Blue-Ash Based RDI Marketing Services' Market Research Business and Marketing On Consumer Knowledge Consultancy Combine to Create New Full-Service Market Research Entity: StrataMark Research

Business Wire, July 20, 2005

CINCINNATI -- The New Market Research Company Leverages a Holistic and Integrated Approach to Discovering Insightful and Innovative Ways to Build Brands and Grow Businesses

RDI Marketing Services, a nationwide, broad-based marketing services company based in Blue Ash, Ohio - just outside Cincinnati - today announced it is combining its full-service market research business with the global marketing and research consultancy Marketing On Consumer Knowledge, creating the new research entity StrataMark Research. The consultancy had been led by Larry Mock, former Vice President of Worldwide Market Research at Procter & Gamble. Mock recently joined RDI for the purpose of creating the new research entity and will be President of Strategic Development at StrataMark. RDI Marketing Services will separately continue its Teleservices and Customer Care businesses.

RDI was founded in 1978 by George Trebbi, Ph.D., President of RDI Marketing Services and Professor of Marketing Strategy at Xavier University. Trebbi will also be President of StrataMark Research. "RDI has had an almost 30-year tradition of providing high-quality, strategic research, generating outstanding learning, insight and dedicated service to our many clients," said Trebbi. "With StrataMark Research, we add on top of RDI's strengths a stronger orientation to building brands - whether those brands are company/corporate equities or the products and services they sell. We also gain a stronger consultative orientation to building brands and growing businesses and 23 years of very high-level client-side experience and expertise."

StrataMark Research has a senior staff with over 200 years experience, combining the best of strategic corporate leadership experience; creative marketing strategy proficiency; consulting skills; and diverse and extensive research provider design, execution and analytic expertise. "RDI was always an important research partner for us at P&G, and we are an important partner for other strong companies as well, including many prestigious retailers, financial institutions, quick-serve restaurants, health and vision care businesses, home improvement companies, and numerous others," said Mock. "Combining our resources, we have an incredibly diverse range of skills and experiences to leverage for our clients' benefit. Our approach to research is built on the philosophy of deeply understanding the nature and character of brand-consumer relationships, then driving from that to improved brand-building strategies, communications and products/services. The results are much stronger brands and more profitable businesses."

Unlike many market research companies today, StrataMark does not focus on pre-packaged, "off-the-shelf" solutions. Rather, it focuses first on deeply understanding a client's business situation and context, then custom-designs an approach that will provide the best insights

and business solutions. StrataMark's consultative approach continually encourages the client to expand its consideration of its business category, target market and other parameters to increase the odds of finding brand and business-building opportunities.

"Some things that will not change with the combined business and the move to StrataMark Research," said Trebbi, "are the dedication we have always had to customer service and having our most senior staff always accessible to our clients. At many larger firms, responsibility for a client often gets passed down the line. Here, we have and will continue to keep all of our resources available and focused on helping a client build its business. That's what makes them successful and that's what makes us successful."

About StrataMark Research

StrataMark Research is a full-service custom market research company providing strategic consulting, research design, execution, analysis and recommendations to clients across the United States. Through global partners, it has the capability of managing research projects in any part of the world. The vast majority of StrataMark's research is custom-designed for each specific client issue and opportunity. Research is executed in any of a number of interviewing modalities, including Internet, telephone, central location and many others. StrataMark designs and conducts over 600 projects per year, and its client base spans dozens of different industry sectors, encompassing large, medium and small-size firms. StrataMark's headquarters are in Blue Ash, Ohio, with satellite operations in Dallas, Indianapolis, Atlanta and Nogales, AZ.

For more information, visit the company's website on www.stratamark-r.com.