Abogados

The objective of this campaign is to raise awareness of Interactive as a vital medium for reaching this dominant, mainstream audience. The companies, all members of the Interactive Advertising Bureau's (IAB) Hispanic Committee, have selected Tapestry, Starcom IP, and Lapiz, all part of the Publicis Groupe, as Agency of Record.

"Competing online media companies banding together to launch a targeted campaign, especially in a market as competitive as the Hispanic sector, is truly unprecedented," said Greg Stuart, president and CEO, IAB. "This historic initiative is just another example of the online industry's focused commitment to growing the industry above all else."

"This project demanded an agency that deeply understands the online marketplace, the nuances of trade marketing and the Hispanic audience," said Liz Sarachek, Chair of the IAB Hispanic Committee's Marketing Sub-Committee and Executive Director, Sales, Yahoo! en Espanol. "We are confident the agencies from Publicis Groupe will do an excellent job in developing and executing a campaign that speaks to all of this and we also expect this to be a strong complement to individual member company efforts in this area."

Tapestry and Starcom IP will lead the Hispanic online efforts providing strategic and tactical contact direction, while Lapiz will provide creative services. The agencies are working on a pro-bono basis and were selected after a formal agency review process. The campaign is expected to focus on positioning interactive as a vital medium for marketers to reach the Hispanic consumers. Work on the campaign will commence immediately and is expected to launch with online, print, and direct response media in the second half of 2005.

"The Hispanic community is a major force in our economy and culture and we are seeing this strength carry-over into the online world. We are very excited for the opportunity to help Hispanic marketers identify the online space as an innovative and powerful tool in connecting with their ever-demanding consumer" commented Monica Gadsby, CEO of Tapestry, named as one of "the savviest shops for Hispanic online" (Adage.com 2/4/05) by Marketers and Hispanic website executives.

This is a critical growth period for the online Hispanic market. According to comScore Media Metrix, in January 2005, there were 13.8 million active US Hispanics online with 24 year-old and younger consumers accounting for 49% of the total online audience; this compared to 30% within the general online population. Hispanics in the US view 19% more pages per usage day and spend 13% more time per usage day online than the general US market.

"The Hispanic online market is really starting to pick up speed and we are very excited to help take it to the next step via this groundbreaking campaign. Our agencies are perfectly positioned to tap into the appropriate themes and messaging that will resonate with Hispanic marketers in order to help them learn how they can fully utilize all the opportunities afforded by online advertising," said Manuel Garcia, Director, New Business Development, Lapiz Integrated Hispanic Marketing.

"We are extremely grateful to Lapiz, Starcom IP and Tapestry for their commitment to support our industry and look forward to working with them," concluded Greg Stuart.

The Hispanic Committee is chaired by Peter Blacker, Vice President of International and U.S. Hispanic Interactive Marketing, AOL Latino.

The current members of the IAB Hispanic Committee are: 24/7 Real Media, 360i, Advertising.com, AOL Latino, comScore Networks, Edmunds.com, ESPN Deportes, Eyeblaster, EyeWonder,Inc., InsightExpress, Knight Ridder Digital, Modem Media, MSN Latino, Nielsen//NetRatings, Overture, StarMedia, Terra Networks, United Virtualities, Univision.com, Viewpoint, and Yahoo! en Espanol.

About IAB
Founded in 1996, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) represents leading interactive companies that are actively engaged in, and support the sale of interactive advertising. IAB boats over 200 members that are responsible for selling over 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices, fields interactive effectiveness research and educates the advertising industry regarding the use of interactive advertising. For more information please visit http://www.iab.net.

About Tapestry
Tapestry is the multicultural contact division of Starcom MediaVest Group. A contact is any opportunity for a consumer to engage with a brand. As, the first and largest multicultural contact agency in the U.S., Tapestry provides integrated media solutions with experts specializing in Hispanic, African-American, Asian, and emerging markets consumers. Tapestry helps clients grow brands across a large variety of categories. With a team of richly diverse contact experts, Tapestry ignites a new rhythm in marketing.

About Starcom IP
Starcom Worldwide is a full-service brand contact agency, providing clients with complete communications planning and investment across all major media, as well as online buying and strategy. Starcom IP is the digital marketing subsidiary of Starcom Worldwide. Our clients include such blue chip marketers as Miller Brewing, Kellogg's, Nintendo, the U.S. Army, and Allstate. Specializing in Internet contact strategy, execution and measurement, Starcom IP has a combination of marketing communication and analytic professionals to help our clients navigate the rapidly changing world of digital communication. Starcom IP is dedicated to the creation and implementation of performance-driven media campaigns to give our clients a critical market advantage.

About Lapiz
Lapiz is a premier Hispanic marketing communications agency in the USA. Considered one of the fastest growing multicultural agencies, Lapiz - which means "pencil" in Spanish - taps into unique cultural insights to build creative messages that connect brands with the Hispanic consumer. Lapiz employs bicultural and bilingual people, and our vision and mission drive our work. Our leaders have decades of experience, which allows us to understand all the details that combine to make a unique Hispanic marketplace. Lapiz ranks as one of the top Hispanic agencies in the country, with more than $135 million in gross billings in 2002. Lapiz is a division of Leo Burnett, USA, a Publicis Groupe agency.

About Publicis Groupe
Publicis Groupe is the world's 4th largest communications group and ranks No. 1 in Europe and No. 3 in the US.

Publicis Groupe is also the world's 2nd largest group in media buying and consultancy.

The Groupe is structured around three core businesses:

-- Advertising, with 3 global networks (Publicis Worldwide, Leo Burnett Worldwide and Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide), 2 creative multi-hub networks (Fallon Worldwide and 49%-owned Bartle Bogle Hegarty), and regional agencies with a high creative profile.

-- Media buying and consultancy, with a No. 1 position worldwide through two major global networks (Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia), as well as Medias & Regies Europe (sale of advertising space).

-- Specialized Agencies and Marketing Services (SAMS), in particular direct marketing, CRM, healthcare communications, public relations.

The Groupe is present in 229 cities in 109 countries on 5 continents, with 35,166 employees.

--30--ML/ny*

CONTACT:
IAB Public Relations
Cathy Callegari, 212-579-1370
callpr@aol.com
or
Tapestry
Laura Hernandez, 212-468-3345
laura.hernandez@mediavestww.com