Burson-Marsteller Expands West Coast Corporate/Financial Practice; Hansen, Whelan Appointments Signal Major Commitment, New Corporate Offerings in California.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Burson-Marsteller, the leading global communications consultancy, today announced two senior hires as the first step of a major new initiative to expand its U.S. Corporate/Financial Practice on the West Coast. The new appointments will build on the firm's strong offerings in technology, marketing, and media relations and bolster its broader corporate offerings.

Alice Quinn Hansen has joined the firm as managing director based in San Francisco, and Daniel Whelan has been named director in the Los Angeles office. They report to Patrick Ford, chair of Burson-Marsteller's U.S. Corporate Practice.

"After an extraordinary period of flux in the California economy, we believe the time is perfect for a major new initiative to build broader corporate and financial client relationships in San Francisco, Los Angeles and throughout the Western region," Mr. Ford said. "Alice and Dan bring limitless energy and superb talent to our team, and will play key roles in expanding our services in a range of corporate disciplines, including corporate reputation management, senior executive positioning, corporate responsibility, issues and crisis management, and financial communications."

New Managing Director Alice Hansen

Ms. Hansen, a highly respected public relations industry veteran, had been a principal at Firefly Ventures, a communications consulting firm in San Francisco. Previously, she managed corporate and investor communications at Salesforce.com and Autodesk, and had been a senior vice president at Blanc & Otus Public Relations. She will lead a team of 10 corporate specialists in the San Francisco office, and also serve on the Practice's national leadership team.

Bob Finlayson, Burson-Marsteller's San Francisco market leader, noted that Ms. Hansen's combination of corporate and agency experience will be invaluable in enabling Burson-Marsteller to deliver value-added counseling and services to a broad range of companies and industries. "We're particularly excited about Alice's unique ability to combine deep knowledge of the technology marketplace and the corporate communications function," he said. "Given the importance of that industry in California, and the strong critical mass that already exists in technology communications in our San Francisco office, she is a perfect fit for us."

Ms. Hansen has advised and participated on management teams as a strategic communication expert for the past 15 years. Her experience spans financial services, consumer goods and services, and technology sectors. She held marketing communications positions with Bank of America and leadership positions at GCI Group and Premenos Corp. As a partner at Blanc & Otus, she led a practice group focused on electronic commerce clients, which included VeriSign, NetGravity, Vignette, and E*Trade. As a member of the CEO's executive staff at Autodesk, she orchestrated global communications for the software firm, developing strategy and programs to cultivate a sustained positive reputation with investors, customers, channel partners and employees. At Salesforce.com, she initiated its financial communications program and led corporate marketing. Ms. Hansen has MBA degrees from Columbia University and University of California, Berkeley, and a BA in journalism from San Diego State University.

"I'm thrilled to be joining one of the world's leading public relations and public affairs firms which is highly regarded for its thought leadership and depth of talent," Ms. Hansen said. "I'm looking forward to helping to drive strong growth and enhance our positioning on the West Coast."

New Director Daniel Whelan

Mr. Whelan joins Burson-Marsteller from Fleishman-Hillard in Los Angeles, where he was a vice president leading major corporate accounts. Before joining Fleishman-Hillard, Mr. Whelan worked for the Association for Quality and Participation (AQP), a not-for-profit membership association dedicated to improving workplaces through quality and participation practices.

In Los Angeles, Mr. Whelan already is playing a crucial role in an important client relationship, and will work closely with Mr. Ford, Ms. Hansen and Los Angeles market leader Alan Arkatov to identify and develop new client relationships. "Dan's reputation among clients and colleagues is outstanding, and in his first days on the job here we can already see why," Mr. Arkatov said.

Mr. Whelan specializes in managing complex multi-faceted programs that weave together various disciplines of corporate communications, brand marketing and public affairs. At Fleishman-Hillard, Mr. Whelan was a leader in the firm's West Coast corporate group, most recently managing an international team servicing Mitsubishi Motors. He also led the firm's United Airlines West Region team, where he oversaw media relations, issues management and crisis programs. Mr. Whelan grew up in Michigan and is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

About Burson-Marsteller

Burson-Marsteller (www.bm.com), established in 1953, is a leading global public relations and communications consultancy. It provides clients with strategic thinking and program execution across a full range of public relations, public affairs, advertising, and Web-related services. The firm's seamless worldwide network consists of 46 wholly-owned offices and 47 affiliate offices, together operating in 55 countries across six continents. Burson-Marsteller is a part of Young & Rubicam Brands, a subsidiary of WPP Group plc (NASDAQ: WPPGY), one of the world's leading communications services networks.