BrandOne Launches to Define and Lead the New Category of Brand-Driven Business Solutions.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 1, 2001

A Converged Solution Backed by a Multidisciplined Team of

Industry-leading Senior Executives

BrandOne launches today to define and lead on a global scale the development of a new category of brand-driven professional services: "converged business solutions." In response to the rapid pace of transformation in the economy and the new requirements of the professional services industry, the company has integrated traditional management consulting, e-business consulting, IT consulting, systems integration, digital communications, marketing services and brand strategy as one converged business solution. Utilizing a brand-driven 0platform, BrandOne applies each service through a phased approach to build sustainable and highly valued enterprises.

"We have entered a world of converging economies, business practices and perspectives as well as vast social transformation," says founder and CEO Michael Hauben. "In this new world, BrandOne focuses on a brand's relevance and its value through the process of corporate convergence as the keys to optimized market value."

To implement the company's vision, Hauben, a 17-year marketing and promotions veteran, has assembled a multidisciplined team of senior executives with extensive experience across a broad range of industry sectors including: Ron McDaniel, EVP of strategic planning, was most recently global finance director of PricewaterhouseCoopers; Jim Bradshaw, SVP of brand management, is a former president within Hallmark Cards;

Howard Goldstein, SVP and senior creative director, brings 25 years of award winning creative branding expertise; Bill Masterson, SVP and general manager, brings more than 30 years of executive level general management, finance and operations experience from Best Foods, The Pillsbury Company, and The General Foods Corporation; Daniel Wieneke, Senior Partner is a former senior executive and chief legal officer within Litton Industries, MetLife and GE Capital; and Sandy Kornberg, Senior Partner, is a former senior vice president and Chairman of Asia-Pacific for McCann-Erickson Advertising and the Interpublic Group of Cos.

"For such a diverse group with experience of this caliber to come together shows the faith we have in Michael's vision and passion," says Bradshaw. McDaniel adds, "In the search for a better solution than the current models allowed, we knew we saw something special when we found ourselves galvanized around the concept and power of BrandConvergence."

The essence of the company's business model is its BrandConvergence(TM) platform, a phased business solution with two primary directives: to define a brand's relevance equally based on corporate, consumer and market dynamics; and to drive that relevance throughout an organization to its community by converging, aligning and unifying mission-critical business functions. BrandConvergence is supported by the firm's integrated practice areas: Brand Strategy, Finance, Infrastructure, Technology, Creative, Communications and Measurement. BrandOne is believed to be the first firm to tie each function together under one solution on a global scale.

"Most professional service firm offerings mirror the silo and departmentalized structure of organizations. Our BrandConvergence platform breaks down these walls, finds the disconnects, closes the loop and unifies an organization toward a sustainable relationship with its customers," explains Hauben. "The resulting metrics of BrandConvergence -- what we call BrandCapitalization(TM) -- include enhanced productivity, increased profitability, optimized brand value, and a higher market cap. The process could take three months or three years, depending on the organization. The key is to find a starting point, a point of entry into one of our practice groups to start leveraging the exponential value of our converged approach toward corporate design."

Hauben founded BrandOne after nearly two years of research and planning, which included interviews with key leaders in various segments of the marketing, advertising, management consulting and IT industries. He based the company's working model on a number of trends and insights, most notably: a rise in the prominence of branding; the integration of marketing services; a convergence of industries; and the evolution of the concept of convergence.

These trends led Hauben to realize a new business landscape -- which he coined the "Converged Economy" -- and the need for a new business solution to address it. Hence, he created BrandConvergence and a new professional services category to address the fundamentals of this new economy: "converged business solutions."

BrandOne is working to build a global, collaborative network of individual and corporate partnerships to better serve its clients. Recent affiliations include Randall Stockdale, a former president within Western Union, Al Andrus, president and CEO of several industry leading technology-systems integration and professional services firms in the computing, networking and broadband markets, and Hong Kong-based Wilson Chan, a 20-year marketing veteran of Asia-Pacific markets.

BrandOne plans to target companies in a variety of industry sectors, from start-up to Fortune 500. Current clients include macys.com and the Birkenstock Shoe Company. Additionally, it is pursuing firms in the financial services, technology and manufacturing sectors.

About BrandOne

BrandOne(TM) (www.brandone.com) has defined and will lead on a global scale the development of a new category of brand-driven professional services: converged business solutions. The company focuses on a brand's relevance and its value through the process of corporate convergence to build sustainable and highly valued enterprises. Its BrandConvergence(TM) platform defines brand relevance within corporate, consumer and market dynamics and converges, aligns and unifies business functions around that relevance.

BrandOne is backed by a multidisciplined team of industry-leading senior executives and is building a global, collaborative network of individual and corporate partnerships under its mantra: "one vision, one solution, one brand."