"In our communication for the Continental premium tire brand, football sponsoring plays a key role. In numerous markets, we have entered into partnerships with attractive teams, which are to be used actively especially in view of the 2006 FIFA World Cup GermanyTM," explains Continental brand manager Ralf Hoffmann. This includes for instance the national teams of France and Belgium, in Sweden IFK Gothenburg, FC Copenhagen and Valerenga, in Austria FC Superfund Pasching, in Switzerland FC Basel, in the United Kingdom several Premier League teams as well as Hannover 96 in Germany.

The individual sponsoring commitments all concentrate on the same major goal: "We want to increase the recognition of our brand at an international level, boost our brand image by giving it a sportier and more emotional character and actively involve our current and potential business partners in the sponsoring activities," according to Hoffmann. The 2006 FIFA World Cup GermanyTM is considered to be a perfect communication platform to create an association between tires/tire professionals and football/football professionals. Over the next two and half years, this association will be created in the individual markets using diversified communication measures - taking into account unique local aspects. The activities will focus mainly on technique (of tire development and football players) and safety (of the products and football pros).

Just twenty-four years old, Hildebrand is the ideal embodiment of safety, precision, single-mindedness and perseverance, which fits in perfectly with Continental and its products.

The global FIFA partnership is fully integrated into the brand communication

Since the global partnership agreement for the 2006 FIFA World Cup GermanyTM was signed in Hanover at the beginning of 2003, the sponsoring commitment has been integrated gradually into all print and online campaigns. This process is now considered to be finished. The sponsoring of the most important sports event in the next few years is now being promoted in advertisements in the most important journals and magazines as well as in banners on selected Internet pages. These advertisements offer training camps along with the possibility to already win tickets for the 2006 FIFA World Cup GermanyTM matches.

ContiFanWorld now available in five languages – Conti presents "Destination Germany"

Since the start of the ContiFanWorld online platform (www.ContiFanWorld.com) parallel to the official preliminary draw of the FIFA World Cup qualifying groups in Frankfurt at the beginning of December 2003, the international popularity of this Internet site has been increasing steadily.

After the kickoff in two languages, the ContiFanWorld site is now available in five languages (German, English, French, Spanish and Dutch - Italian in preparation). Surfing football enthusiasts are invited to train in preparation for the UEFA EURO 2004 in Portugal and the 2006 FIFA World Cup GermanyTM. Each month there is a different ContiSoccerCamp training session, with attractive prizes going to the month's top online football players.

In addition, Continental provides the information service "Destination Germany" on the official FIFA Internet site http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/d/ for the 2006 FIFA World CupTM, which is available in four languages. This site contains a great deal of information about the venues, the FIFA World Cup stadiums and Germany as host while promoting Continental's Football online training with banners. Based upon experience gathered during the last football FIFA World CupTM, it is expected that the entire FIFA Internet site will at times have several million visitors a day, both before and during the 2006 FIFA World Cup GermanyTM, making it one of the world's most popular websites.

The Continental Corporation is a leading supplier of tires, brake systems, chassis components and technical elasto­mers. Consolidated sales amounted to €11.4 billion in 2002, with a global workforce of about 64,500.

Continental's Passenger Tires Division is an Official Partner of the 2006 FIFA World Cup GermanyTM. More information can be found at our websites www.conti-online.com and www.contifanworld.com.