Performics and Zenith Create New Alliance

January 20, 2010

Alliance Creates Integrated Performance & Participant Marketing Offering Across Screens

Moxie's Daina Middleton Takes Reins at Performics as Nick Beil Assumes Operations Role for VivaKi Nerve Center

CHICAGO/ATLANTA — Nick Beil, CEO of Performics, the search marketing agency of VivaKi, today announced that Daina Middleton, Senior Vice President of Moxie Interactive’s intelligence division, will assume the role of President of Performics on April 1, following a transition period that begins immediately. At that time, Beil will devote his full time attention to leading operations for the VivaKi Nerve Center.

The management change kicks off a new, strategic alignment between Performics and Zenith, combining the former’s proven search expertise with the creative, technology and social marketing prowess of Moxie Interactive, a Zenith sister agency, to create a full suite of services focused on maximizing sales and social marketing efforts. The combination will create a one-stop offering for clients seeking expertise in performance and participant marketing.

Middleton currently oversees Sunao, a division inside Moxie, which includes oversight of research and insight, emerging trends and market innovation as well as marketing analytics. She was the global director of advertising and interactive marketing for Hewlett-Packard’s $28 billion Imaging and Printing Group before leaving the company for Moxie in 2008. She spent 16 years at HP in key marketing communications positions across most core segments in the company’s businesses.

“Daina’s experience on the client-side of our business and her current leadership in the social, mobile and digital out of home space brings a unique combination of expertise to lead Performics during the exciting, next evolution of search,” said Beil.

The alliance has been spearheaded by Beil, Tim Jones, CEO of Zenith U.S., and Joel Lunenfeld, CEO of Moxie Interactive, as a way to redefine and enhance performance marketing by connecting people and brands across all screens. Performics will continue to operate as a separate brand, while enhancing its position as a top 3 search agency.

“By bringing together Performics, Zenith and Moxie we are aligning the industry’s leading talent, resources and technologies,” said Lunenfeld. “This alliance will allow each company to strengthen their current capabilities while pioneering into new areas through cross collaboration and information sharing, ultimately providing our clients with comprehensive and well rounded participant marketing programs.”

“Aligned with Zenith and Moxie, Performics is positioned to grow more rapidly and extend its performance marketing focus beyond search to branded content, social, mobile and other media,” said Beil. “Performics also gains the advantages of Zenith’s global network and clout.”

Moving forward, Middleton will continue to report into Joel Lunenfeld, who will lead Moxie and Performics.

About Performics
Performics (performics.com) provides search and performance marketing solutions to more than 125 of the world’s top brands. As Publicis Groupe’s lead search and performance marketing agency, Performics draws upon more than a decade of experience to connect brands and buyers across the digital marketplace, using data-driven approaches to create leads, drive sales and maximize advertiser ROI. Headquartered in Chicago with offices around the world, Performics is MarketingNext.

About Moxie
Moxie Interactive (moxieinteractive.com) is creating the agency of the future, fusing media, creative, and technology to achieve brave, accountable marketing solutions. Its capabilities include communications planning, media planning and buying, search marketing, branded entertainment, advertising and development, ECRM, sponsorship services and campaign management. At the heart of the agency is its proprietary offering, Sunao. A Japanese word meaning the 'untrapped mind,' Sunao is a team of experts whose mission is to deliver innovation to clients through trend-spotting, consumer insights, analytics and research. Moxie is a division of Zenith Media Services, a Publicis Groupe Company, with locations in Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles.

About Zenith Media
Zenith Media is a top 2 media services agency in the US (RECMA Report: 2009 media billings) achieving the highest evaluation of any agency collectively over the last 6 years (RECMA Report: Media Agency Performance 2003- 2009). As “The ROI Agency”, Zenith is dedicated to ensuring that its clients receive a better return on their media investment than any of their competitors. Part of the ZenithOptimedia Worldwide network, it is owned by Publicis Groupe.

Zenith’s clients include: AstraZeneca, Boston Beer, Darden Restaurants, Epson, Georgia-Pacific, General Mills, Gucci Group, Harrah’s Entertainment, JPMorgan Chase, Lexus, L’Oréal, Nestlé, Reckitt Benckiser, Scion, Schering-Plough, Toyota, Twentieth Century Fox, Ubisoft and Verizon.

Performics and Moxie are part of Publicis Groupe’s VivaKi (www.vivaki.com). Publicis Groupe (Euronext Paris: FR0000130577) is the world’s fourth largest communications group, the world’s second largest media counsel and buying group, and a global leader in digital and healthcare communications. With around the world activities spanning more than 104 countries on five continents, the Groupe employs as many as 43,000 professionals.