New Cooper Tire Campaign Touts Confidence, Savings to Broader Audience

FINDLAY, Ohio, April 3 Cooper Tire & Rubber Company launched an aggressive new national advertising campaign today highlighting the confidence consumers have in the product's ability to perform as promised and the affordability of its Cooper Tire brand.

The brand, which is well known for ads featuring spokesman and golfing great, Arnold Palmer, uses slice-of-life scenarios in its new campaign and the slogan ``Don't Give Up A Thing'' to emphasize the performance, confidence and longevity of its reasonably priced replacement tires.

Aimed at a younger, broader audience, one broadcast spot features a father and daughter coming to terms with their contrasting styles while purchasing tires for the car she will drive. Another centers on a young man's struggle to get home during a storm in time to avoid the consequences of not letting his dog out.

The print campaign features a modified road sign on the side of a wet, winding highway to remind drivers that, with Cooper Tires, they can ``Feel confident without feeling broke.''

``Cooper always has been a leader in providing dependable, affordable aftermarket tires that perform and wear well,'' said Cooper Tire Vice President of Advertising and Communications, Patricia J. Brown. ``With this campaign, we're taking that message to a much broader audience in a friendly way that positions Cooper as a brand consumers can trust.''

The broadcast spots will air in four flights on national cable networks beginning this month and also will run in support of Cooper's sponsorships of the Professional Golfers' Association's (PGA) Bay Hill Invitational and varsity sports and championships in six of the country's most prestigious collegiate athletic conferences. The new print ads will run in selected national consumer publications beginning with the June issues and running into the fall. Redbook and Popular Mechanics are the two publications chosen to reach the target audience.

COLLEGIATE SPONSORSHIPS CONTINUING

Cooper is the Official Tire of the Southeastern (SEC), Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Mountain West and Pacific-10 (Pac-10) Conferences, and provides support for individual sports and conference championship events. Among the sports and championships it sponsors are football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, track and field, soccer, swimming, field hockey, cross country, wrestling, gymnastics, tennis and golf.

The multi-year program includes advertising, merchandising, promotional and media rights to each of the sponsored conferences, as well as, selected hospitality and special event packages for conference events and championships.

``The broad geographic coverage represented by these conferences and the youthful passion of their alumni and fans fit perfectly with the aims of this campaign,'' said Brown. ``The sponsorships also provide excellent opportunities for our dealers to implement targeted consumer and business-to-business marketing programs in key sales territories.''

Cooper's support of college athletics is part of an extensive national sports sponsorship program that includes associations with the Bay Hill Invitational and legendary golfer Arnold Palmer. Encouraging excellence and achievement is a cornerstone of the Cooper Tire philosophy. And now, Cooper Tire extends that commitment to the student-athletes in collegiate athletics. Through scholarships and donations, Cooper Tire provides support for some of America's most prestigious collegiate athletic conferences.

Cooper Tire is one of the fastest growing tire companies and is a major supplier to the North American tire replacement market. Specializing in the manufacture of replacement tires for the automotive aftermarket industry, Cooper as an international brand is sold through a network of dealers and distributors in more than 100 countries. Cooper also is one of the largest private label tire suppliers to the North American replacement market.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is headquartered in Findlay, Ohio and specializes in the manufacture and marketing of automotive products. Products for Cooper Tire include automotive, motorcycle and truck tires, inner tubes, tread rubber and equipment. Cooper-Standard Automotive is an original equipment supplier of sealing, trim, NVH control systems and fluid handling systems for the automotive industry in North America, Europe, Australia and South America. Cooper has more than 20,000 employees and 52 manufacturing facilities in 13 countries. For more information, visit the Company's web site at: www.coopertire.com .