PHILADELPHIA, PA (BRAIN)—Advanced Sports International (ASI) has hired Tim Jackson as lifestyle/transportation category manager for its Fuji, Breezer and SE brands.
Jackson spent the past six years as brand manager at Masi Bicycles, where he oversaw all marketing and branding, writing all collateral copy and helping with ad creation, graphics and bike colors.
During his tenure, the Masi brand grew exponentially, thanks in large part to Jackson, who developed a distinctive voice in the social media world, “Masi Guy,” that attracted hundreds of fans on Facebook and Twitter.
“It is hard to let go of the emotional connection with Masi, but I’m leaving the brand with a ton of momentum behind it. I’m super proud of where Masi has gone and I will always be proud of it,” said Jackson, adding that Haro will hire to fill his role.
Jackson’s knowledge of the industry coupled with his passion for cycling is what made him so attractive to ASI’s director of sales and planning, Steve Parke.
“I’ve known Tim for a long time. He is one-of-a-kind, and we are glad he is interested in helping ASI’s brands gain even more momentum,” said Parke.
Jackson is looking forward to the new experiences and challenges his new role at ASI will offer.
"As much of a race nerd as I am, I’m also extremely passionate about how to integrate cycling into people's everyday lives," said Jackson, who will now be responsible for the development and specification of Fuji, Breezer and SE’s lifestyle and transportation categories.
"Pat Cunnane and ASI have done a lot to give back to the bike industry, as well as the sport, and that is something that really appeals to me. I want to do more to make cycling a bigger part of American culture,” he added.
Also attractive to Jackson is the opportunity to work with international markets and extend ASI’s global reach.
"It's going to be exciting to get to learn what works and doesn't work in markets around the world—that's one of the challenges I am most looking forward to,” Jackson said. “For example, Breezer is a strong brand in Europe, and I'll be working on ways to make the electric bikes more successful there, in a market that really embraces the product."
Jackson intends to continue reaching out to the cycling world via social media. He will leave the Masi Guy blog in place as a resource, and start a new non-brand-specific blog for future posts.
"I plan to make the entire world much more aware of the ASI brands. I never shut up, so you can expect people to be hearing a lot more about all the awesome things happening with ASI."
Jackson starts Feb. 7 and will work remotely from his home office in San Diego. “This simplifies my life dramatically,” he said.
