Aloft Group Announces Merger with The Willingham Group in California.

NEWBURYPORT, Mass. -- Aloft Group, Inc., a full-service marketing and branding firm, today announced that it has merged with The Willingham Group, a Southern California firm specializing in brand promotions. The combined firm, which will go by the name Aloft Group, now offers a truly comprehensive and integrated approach to all marketing programs.

For 29 years, The Willingham Group has worked to promote such highly recognized international brands as Kahlua, Baskin-Robbins, Dunkin' Donuts, Sauza, Jim Beam, and Dole, including consumer in-store and trade promotions. The addition of The Willingham Group allows Aloft to add its fifth practice, Aloft Promotions to its existing practices; Aloft Brand Consulting, Aloft Advertising, Aloft Public Relations, and ideasAloft Executive Education.

The firm also announced that it has expanded into new offices in California to accommodate the growth. The new office, based in Thousand Oaks, will be a full-service office for all of Aloft's practices.

The new west coast office geographically balances Aloft's European partnership with Berlin-based Schindler, Parent & Cie. (SPC), which has offices in Europe and China. Aloft/SPC provides clients an efficient, easy-to-work-with branding and marketing resource with a global footprint. Aloft intends to grow rapidly in all markets as a highly creative alternative to the existing global advertising networks.

"Reaching prospective customers has become very complex and fragmented for companies, and using multiple mediums and avenues in a smart, integrated, and highly creative way is more important than ever," said Matt Bowen, president and CEO of Aloft Group. "The addition of The Willingham Group truly makes Aloft a hands-on, one-of-a kind resource for companies looking for accelerated brand growth. Our comprehensive capabilities allow us to utilize an arsenal of dynamic mediums to identify new opportunities for our clients and inspire them to take action, whether they're in a store in Berlin or in their living room in Boise."

"The Willingham Group has been executing successful creative promotional campaigns for over a quarter of a century," stated David Willingham, president of The Willingham Group. "The meshing of our expertise with those of Aloft Group makes sense to be able to quickly help our broad client base create highly-efficient and fully-integrated global campaigns. We are excited to be a part of Aloft's vision moving forward."

About Aloft Group, Inc.

Aloft Group, Inc. lifts company's brand awareness and bottom line sales by connecting them with their customers on an intellectual, emotional and physical level. This unique approach is based on a three-step "Think-Do-Teach" philosophy that enables Aloft to speak to the core target in a way that makes them understand products, services and people more intimately and honestly than conventional advertising agencies or marketing consultants. All of Aloft's integrated business practices - Aloft Consulting, Aloft Advertising, Aloft Public Relations, ideasAloft Learning Center and Aloft Promotions - have contributed to the growth of such brands as Dictaphone, GeoDeck, Disney, Sauza, Dole, Monster.com, Dunkin' Brands, and Future Brands.

Aloft Group is partnered with Schindler, Parent & Cie, one of Europe's premier marketing firms. Schindler Parent is based in Berlin, Germany with offices in Shanghai, China.