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Wrangler Retains Jump Associates to Study New
Market Opportunities within Western Wear Market

Jump Associates commissioned to study the modern American Cowboy to help Wrangler develop new strategies to drive growth of its Western Wear brands

SAN MATEO, Calif. –December 20, 2004 – Jump Associates (www.jumpassociates.com), a strategy firm specializing in discovering new opportunities for growth, announced today that a contract has been signed with Wrangler (www.wrangler.com), a division of VF Corporation (www.vfc.com), one of the world’s largest apparel companies. Wrangler has commissioned Jump to define growth opportunities for Wrangler’s Specialty Apparel division within the western lifestyle.

In the past, Wrangler’s Western Wear apparel line has targeted the authentic, American cowboy; however, Wrangler understands that the needs of today’s cowboy and cowgirl are changing, and they’re packing a cellular phone along with wire cutters. Wrangler recognizes that in order to maintain its stronghold in the market, they need to forge a link with the new generation of Western Wear consumers.

“The American cowboy will always have the same virtues, but he won’t always have the same needs,” said Bill Stowe, Director of Strategic Planning and Innovation for Wrangler. “We understand that, which is why we’re working with Jump Associates to help us seek insight into our consumers. Jump is helping us re-think the needs of people who buy Wrangler Western Wear and develop a framework to help us relate more closely to their needs.”

Jump Associates specializes in helping companies identify new sources of growth. In working with Jump, VF joins a client list of innovation leaders, including HP, Sony, Nike, 3M and Target Stores. “Today, the very best companies realize that they can’t just focus on single offerings to win – they need to move from designing new products to defining new spaces,” says Dev Patnaik, Managing Associate of Jump. “The good news is that those greenfield spaces are often right outside your window. Our clients soon discover that there are ordinary folks in the world with big needs, the kind of things that keeps them up at night. Much to their surprise, these firms also find that they might be uniquely positioned to solve those needs in clever and compelling ways. We’re very excited about our partnership with Wrangler. They virtually invented western wear, and they’re best suited to connect with a new generation of cowboys that are out there in the world today.”

About Jump Associates
Founded in 1998, Jump Associates specializes in discovering new opportunities for growth. We work with visionary business leaders to identify new markets, reinvent existing categories, and develop new sources of revenue. We then work to make that vision a reality – developing new opportunity maps, customer profiles, product and service concepts, market development roadmaps and channel strategies.

New opportunity development requires us to draw upon a variety of disciplines. We use social research techniques to reframe business problems in terms of what keeps ordinary folks in the world up at night. We use design methods to help companies connect with those people’s lives through compelling new products and services. And we use business planning techniques to create actionable roadmaps for sustaining success over time. Working hand in hand with some amazing clients, Jump has helped companies to dramatically increase their market share, deepen customer devotion and drive top-line revenue growth.

For more information, visit Jump on the web at www.jumpassociates.com.

About VF Corporation
VF Corporation is the world’s largest apparel company. For over 100 years, we’ve grown by offering consumers high quality, high value branded apparel. Our leading brands in jeanswear, intimate apparel, outdoor, sportswear and imagewear span virtually every channel of distribution. By understanding consumer needs and working in partnership with our retail customers, our goal is to understand consumers’ lifestyles and bring added value to their apparel needs.