D4 Creative Group Of Philadelphia Celebrates 10th Anniversary With 73% Increase In Revenue, 53% Increase In Staff.

Business Editors

WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 20, 2001

Suzanne Hatfield and Kurt Shore, CEO and President of D4 Creative Group, a Philadelphia advertising agency, marking the firm's 10th anniversary this month, announced a 73% increase in revenues for D4 for the calendar year 2000.

The announcement, along with the reporting of other operating statistics, took place at a special meeting of key staff personnel at the Marriott hotel in Conshohocken.

Shore noted that the company had increased the number of employees by 53% and nearly doubled the square footage of office space in their Philadelphia headquarters during the same period. The company now has over 30 employees.

"It all began 10 years ago when my wife, and D4 CEO, Suzanne Hatfield, started the business out of her row home on Tasker Street in South Philadelphia," Shore said. "Her first client was Comcast Cable. And, in an industry where relationships don't seem to last long, I'm proud to say that we have maintained Comcast as a client over 10 years, delivering acquisition campaigns for their cable and online divisions and doing our part to help them grow."

"Other clients include the @Home division of Excite@Home, AT&T Digital Media Centers, SEI Investments, Emerald Asset Management, AT&T Broadband-Chicago, Maximum Golf Magazine, (a Fox subsidiary), Worldgate, which provides Internet access for your TV set, and Ajunto, (a new internet-based company which provides solutions in the IT industry),

"Our increase in the number of employees during the past year was primarily in iD4, our interactive division. We added Web and CD ROM design and development people, graphic designers, and account support personnel.

"We are very bullish about our future and project another 30-40% growth this year. We intend to continue to focus on telecommunications, technology, and financial companies, providing marketing expertise and results oriented advertising to those sectors" Shore said.

Ms Hatfield, after earning a degree in mechanical engineering at The University of Colorado in Boulder, held sales and marketing positions at a major pharmaceutical company and directed marketing efforts at Philadelphia-area video production house. "Our people have a deep understanding of technology and are able to apply it to the marketing and business challenges and opportunities our clients face," Hatfield commented.

Before teaming up with Ms Hatfield, Shore, a noted musician and record producer, was an owner of Kajem Studios of Gladwyne. He produced a number of award winning albums, including Top 10 hit, "Catch Me I'm Falling" by Pretty Poison. (He sold the studio to Boyz2Men at the time he joined D4.)

Under his direction, the agency maintains and staffs an I n-house digital audio suite as well as a broadcast quality Avid editing suite.