Publicity

May 31, 2004 -- Online agency search service now offered as free benefit to BMA membership.

Richmond, VA - The Business Marketing Association (BMA), the venerable trade association for business-to-business marketers and service providers, announced a partnership with Agencyfinder.com that will allow the association's members to search for advertising and pr agencies quickly and at no charge. Agencyfinder is the largest marketing services search engine of its kind in the world and has more than 2,500 comprehensive headquarter listings of advertising agencies and pr firms. The BMA has over 3,000 members.

"Our association's membership is made up predominantly of client marketing managers and advertising directors," explained Rick Kean, Executive Director of the BMA. "We know that it takes a while for agencies and clients to find out if they're right for each other. The Agencyfinder process helps reduce the possibilities of a mismatch which could save our members thousands of dollars as they transition to a new agency."

Although Mr. Kean wasn't able to say how many BMA members intended to search for new agencies over the next year, a recent Agencyfinder

survey indicated that one-third of those marketing managers and business decision makers polled said they intended to hire a new or additional agency sometime within the next twelve months. "That wouldn't surprise me," said Mr. Kean. "I don't think agencies have any idea how deeply in trouble they are or could be on any given day."

"Agencyfinder is a great fit for the BMA," explained the company's Chairman and CEO, Charles G. Meyst. "Of the 4,000+ searches we've done since launching Agencyfinder, many of them are for smaller B2B accounts like the kind that make up the BMA membership. These are accounts that aren't necessarily looking for the big, Madison Avenue agency, but rather for someone who knows the market and understands how to build brands cost effectively. Our database is loaded with those kinds of agencies," said Mr. Meyst.

Agencies can register for a minimum "maintenance fee" with Agencyfinder, but the company's business model requires agencies to pay an annual subscription fee in order to actively participate as a contender in a competitive pitch once they've been selected and pass their initial "telephone screening interview" with the searching client. For agencies that have paid their annual subscription fee, they receive full contact information for any and all other clients who invite