MAGNA Names President

Elizabeth Herbst-Brady Takes Reins of IPG Mediabrands Intelligence
Unit as its Role Expands
NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
Veteran marketing and media executive Elizabeth Herbst-Brady has
been named president of MAGNA, the foremost industry source on the
ad-supported media economy, Nick Brien, president and CEO of
Mediabrands, the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) media management unit,
announced today.

"Elizabeth is a proven visionary who recognizes the emerging
patterns of the future of the media business and will be able to
harness it for our clients," says Brien. "She is one of the few people
who will be able to walk into a company like MAGNA and immediately
have the respect of the incredible team of talent that already exists
there, and lead them in the next stage of the company's evolution as a
marketing intelligence and emerging technologies specialist."

Ms. Herbst-Brady, 47, will lead the MAGNA organization - dubbed
"Magna 2.0" by those inside the holding company - as it progresses
from a broadcast negotiations unit into an intelligence-gathering,
analysis and negotiations firm that encompasses the full spectrum of
media delivery platforms, including digital, print, radio and
television. The recent transfer of Universal McCann's legendary
prognosticator of media spending, Robert Coen, into the role of SVP,
Director of Forecasting for MAGNA, marks the most visible example of
this shift to date.

With a diverse background on both the client and agency side, Ms.
Herbst-Brady is uniquely suited for her new role. She spent the last
two years running advertising sales for 20th Television, a division of
20th Century Fox, where she was GSM SVP of Syndication Ad Sales,
supervising a staff of 19. She was responsible for creating the
overall strategy and execution that ensured the company reached its
annual revenue goal. Most notably, she oversaw the development of the
branded integration process for 20th Television's first run shows, and
set the upfront strategy for the company's most successful upfront in
half a decade.

A former Advertising Age "Woman to Watch," Ms. Herbst-Brady's
agency side experience is equally formidable. She was SVP, Director of
National Broadcast for Starcom Worldwide, overseeing the then-Adweek
Media Agency of the Year's Broadcast Investment Group, responsible for
$2 billion in spending for almost two dozen blue chip clients. She
also led Starcom's efforts to expand beyond traditional platforms and
secure new media opportunities in VOD, Broadband and elsewhere. Her
wide and varied resume includes stints at Universal Television, Fox
and the Tribune Entertainment Company.

"I see MAGNA as a strategic consultant to IPG agencies in regards
to current and future media related issues, serving as an aggregator
of marketplace information, an analyzer of future trends, and an
important facilitator of IPG's media strategy," says Ms. Herbst-Brady.

"The way we can accomplish this is threefold," she explains. "One:
we must build the most nimble and efficient buying support team in the
industry. Two: develop high-level omniscient analytic tools to furnish
our clients with exclusive insight into the advertising arena. And
three: become an essential participant in the media community."

Ms. Herbst-Brady, who will dually report to the presidents of
Initiative and Universal McCann, Tim Spengler and Mary Gerzema,
respectively, takes over a new position at MAGNA. The company was
previously helmed by former chairman-CEO Bill Cella, who was shifted
to IPG sibling shop DraftFCB in October 2006 before leaving that
company last December.

ABOUT MAGNA

MAGNA is the foremost industry source on the ad-supported media
economy, and home to industry legend Robert J Coen, whose forecasts of
advertising expenditures and industry knowledge have been relied upon
for half a century. MAGNA is also the leading source of calculations
and analyses of emerging media platforms, relied upon by Wall Street
and the industry alike. Additionally, MAGNA provides global
negotiation services and audience and media industry analysis to IPG's
media agencies. In the U.S., MAGNA represents more than 10% of
advertisers' total spending in National Television, ensuring its
clients access to the widest array of programming at the
best-negotiated prices. MAGNA provides Aggregated Media Negotiation
Services (on behalf of IPG's media agencies), Econometric Modeling &
Price Forecasting, and Media & Audience Research Report Generation for
its clients. MAGNA's Audience Analysis Group, led by the well-known
researcher, Steve Sternberg, is designed to provide unrivaled analysis
of the television marketplace and its audience. MAGNA analyzes
programming and audience trends and shifts every day, providing an
ongoing knowledge base unparalleled in the business, and its studies
are widely quoted throughout the industry. MAGNA's reputation for
excellence has made it the first stop for broadcast and cable
networks, as well as new entities looking to partner on special buying
tactics or research studies. Media industry analysis and forecasting
is headed by Brian Wieser. MAGNA continues to pioneer the use of
emerging technologies and channels, leveraging proprietary research
and optimizing cost management and operational efficiencies by
consolidating back office systems. MAGNA is part of the Interpublic
Group of companies (www.interpublic.com).

MAGNA
Media:
Tom Siebert, 201-233-6458
VP, Dir., Corp. Comm.
tom.siebert@us.initiative.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008