AUSTIN, TX - AUGUST 15, 2006
Commemorative Brands, Inc. the Austin, Texas-based manufacturer and marketer of fine jewelry, class rings, graduation products and fine paper products, has hired SicolaMartin, an award-winning advertising and marketing agency, to give a complete design and interface overhaul to the website of Balfour.com. SicolaMartin, also based in Austin, will partner with VML, a leading marketing technology company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Both companies are part of the WPP agency network.

Balfour® has long been a national leader in customized rings for high school, college, military and sports championships. For the past four years, Balfour has offered basic e-commerce and ring design capabilities at Balfour.com. However, Commemorative Brands (CBI), parent company to Balfour along with other well-known brands such as Artcaved® and Keepsake®, wants to more fully leverage the power of the web by upgrading the website's design, functionality and marketability to its target audiences of high school students, college students and military.

"With the teen market and college student population online practically every day, it's imperative that Balfour develop a powerful web presence," said Matt Gase, CBI's General Manager. "We need to give both students and their parents a dynamic website, allowing them to customize rings quickly and easily while providing a source of information and community," he continued.

"The market for commemorative products has changed dramatically in recent years, but research tells us that people will always want to mark special moments in their lives. SicolaMartin and VML demonstrated that they truly understand our target market, what we need to accomplish with the new site, and have proven track records integrating powerful marketing and creative strategies with technology," Gase said.

SicolaMartin was one of eight agencies in consideration for the Balfour.com assignment. Because of the depth of e-commerce and functionality required, the agency partnered with sister WPP agency, VML, recognized for its expertise in digital marketing for clients such as Burger King, Colgate-Palmolive and Adidas. SicolaMartin is responsible for strategic planning, creative direction and account management, with additional duties for online ad planning and buying once the revised site is complete. VML will oversee the new website's user experience, technical development and implementation.

"Teaming up with VML made perfect sense on this project and I expect more work will come of it down the road," said Steve Martin, executive vice president/executive creative director of SicolaMartin. "We've had great success combining efforts with other WPP agencies in the past – the exchange of new thoughts, ideas, and areas of expertise benefits not only our clients, but those of us doing the work," he continued.

About SicolaMartin
Austin, Texas-based SicolaMartin is an advertising and marketing agency specializing in targeted and integrated campaigns that leverage technology and the digital convergence of media and marketing. For more than 20 years, the agency's creative excellence and in-depth marketing experience have delivered effective campaigns for consumer and technology industry leaders like AMD, Blu-ray Disc, Epson, Hewlett Packard, Sybase, and the American Cancer Society. The Texas Association of Business and Society for Human Resource Management named SicolaMartin one of the 50 Best Companies to Work for in Texas (#8). The agency is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Young & Rubicam Advertising with a satellite office in San Francisco. For more information, visit http://www.sicolamartin.com.

About Commemorative Brands
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Commemorative Brands, Inc. is the country's leading manufacturer and supplier of commemorative jewelry, from class rings for colleges and universities across the country, to wedding and affinity jewelry, as well as graduation announcements and accessories. Balfour has been creating class and sports achievement rings and accessories for over 100 years and is a division of American Achievement Corporation.

About VML:
VML is one of the world's leading marketing technology companies, and is based in Kansas City, Missouri with locations in New York; Seattle; Chicago; Atlanta; Los Angeles; London; and Bogotá, Colombia. Founded in 1992, VML specializes in digital marketing — the intersection of marketing and technology. VML's unique credentials include everything from brand development, offline advertising and direct marketing to the most complex web enablement and digital marketing solutions. VML's client list includes some of the world's most recognizable and powerful brands like AMC Theatres, Accenture, Burger King, BP/Castrol, Colgate-Palmolive, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Intuit, Microsoft, Simon Property Group and Sprint. VML is a Young & Rubicam Brands agency and a member of the WPP Group (NASDAQ: WPPGY). VML can be found online at http://www.vml.com/.

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