• WedgeWEDGE 1 — Sports-marketing / sponsorship-activation specialism, NOT creative AOR: 70% of spend is sponsorship. The realistic WPP play is positioning a sports-marketing capability (think MKTG / Wasserman-style services within the WPP stack, or Mindshare's sports practice) as a partner to MAXXIS' in-house sponsorship team — measurement, activation, content amplification, athlete content production. This honors the chairman's in-house doctrine while inserting WPP capability around it.
• WhySTRUCTURAL HEADWIND: Chairman Chen Yun-Hwa has publicly stated MAXXIS 'insists on doing marketing in-house' (堅持自己來做行銷). When the chairman is the doctrinal author of the in-house posture, an AOR pitch is pitching against the chairman's identity, not against an incumbent agency. This is the single most important fact in the file.
• WhoChen Yun-Hwa (陳榮華) · Chairman — doctrinal author of the in-house-marketing posture; must be persuaded at strategic level before any large vendor change is contemplated

1. W1WEDGE 1 — Sports-marketing / sponsorship-activation specialism, NOT creative AOR: 70% of spend is sponsorship. The realistic WPP play is positioning a sports-marketing capability (think MKTG / Wasserman-style services within the WPP stack, or Mindshare's sports practice) as a partner to MAXXIS' in-house sponsorship team — measurement, activation, content amplification, athlete content production. This honors the chairman's in-house doctrine while inserting WPP capability around it.
2. W2WEDGE 2 — Don't pitch from Taiwan; pitch from Atlanta/Suwanee: The marketing decision-makers sit at MAXXIS International USA in Suwanee, GA — not at Yuanlin HQ. A Taiwan-relationship-only pitch (Jimmy Kuo / WPP Media Taiwan) won't reach the actual buyers. Required: WPP Atlanta / WPP North America counterpart engagement. The Taiwan relationship is a door-opener, not the decision room.
3. W3WEDGE 3 — Global media-agency consolidation play: There is no publicly documented global media AOR. MAXXIS likely buys media region-by-region. WPP Media (GroupM) pitching a global media-buying consolidation — with measurement / commerce / retail-media stack across 180 countries — is a more credible pitch than a creative AOR raid against Blue C.
4. W4WEDGE 4 — Founder-death cycle / 2024-2026 brand strategic refresh: Founder Luo Jye died in 2024. Family-controlled Taiwan industrials often run 2-3-year strategic-refresh cycles after a founder's death. Even with the chairman's in-house doctrine, the brand-strategy layer (Landor positioning work, Ogilvy Consulting brand-architecture audit) is more pitchable than creative execution. Pitch a brand-architecture audit, not an AOR.
5. W5WEDGE 5 — Commerce / D2C / retail-media for tire-buying journey: Tire purchasing is a high-consideration low-frequency category dominated by retail intermediaries (Costco, Discount Tire, US installers; Taiwan tire shops). WPP's commerce / retail-media capability (VMLY&R Commerce, Wavemaker retail media) addresses a real MAXXIS B2C gap that Blue C doesn't have the scale for. This is an additive scope, not a replacement scope.
6. W6WEDGE 6 — Bicycle-tire vertical as discrete pitch: MAXXIS dominates MTB (Crankworx, Enduro World Series, UCI XC). The bicycle audience is digitally native, content-driven, and underserved by traditional creative-agency capability. Pitch a dedicated bicycle-MTB sub-scope (creator/influencer + race-content + commerce) that doesn't threaten the master-brand Blue C relationship.
7. W7WEDGE 7 — OEM B2B narrative for the auto-electrification transition: MAXXIS is winning OEM fits at global auto and bicycle manufacturers. The EV-tire transition (VS-EV+ launch) creates a B2B engineering-credibility story. A B2B-marketing scope (LinkedIn, trade content, engineering thought-leadership) is structurally outside the consumer Blue C relationship.

• STRUCTURAL HEADWIND: Chairman Chen Yun-Hwa has publicly stated MAXXIS 'insists on doing marketing in-house' (堅持自己來做行銷). When the chairman is the doctrinal author of the in-house posture, an AOR pitch is pitching against the chairman's identity, not against an incumbent agency. This is the single most important fact in the file.
• 70% of total ad spend goes to sports / motorsports sponsorship, NOT to traditional creative-agency-deliverable ATL. Even a successful AOR pitch only addresses ~30% of the spend pool.
• Blue C Advertising (Costa Mesa, CA) is the publicly-confirmed creative agency for MAXXIS International USA — the global marketing hub. Blue C is a mid-size independent (NOT a holding-company shop). A WPP pitch IS a competitive raid against Blue C, not against a sister WPP/Omnicom/Publicis/IPG agency.
• Global marketing center of gravity sits in Suwanee, Georgia (MAXXIS International USA), NOT in Taiwan. This means any Taiwan-relationship-led pitch (WPP Media Taiwan / Jimmy Kuo) hits the wrong decision node. The decision is American, even though ownership is Taiwanese.
• No public evidence of a global integrated AOR review — Blue C has held the relationship in some form since at least 2023's 'Performance for All' platform launch. No trade press signals of a pitch or review.
• Founder Luo Jye died in 2024 (age ~99). Founder-death moments often catalyze 2-3-year strategic refresh cycles inside family-controlled Taiwan industrials. Could trigger a brand-platform review at the chairman level — but more likely triggers operational continuity, not vendor churn, given the chairman is the in-house-marketing architect.
• MAXXIS is structurally a B2B-heavy account (OEM tire supply to bicycle/automotive/motorcycle manufacturers globally) — the consumer-AOR scope is smaller than the gross media spend would suggest. The OEM B2B side runs on trade/PR/event marketing, not creative AOR.
• Counter-signal: 2024 revenue was flat YoY at NT$96.2B, but net income grew 12% to NT$8.0B. A company with margin tailwind and stable growth has less pressure to re-shop vendors than a company in distress. The financial trigger for a review is absent.

• Chen Yun-Hwa (陳榮華)Chairman (董事長)

  since 2020

  Took the chair from Lo Tsai-jen in 2020. Came up through GM track inside Cheng Shin. Historically the public spokesperson on marketing posture — quoted in Taiwan-Panorama and 經理人 magazine saying MAXXIS 'insists on doing marketing in-house' and that 70% of ad spend goes to motorsports / racing sponsorship (the founding strategic frame for the brand). Critical implication: the chairman himself is on record as the architect of the in-house-marketing doctrine — that's not a delegated operational choice, it's a chairman-level brand philosophy. Any AOR pitch is pitching against the chairman's stated worldview.

  Source ↗
• Lo Tsai-jen / Robert Lo (羅才仁)Vice Chairman (副董事長)

  since 2023 (returned to board as VC after stepping down from chairman role in 2020)

  Son of founder Luo Jye (羅結). Born 1953. Was Chairman 2014-2020, then VC since 2023. Family-control axis — the Lo (羅) family still effectively controls Cheng Shin even with a non-family chairman. Any large vendor decision is read by Lo family before it lands. Robert Lo personally drove the MAXXIS-brand internationalization push and the global motorsports sponsorship strategy in the 2010s.

  Source ↗
• Li Chin-Chang (李進昌)President / General Manager (總經理)

  since post-2020

  Operational GM under Chairman Chen. Marketing budgets at this scale (~NT$3-6B working media plus sponsorship) require GM-level sign-off but the strategic frame is set at chairman level.

  Source ↗
• Lo Yung-Li (羅永勵)Spokesperson (發言人)

  since ongoing

  Lo family member acting as company spokesperson — IR/corp-comms axis. Not a marketing decision-maker but a relationship-mapping node back into the founding family.

  Source ↗
• unknown Global Marketing / Brand Director — likely sits inside MAXXIS International (USA)Head of Global Brand / Marketing

  since unknown

  MAXXIS International USA (Suwanee, Georgia, HQ at 545 Old Peachtree Rd) is explicitly stated to handle 'all of MAXXIS' marketing for North America AND serves as the main hub for its global marketing.' This is unusual — global marketing center of gravity for a Taiwanese parent sits in Georgia, USA, not at Yuanlin HQ. The actual day-to-day brand director is almost certainly a US-based marketing VP at Cheng Shin Rubber USA (operating as MAXXIS International). LinkedIn diligence target — manual probe required. This US-anchored marketing structure is the single most counterintuitive fact about this account.

  Source ↗
• Luo Jye (羅結) — founder, deceased 2024Founder (創辦人)

  since 1967-2024

  Founder context — built the company from a bicycle-tire shop. His death (2024, age ~99) closed the founder era. Symbolically important for any pitch that references brand heritage, but not a current decision node.

  Source ↗

Sponsorship-first, in-house-doctrine, B2B-heavy. Chairman Chen Yun-Hwa has publicly codified the doctrine: ~70% of ad spend funds motorsports / sports sponsorship (Dakar, MXGP, Crankworx MTB, US Sprint Enduro, plus historical celebrity portfolio of Yao Ming / Matsui / Kwan / Tseng), and brand marketing is 'insisted' to be done in-house. The remaining ~30% creative-deliverable budget runs through Blue C Advertising (Costa Mesa, CA) under the 'Performance for All' platform launched ~2023 — a master-brand-unification frame across MAXXIS' multi-vertical product portfolio (bicycle, motorcycle, ATV, passenger car, light truck). Global marketing center of gravity sits unusually in Suwanee, Georgia (MAXXIS International USA), not at Yuanlin HQ in Taiwan. The Taiwan home market runs as a discrete localized track (product launches, dealer events, Facebook). The OEM-supply B2B side — supplying tires to global bicycle, automotive, and motorcycle manufacturers — is the financial spine of the business but is marketed through trade PR and engineering-credibility content, not consumer-facing creative. This is NOT a Toyota-style or Cathay-style integrated-AOR account. It is a sponsorship-asset management problem dressed as a marketing account.

• MAXXIS 'Performance for All' global brand platform2023 · Blue C Advertising (Costa Mesa, CA) — confirmed via Blue C's published case study · Integrated B2B-distributor + B2C consumer campaign — TVC, digital, trade media, retail POS, motorsports tie-ins. 'Performance for All' tagline rolled out across product lines (auto, light truck, ATV, motorcycle, bicycle).

  Confirmed AOR-style engagement for MAXXIS International USA (the global marketing hub). Blue C describes the brief as 'unifying the MAXXIS brand story to elevate and dominate a competitive marketplace' — a master-brand consolidation play across MAXXIS' multi-vertical product portfolio (bicycle, motorcycle, ATV, passenger car, light truck). This is the single most concrete AOR-type relationship publicly documented for the MAXXIS brand.

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• Crankworx Gold Sponsorship — global mountain-bike series2019 · in-house (sponsorship asset-management, creative deliverables likely produced via Blue C and regional shops) · Three-year title-tier sponsorship (Rotorua NZ, Innsbruck AT, Whistler BC); naming rights to 'MAXXIS Slopestyle in Memory of McGazza'

  Anchor mountain-bike sponsorship — MAXXIS is the dominant tire brand in elite MTB and Crankworx is the most-watched MTB freeride series globally. Re-upped multiple times. Activation is sponsorship-led not creative-led — the 'agency' work is asset capture, video, athlete content; AOR-style integrated creative is light.

  Source ↗
• MAXXIS 'Built for It All' US TVC campaign2024 · presumed Blue C Advertising (consistent with 'Performance for All' platform) · 30-second US TV spots run on iSpot.tv-tracked broadcast/cable

  On-going US consumer creative — light-truck and SUV-tire positioning. Lower production-value mid-tier creative consistent with a regional independent agency, not a holding-company AOR.

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• MAXXIS Dakar Rally / MXGP / motorsports global sponsorship rotation2024 · in-house global sponsorship team + regional motorsports event partners · Tier-1 sponsor at Dakar, MXGP World Motocross, US Sprint Enduro, regional motorcycle series

  Per chairman Chen Yun-Hwa's repeated public statements, ~70% of MAXXIS' total ad budget is allocated to motorsports / sports sponsorship rather than traditional ATL creative. This is a structural choice, not a tactical one. Implication: the addressable creative-agency pie at MAXXIS is the ~30% non-sponsorship slice, not the full advertising budget.

  Source ↗
• MAXXIS VS-EV+ EV-specific tire launch (Taiwan)2024 · unknown (likely in-house Taiwan marketing or local agency, NOT Blue C) · Product launch event at Pingtung Dapeng Bay (Apr 17-18, 2024); Facebook + dealer activation

  Taiwan-specific EV-tire SKU launch. Indicates Taiwan home-market marketing runs on a separate operational track from MAXXIS International / Blue C. Localized event-marketing footprint with limited integrated-creative spend.

  Source ↗
• Yao Ming China celebrity endorsement (legacy)2007 · in-house China marketing — celebrity-as-sponsorship model · Multi-year endorsement deal: Yao Ming (NBA Houston Rockets era) + Hideki Matsui (NY Yankees) + Michelle Kwan (figure skating) + Yani Tseng (LPGA)

  Historical reference proving the sponsorship-first DNA. Even celebrity endorsements were treated as sponsorship buys rather than creative-platform assets. Pattern holds today with the motorsports-athlete portfolio.

  Source ↗

• Chen Yun-Hwa (陳榮華)Chairman — doctrinal author of the in-house-marketing posture; must be persuaded at strategic level before any large vendor change is contemplated
  ↗
• Lo Tsai-jen / Robert Lo (羅才仁)Vice Chairman — Lo family axis; founder's son; controls family-political sign-off on any decision touching the MAXXIS global brand identity he helped build
  ↗
• Li Chin-Chang (李進昌)President / GM — operational budget sign-off across regions
  ↗
• unknown VP Marketing — MAXXIS International USA (Suwanee, GA)Day-to-day global marketing decision-maker; the real Blue C client; LinkedIn diligence target
  ↗
• unknown GM — MAXXIS International BV (Uden, Netherlands)European regional decision-maker; separate budget pool; pitch entry point for WPP EMEA
  ↗

Do NOT pitch this as a creative AOR raid against Blue C Advertising — the chairman is on record as the in-house-marketing doctrinal author, and the addressable creative spend is only ~30% of total ad budget. A traditional 'we make better tire ads' pitch will be rejected at the chairman level regardless of creative quality. Do NOT pitch from Taiwan alone — the global marketing hub is in Suwanee, Georgia (MAXXIS International USA), not at Yuanlin HQ; a Jimmy-Kuo-only relationship pitch hits the wrong decision room. Do NOT compare MAXXIS to Michelin / Bridgestone premium-creative work — MAXXIS is structurally a mid-tier value-performance brand and a premium-creative-AOR pitch misreads the positioning. Do NOT propose F1 / MotoGP top-tier motorsports sponsorship — those are Pirelli/Bridgestone territory and MAXXIS' deliberate strategy is to dominate mid-tier motorsports (MTB, MXGP, Dakar, Enduro, ATV) where they get more share of voice per dollar. Do NOT confuse MAXXIS (consumer brand) with CST (the B2B/OEM brand) — both are owned by Cheng Shin Rubber but marketed differently; CST is OEM-supply-focused and runs on trade marketing not consumer creative. Do NOT ignore the Lo family political layer — even with chairman Chen Yun-Hwa as the operational decision-maker, the Lo family (founder's son Robert Lo as VC, founder's grandson Lo Yung-Li as spokesperson) holds the brand-identity political veto. Do NOT pitch consumer-creative when MAXXIS' actual marketing problem is OEM-engineering-credibility for the EV-tire transition — the brief is more B2B-technical than consumer-emotional.

• Michelin — French global #1; global AOR has rotated (TBWA\Paris historically); premium-performance positioning that MAXXIS does not contest at the high end
• Bridgestone — Japanese global #2; integrated motorsports brand (F1, MotoGP) — direct overlap with MAXXIS sponsorship strategy and a more credible motorsports player at the top tier
• Continental — German global #3; OEM-heavy like MAXXIS, but European-passenger-car-led; less consumer-facing creative profile
• Goodyear — US #1; lifestyle/blimp legacy brand; closest to MAXXIS in US-market mid-tier price positioning
• Pirelli — F1 official tire, premium-performance only; not a direct mid-tier competitor
• Hankook (Korea) / Kumho (Korea) / Yokohama (Japan) / Sumitomo (Japan) — the second tier where MAXXIS actually competes for share, including OEM fitments
• Specialty bicycle competitors: Schwalbe, Continental (bicycle div), Vittoria, Kenda (also Taiwanese, TWSE 2317-adjacent) — MAXXIS is dominant in MTB but contested in road
• Domestic Taiwan: Kenda Rubber (建大工業, 2317) is the direct Taiwan listed competitor — much smaller, also OEM-heavy, separate marketing posture.
• Other Pitch Intel auto/transport accounts: Hotai (2207) and CMC (2204) are passenger-vehicle distributors — adjacent media buys but not direct competitors. Could be relationship-bundled in a 'Taiwan automotive ecosystem' WPP narrative.

• ? Who is the VP Marketing / Global Brand Director at MAXXIS International USA (Suwanee, GA)? Not surfaced in public sources — LinkedIn manual diligence required. This is THE actionable name.
• ? What is the actual scope and contract duration of the Blue C Advertising relationship? Their case study confirms the 'Performance for All' platform but does not state AOR terms, scope split, or contract end date.
• ? Has Cheng Shin Rubber commissioned any brand-strategy / brand-architecture work post-founder's-death (2024)? A Landor or Interbrand engagement would be a leading indicator of a deeper strategic refresh.
• ? What is the European marketing structure under MAXXIS International BV (Uden, Netherlands)? Separate creative agency? In-house? Shared with Blue C? Not publicly documented.
• ? What is the Taiwan home-market marketing arrangement? Is there a Taiwan AOR or is Yuanlin HQ running everything in-house for the home market? Brain Magazine archives may resolve this — not surfaced in public search.
• ? Who handles MAXXIS' global sponsorship-asset production (Crankworx race content, Dakar coverage, MTB athlete content)? Is this in-house, Blue C, or a specialist sports-content shop?
• ? Is there a global media-agency relationship, or is media bought region-by-region? No public documentation — this is the highest-probability uncontested pitch wedge.
• ? How does Cheng Shin Rubber's marketing organization differ between the MAXXIS brand (consumer) and the CST brand (OEM/B2B)? Are these on separate agency rosters?
• ? What happened to the celebrity-endorsement portfolio (Yao Ming, Hideki Matsui, Michelle Kwan, Yani Tseng) era — was that creative produced by a specific agency, and did that relationship continue?
• ? Does the Lo family hold any specific brand-equity governance views that would affect a pitch posture — e.g., is the MAXXIS brand considered family legacy and therefore politically sensitive to outsider creative?
• ? What is the OEM B2B marketing relationship — who handles trade-show content for Eurobike, EICMA, IAA, Reifen, Sea Otter, and is that a discrete pitch scope?
• ? Confirmation: is the brief's NT$200M+ ad-spend estimate Taiwan-only or global? Public chairman-quotes and Blue C scope suggest the global figure is meaningfully higher (US$100-200M range).