Fara Howard Joins Vans As Global Vice President Of Marketing

CYPRESS, Calif. (April 16, 2014) – Vans, the original action sports footwear and apparel brand, today announced that Fara Howard has joined Vans as global vice president of marketing, reporting to Vans President Kevin Bailey. 

Howard joins Vans from Dell where she served in key roles for several business functions, including product management, ecommerce, and creative. In her new role as global vice president of marketing, Howard will drive Vans’ global marketing strategy and provide marketing leadership to achieve company goals in branding, messaging and positioning.

“Over the past 47 years, Vans has built a significant relationship with its consumers using a comprehensive approach to deeply connect with them through innovative and engaging marketing,” said Bailey. “Fara joins us at a time when Vans is rapidly expanding globally as an iconic youth culture brand based on our authentic action sports heritage, art, music and street culture. She builds our global executive team with the right scope of skills and experience to lead our dynamic marketing leaders around the world in bringing our product and brand values to life.”

Howard brings several key qualifications to the company including strong visionary leadership, global go-to-market experience, large global brand experience and a youth culture background. From 2012 to 2013, Howard led marketing for Dell’s $4.7 billion North America Consumer and Small Business division, overseeing strategy, digital and traditional media, CRM and marketing analytics. During her tenure at Dell, Howard established an in-house creative agency and interactive design organizations, which she grew to a team of more than 200 people globally. Prior to Dell, she worked at Gatorade, part of PepsiCo’s portfolio of brands, and launched its X-Factor sub-line.

“I am honored to join such a deeply rooted and authentic brand with amazing talent and very much look forward to working with the global teams as Vans continues to accelerate as an iconic youth culture brand around the world,” said Howard. “I have always admired Vans for its heritage and originality. I am both humbled and thrilled to be a part of the team.”

Howard fills the global vice president of marketing role previously held by Doug Palladini who was promoted to vice president and general manager of the Americas last year.

About Vans

Vans®, a VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC) brand, is the original action sports footwear and apparel brand. Vans collections include authentic footwear, apparel, accessories and snowboard boots that are sold globally in more than 170 countries through a network of subsidiaries, distributors and international offices. VF Outdoor, Inc. owns and operates more than 415 stores of the Vans brand in the United States and internationally, each offering a range of Vans footwear and apparel while communicating the brand’s rich heritage. The Vans brand promotes the action sports lifestyle, youth culture and creative self-expression through the support of musicians, artists and athletes on boards and bikes all over the globe and through progressive events such as the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing®, the Vans Downtown Showdown, the Vans Pool Party, the Vans Warped Tour® and surfing’s most prestigious contest, the Vans US Open of Surfing. 

About VF

VF Corporation is a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel and footwear with more than 30 brands. The company’s five largest brands are The North Face®, Vans®, Wrangler®, Timberland®, and Lee®. Other brands include 7 For All Mankind®, Bulwark®, Eagle Creek®, Eastpak®, Ella Moss®, JanSport®, Kipling®, lucy®, Majestic®, Napapijri®, Nautica®, Red Kap®, Reef®, Riders®, Splendid® and SmartWool®. For more information, please visit www.vfc.com.


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