For Immediate Release

OUTRIDER AND SMIRNOFF® PROGRESSIVE ADULT BEVERAGES NAMED FINALIST FOR YAHOO! SEARCHLIGHT AWARD

ST LOUIS (February 7, 2008)

Outrider, a WPP group company and the dedicated search engine marketing agency of Beyond Interaction and GroupM, has been named a finalist for the 2008 Yahoo! Searchlight Award for its integrated search marketing campaign for Smirnoff® Progressive Adult Beverages (PAB), "Smirnoff® Ice and Smirnoff® Raw Tea™ Summer."

Outrider is one of four finalists selected by Yahoo! out of 35 submissions from search marketing agencies, showcasing the role search played in an integrated marketing program. Each finalist will present their campaigns to an audience of their peers as well as a panel of industry leaders at the Yahoo! Searchlight Award Show on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. EST at the Time-Life Building in New York City. The winner will be selected by audience vote. The award is sponsored by Yahoo! Search Marketing and recognizes and rewards advertisers that have developed search marketing applications through an outside-of-the-norm direct response mindset. The award also distinguishes the nature of the work in the context of the overall, integrated multi-media campaign.

The search marketing campaign for "Smirnoff® Ice and Smirnoff® Raw Tea™ Summer" highlights an innovative approach to search marketing strategy and cross-channel integration with display advertising. In what was the first-ever search marketing program for Smirnoff® PAB, Outrider leveraged the brands' existing assets (viral Tea Partay video, branded micro-site, and under-the-cap promotion) and delivered a search strategy that utilized paid search, viral video on YouTube, video search, promotional support, consumer segmentation and support to display advertising roadblocks to keep Smirnoff® Ice and Smirnoff® Raw Tea™ top of mind as the beverage of choice during key summer months in 2007. As a result, the Smirnoff® Ice and Smirnoff® Raw Tea™ Summer successfully drove site traffic, generated millions of impressions, leveraged brand awareness and drove a fun and hip consumer experience, while also playing a vital role in the product launch of Smirnoff® Raw Tea™

"Being a part the media planning process in the early stages with Beyond Interaction allowed for search to be strategically added to the media mix and support the summer-long push for Smirnoff® Ice and Smirnoff® Raw Tea™. As a result, the search program created a new place for Smirnoff® PAB's brands to live in the online space," said Chris Copeland, Sr. Partner and Managing Director, Outrider.

Smirnoff® PAB is a division of Diageo, the world's leading premium drink business with a strong portfolio of alcohol brands across spirits, wine and beer categories. The Smirnoff PAB line includes the popular premium malt beverages Smirnoff® Ice, Smirnoff® Raw Tea™, and Smirnoff® Source. MediaCom and Beyond Interaction, for which Outrider provides search marketing strategy, are the traditional and digital media agencies of record for Diageo.

About Outrider

Outrider is a leading global search marketing agency, specializing in holistic, advanced search marketing strategies that are integrated with advertisers' cross-channel media planning. Regarded for their thought leadership and recognized by Forrester Research as a leader in search strategy, management and client service strengths, Outrider provides integrated search marketing and consumer-driven media strategy at the global, national and local-market level to category-leading clients including: AT&T, Dell, AstraZeneca, Showtime, Microsoft, Chevron, Diageo and more. Services include: organic search, paid search, advanced search strategy (social search, mobile search, local search, video search and more), analytics, conversion services (website optimization), creative services and consulting.

Outrider is a WPP company and a division of GroupM, WPP's media buying and planning arm responsible for 30% of the world's media buying. With North American headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., Outrider has offices in New York, Chicago, Seattle, and throughout the EMEA and APAC regions, creating the largest global footprint of any search agency with a network of 30 global offices serving more than 40 countries. www.outrider.com.

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