WAGGENER EDSTROM WORLDWIDE’S GLOBAL CORPORATE PRACTICE LAUNCHES STAKEHOLDER RESEARCH SERVICE

NEW SERVICE MEASURES PERCEPTIONS OF CORPORATE BRANDS ACROSS MARKET AUDIENCES

NEW YORK – April 1, 2008 – The Global Corporate Practice of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide today announced the addition of WE Stakeholder Research (WE-SR) to its suite of proprietary tools designed to help clients identify, interpret and influence the perceptions and behaviors of multiple audiences.

WE-SR analyzes the perceptions of stakeholder groups such as investors, industry and financial analysts, employees, thought leaders, consumers and policy elites, as well as traditional and consumer-generated media. Beyond isolated snapshots of perceptions, WE-SR studies changes and contrasts — the changes of perceptions over time and the contrasts between the perceptions of management teams and stakeholders. WE-SR findings provide the foundational intelligence for integrated influence plans designed to reach all constituencies that affect corporate reputations and valuations.

“The service brings a holistic focus and methodological rigor to areas of perception research traditionally dominated by anecdotal methods and silo-style single-audience research,” said Lev Janashvili, vice president of financial communications and leader of the WE-SR initiative. “The service is founded on our conviction that cross-audience integration of perception research yields more useful insights. Further, WE-SR reflects our commitment to the thoughtful application of the most appropriate research methods to the unique research challenge of every client.”

Drawing on Waggener Edstrom Worldwide’s history of innovation and capabilities in research, corporate and financial communications, public affairs, healthcare, technology and consumer marketing, WE-SR includes the following service options:

• Integrated Multi-Audience Surveys (IMAS) are broad-spectrum cross-audience audits that form the foundation of integrated influence plans.
• WE-SR Financial identifies valuation disparities and isolates key Wall Street perceptions that may account for a mispricing or valuation gap.
• WE-SR QuickTakes is a unique planning and assessment tool designed to help companies effectively execute seminal announcements, including quarterly financial results, financings, public offerings, product milestones, and mergers and acquisitions.
• Media Analytics and Brand Mapping: Waggener Edstrom Worldwide’s patent-pending Narrative Network® text mining and mapping service assesses the impact of conversations across the spectrum of traditional and new media.
• WE-SR Opinion Leaders (WE-SR OL) is designed to identify, explain and help influence the views of opinion leaders in particular industries.
• WE-SR Government analyzes the perceptions of policy elites, including decision-makers and opinion leaders in federal, state and local government.

Janashvili concluded: “Our goal is to deliver research that reliably and thoughtfully addresses the needs of senior-level corporate decision-makers, including CEOs, CFOs, heads of marketing, public relations, investor relations and government affairs.”

A detailed overview of WE-SR is available to current and prospective clients.

About Waggener Edstrom Worldwide’s Global Corporate Practice

The Global Corporate Practice partners with organizations to express their voice, unique value proposition and brand promise. With a 360-degree focus on key stakeholders, the practice helps clients develop and implement integrated influence plans, and anticipate and navigate change based on our global perspective and real-world business experience. Building on Waggener Edstrom Worldwide's Innovation Communications(SM) methodology, our practice capabilities include: Corporate Image, Reputation and Brand Management, Employee Engagement, Crisis and Issues Management, Corporate Citizenship, and Financial Communications.

About Waggener Edstrom Worldwide

Waggener Edstrom Worldwide is a multiservice global public relations agency. Founded in 1983 and independently owned, the agency was named PRWeek’s Large Agency of the Year for 2004, and was named Best Agency to Work For in 2004 and Best Large Agency to Work For in 2006 by the Holmes Report. The agency has over 800 employees, 16 offices around the world and six global practices — Consumer Marketing, Corporate Communications, Environment, Healthcare, Public Affairs and Technology. More information can be found at http://www.WaggenerEdstrom.com.

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Waggener Edstrom and Innovation Communications^SM are either registered service marks or service marks of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information, press only:

Emily Nichols, corporate communications executive, (617) 576-5702, enichols@WaggenerEdstrom.com