Cunningham Announces Plans for Expansion; Aggressive Move Signals New Era for 14-Year PR Veteran.

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 1999--

Cunningham Communication, Inc., one of the 20 largest public relations firms in the United States, today announced a restructuring that positions the company for aggressive expansion. Under the reorganization, Cunningham Communication Inc. will serve as the parent company of six separate operating companies servicing a range of large-scale enterprises and start-up organizations.

Although separate businesses, each of the companies will deliver services based on Cunningham's trademark Momentum Management(TM) methodology. Momentum Management is the framework Cunningham has developed through its extensive research to measure and manage a company's leadership potential. Clients receive customized communication programs based on proprietary tools and a proven scientific formula that are unique to Cunningham.

"We are seizing an opportunity to diversify and increase the company's service offerings to best meet the wide range of communication needs that our clients are facing in the Internet Economy," said Andrea Cunningham, chief executive officer and chairman, Cunningham Communication Inc. "Our clients will continue to leverage our 14-year history in high-technology public relations, while also benefiting from our expertise in several additional practice areas, including: branding, research, marketing and organizational strategy. We expect to add additional practice areas in 2000."

Each of Cunningham's six operating companies will be driven by a president who will have operating control. Those companies include: Cunningham Public Relations, Brand Momentum Group, Momentum Research Group, InMomentum Group, Cunningham Ventures and Fifth Gear. (Please refer to the attached addendum for further information on each Cunningham company.)

Cunningham's Executive Management Team includes: Andrea Cunningham, who will remain chief executive officer and chairman; Joe Hamilton, who will remain president and chief operating officer; Ron Ricci, who will remain principal, research and development; and Gary Wohl, who recently joined Cunningham as its chief financial officer.

About Cunningham

Cunningham Communication specializes in building brand momentum in the Internet Economy. The company has employed its proprietary Momentum Management(TM) methodology in the course of working with an exclusive list of industry leaders such as Cisco Systems, Flextronics, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Motorola and Sprint. Cunningham Communication currently maintains offices in Palo Alto, California; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Austin, Texas. It is ranked as the #1 largest PR firm in Silicon Valley by the 1999 O'Dwyer's Directory of Public Relations Firms and #1 largest public relations firm in the Austin Business 1998 Book of Lists.

For more information about Cunningham and our clients, please visit our Web site at http://www.cunningham.com.

Press Release Addendum

-- Cunningham Public Relations

This group will be led by Kristin Hilf, who has been with the company for over eleven years. Cunningham Public Relations will continue the company's heritage of building leadership positions for large and small clients through the application of strategic public relations and evolving communication practices. Cunningham Public Relations serves clients throughout the entire United States and is staffed by a team of public relations experts operating out of Palo Alto, California; Austin, Texas; and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The current client roster includes Motorola, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Sprint, News International Digital Products and VarsityBooks.com.

-- Brand Momentum Group

Formalizing a core business practice within Cunningham for the past three years, the Brand Momentum Group (BMG) will now operate as a separate company, led by one of the co-creators of the Momentum Management(TM) methodology and 12-year Cunningham veteran, John Volkmann. As president, Volkmann and his team assist companies in building leadership brand profiles based on the principles of Momentum Management. Based on a suite of tools, workshops, investigative research and analytical techniques -- with roots in the physical law of momentum -- BMG can quickly identify a company's opportunities and establish a plan for brand leadership. Unique to Cunningham, this practice has been successfully deployed by clients such as Adobe, Cisco Systems, Clarify, Corio, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, News Corporation, Voyant Technologies and Qwest. BMG will be headquartered in the Austin, Texas office with representation in Palo Alto, California and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

-- Momentum Research Group

The Momentum Research Group (MRG) helps technology companies build leadership positions using Cunningham's Momentum Management(TM) research methodology. This model captures the dramatic influence the Internet has had on building successful brands. The MRG team, led by Jay Shutter, president and former director of Research for InformationWeek, will focus on custom and syndicated research products -- both separately and in conjunction with other Cunningham marketing projects. Services currently include primary research in these categories:

- Brand Momentum Assessment(TM) Study tracks the key components for brand success in the Internet Economy using a powerful proprietary model that measures brand momentum-- a key driver for future brand consideration and purchase.

- Brand Momentum Assessment Tracking(TM) is a unique service that provides continuous tracking of brand momentum across several key product categories, including enterprise hardware, Internet products and services, and telecommunications products and services.

- Thought Leadership Metrics(TM) research that can be used to demonstrate market knowledge, influence industry agendas, and as powerful marketing and sales tools.

-- InMomentum Group

The InMomentum Group builds organizational strategies for the New Economy. This practice, headed by Lynne Waldera, president, is a new breed of organizational consulting that connects a client's internal systems and strategies to its desired external market position. Clients will receive a customized package allowing them to use a mix of proprietary products including organizational diagnosis tools, leadership assessment, organization change methodologies, and internal communication programs. By developing scalable internal systems that build mass, increase speed and set direction, InMomentum guides the necessary evolution of internal culture thus enabling a client to match its substance to its desired image. In her seven-year relationship with Cunningham, Waldera developed the construct of "cultural alignment" that now forms the basis of the InMomentum practice.

-- Cunningham Ventures

A full-service venture communication firm based in Austin, Texas, Cunningham Ventures (CV) is focused on delivering market results for start-up, pre-IPO and private companies. Using a cash and equity model, CV is structured to become a strategic partner to its clients and is capable of handling almost every aspect of marketing communication. Employing a rapid-time-to-results approach, CV provides its partners with a complete communication package to rapidly plan, implement and assess every facet of its partners' communication needs, including: strategic positioning and branding, marketing communication, public relations, organizational structure consulting and funding acquisition consulting. Morris Denton will lead and grow the business with top talent from Cunningham and market organizations.

-- 5th Gear

To address the increasing client base of Internet companies and the venture capital community concentrated on the West Coast, Cunningham is establishing 5th Gear, a special unit focused particularly on start-ups and pre-IPO companies in that area. 5th Gear will build on Cunningham's string of successes in this segment of the market, helping launch new companies as well as new Internet offerings for established companies. The new organization led by Dennis Maxwell, president (formerly vice president at Cunningham) will operate out of the Palo Alto office until its new accommodations in San Francisco are completed in Q1 2000. 5th Gear will offer a spectrum of services designed to help companies achieve successful market position in the new global economy.