Nautilus Establishes Integrated Media and Investor Relations Efforts, Naming Two Agencies of Record

VANCOUVER, Wash., Nov 26, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

The Nautilus Group, Inc. (NYSE:NLS), a leading marketer, developer, and manufacturer of branded health and fitness products, announces today a relationship with both imagio - J. Walter Thompson Public Relations for media relations and Integrated Corporate Relations, Inc. (ICR) for investor relations.

Based in Seattle, Washington, imagio - J. Walter Thompson will handle business and consumer press relations for The Nautilus Group, which sells products under such well known names as Nautilus, Bowflex, Schwinn and StairMaster. ICR will focus its efforts on investor relations strategy while assisting management with shareholder and analyst communications.

"We were extremely impressed with both companies' breadth of experience, as well as their enthusiasm," says Brian Cook, CEO of The Nautilus Group. "We look forward to working with both imagio and ICR, and are confident that this integrated relationship will be long-standing and highly successful."

imagio - J. Walter Thompson Consumer Division's efforts will be targeting both the consumer press as well as the business press. The consumer press effort will raise awareness of the Nautilus family of brands as well as focus on specific product launches. The business press effort will focus on raising the company's profile among the business and investor communities.

ICR, with offices in New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, and Westport, CT, will serve as Nautilus' investor relations advisory firm. Composed exclusively of seasoned Wall Street professionals -- former senior sell-side analysts, portfolio managers and investment bankers who possess invaluable experience dealing with publicly traded equities in the capital markets -- ICR has strong expertise working with consumer branded businesses.

    About The Nautilus Group

The Nautilus Group, Inc. (formerly Direct Focus, Inc.) is a leading marketer, developer, and manufacturer of branded health and fitness products sold under such well-known names as Nautilus, Bowflex, Schwinn and StairMaster. The Company currently markets its Bowflex home fitness equipment and Nautilus Sleep Systems through its direct-marketing channel, using an effective combination of television commercials, infomercials, response mailings, the Internet, and inbound/outbound call centers. The Company sells its Nautilus, Schwinn and StairMaster commercial fitness equipment through its sales force and selected dealers to health clubs, government agencies, hotels, corporate fitness centers, colleges, universities, and assisted living facilities. The Nautilus Group also markets and sells a complete line of consumer fitness equipment, under its Nautilus, Schwinn and StairMaster brands, through a network of specialty dealers, distributors, and retailers worldwide. The Company is headquartered in Vancouver, Washington. The Nautilus Group is located on the Web at www.nautilusgroup.com.

    About imagio - J. Walter Thompson Advertising and Public Relations

Located in Seattle, imagio - J. Walter Thompson Advertising and Public Relations is an independent unit of JWT North America. imagio - J. Walter Thompson partners with emerging and established companies to strategically support all marketing and communications needs. imagio - J. Walter Thompson offers an integrated line of services, including strategic planning, advertising and creative development, and public relations. JWT North America also has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Toronto. J. Walter Thompson, an agency in the WPP Group, plc, with billings of $9 billion, is the fourth largest marketing agency in the world with offices in 87 countries.

    About Integrated Corporate Relations

("ICR"), is an investor relations and advisory firm that provides clients unmatched counsel in communicating with the financial community, and navigating other critical processes tied to the capital markets and business transactions. The team is composed exclusively of seasoned Wall Street professionals -- former senior sell-side analysts, portfolio managers and investment bankers who possess invaluable experience dealing with publicly traded equities in the capital markets. This distinction enables us to communicate with financial professionals as peers, earning their trust and in turn increasing confidence in our clients' credibility.

From time to time, The Nautilus Group may issue forward-looking statements relating to its products and services, including statements regarding its Bowflex, Nautilus, Schwinn Fitness, and StairMaster businesses. Factors that could affect The Nautilus Group's actual results include its reliance on a limited product line, fluctuations in advertising rates, market acceptance of its existing and future products, growth management challenges including the growth resulting from the acquisition of the assets of Schwinn Fitness in September 2001 and StairMaster in February 2002, a decline in consumer spending due to unfavorable economic conditions, government regulatory action, its ability to effectively identify and negotiate any future strategic acquisitions, its ability to integrate the StairMaster business and any other acquired businesses into its operations, unpredictable events and circumstances relating to international operations including its use of foreign manufacturers, and general economic conditions. Please refer to our reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, for a further discussion of these risks and uncertainties. We also caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date they were made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

For The Nautilus Group, Inc.
imagio - J. Walter Thompson PR
Nick Davis, 206/625-0252
nickd@imagio.com
or
Integrated Corporate Relations, Inc.
John Mills, 562/698-6771
jmills@icrinc.com

http://www.businesswire.com

Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet
with Hyperlinks to your home page.

Copyright (C) 2002 Business Wire. All rights reserved.

News Provided by COMTEX