McDill/DLD Merger Expands Services Scope, Forms National Creative Marketing Resource.

Focus on Brand Awakenings, New Product Launches

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- McDill Associates, long known for its dominant position as the leading creative services agency in the produce industry, today announced a merger with the Pennsylvania-based marketing communications firm DLD Creative, increasing its reach from coast to coast and adding insurance, technology, architectural products, financial services, housewares and apparel clients to its impressive roster of food and packaged goods clients.

"The merger moves us one step closer to our goal of making every CPG firm's short list when looking for brand champions," stated Melissa McDill, president and creative director of the newly-expanded McDill Associates. "The combined creative and strategic resources of the two agencies, especially our niche expertise in package design, allow us to compete aggressively in the rarified atmosphere of new product marketing."

Dave Loose, president of DLD Creative, joins McDill Associates as head of client services and East Coast operations. Loose added, "As a branding firm, McDill Associates offers clients a viable alternative to traditional ad agencies. Even our choice of office locations was deliberate, intended to deliver a unique perspective and distinctive solutions to clients looking for an alternative brand partner."

Other points of difference that distinguish McDill Associates include: direct client access on a virtually 24/7 basis to agency principals Melissa McDill and Dave Loose, distinctive creative executions that have literally earned U.S. patents for innovation, and an integrated approach to non-traditional marketing solutions.

The McDill Associates business model calls for core account personnel to operate out of offices on each coast, with creative services housed in Santa Cruz, California. McDill professionals have won hundreds of marketing and communications industry competitions including Davey, CIPRA, ADDY, IABC, Telly, Produce Marketer of the Year, Silver Anvil, Golden Trumpet and Gold Mercury awards.

Counted among the McDill client set are: ACNielsen, the world's largest marketing research company, AIG, the world's largest insurance company, Airwalk, Armstrong, Bankers Trust, Campbell's, Dole, DuPont, Izod Club, JohnsonDiversey, Kraft, Kellogg's, Quaker, Nestle, Newman's Own Organic, and Thomasville to name a few.

McDill Associates, a national branding firm, differs from traditional ad agencies by offering clients top-to-top access to agency principals, coupled with the unusual ability to awaken the dormant excitement in aging brands and fully develop the potential in new product concepts. McDill likes to function in the fourth dimension for clientsCothe realm of the truly creative.

For more information about McDill Associates, visit the McDill web site at www.mcdill.com or contact Dave Loose at 831.462.3198.