Action Performance Hires Coca-Cola Executive as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing and Business Development

25 May 1999

Action Performance Hires Coca-Cola Executive as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing and Business Development

    PHOENIX--May 25, 1999--Action Performance Companies Inc. Tuesday announced that Howard Jacobs, a former executive with The Coca-Cola Company, was named senior vice president, worldwide marketing and business development.
    For the last two years, Jacobs has directed The Coca-Cola Company's comprehensive and award-winning NASCAR strategy and brings to Action Performance a proven track record of strategic brand-building and business development expertise. He will be based at Action's Phoenix headquarters, reporting directly to Chairman, President and CEO Fred W. Wagenhals.
    In the newly created position, Jacobs will direct the strategic marketing vision of the company and the development of all marketing initiatives and brand-building efforts across the company's various subsidiaries, divisions and product lines.
    Jacobs will also oversee the development of special marketing platforms, including those specifically designed for Action's Web site at www.goracing.com, NASCAR, CART and Formula One as well as Hasbro's Winner's Circle(R) mass retail line.
    Jacobs first worked with Action in 1998, while at Coca-Cola, in the development of a cross-promotional partnership with NASCAR champions Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving Coca-Cola branded cars in their first father-son race at the Coca-Cola 500 in Motegi, Japan, resulting in one of Action's most successful marketing initiatives to date.
    Said Wagenhals, "We are pleased to have Howard Jacobs join the Action Performance team. He is a strategic thinker with a wealth of expertise in consumer marketing, brand management, and motorsports marketing.
    "This is a significant step toward maximizing our strategic plans for building Action's brand portfolio and increasing our competitive advantage through superior planning and marketing execution."
    Said Jacobs, "I am thrilled to be joining the dynamic Action Performance team, a Company uniquely positioned to leverage the explosive worldwide consumer demand for motorsports products.
    "Action's superior marketing assets, alliances and distribution capabilities offer tremendous opportunities for growth and I look forward to leading an intensified strategic marketing effort to fully maximize the exciting potential of the Action Performance business system."
    Before taking on the responsibility of directing The Coca-Cola Company's motorsports strategy, Jacobs served as senior group manager, Worldwide Entertainment Marketing for Coca-Cola. Prior to joining The Coca-Cola Company, Jacobs served as vice president, Cartoon Network brand at Turner Entertainment Group, a division of Time Warner.
    Action Performance Companies Inc., is the leader in the design, marketing, promotion and distribution of licensed motorsports merchandise. Its products include a broad range of motorsports-related die-cast car replica collectibles, apparel, souvenirs, and other memorabilia.
    The company markets and distributes products through a variety of channels, including the 165,000-member Racing Collectables Club of America (RCCA), online through SpeedMall at goracing.com, trackside at racing events, mass retail department stores, and a worldwide network of wholesale distributors and specialty dealers.