Media Agency Veteran Phil Cowdell Joins R2C Group

Former Chairman and CEO of Mindshare North America Brings More Than 20 Years of Experience to Agency

PORTLAND, Ore. – January 12, 2012 – R2C Group ®, the industry’s largest independent direct response advertising agency, today announced that Phil Cowdell, Chairman of Mindshare North America, will join R2C Group as President in Spring 2012.

“Phil is one of the advertising and media industry’s most respected executives,” said Tim O’Leary, R2C Group Co-Founder and CEO for Respond2.  “He’s a media luminary, and one of the most experienced agency men in the business. Having him join the agency represents a really exciting new phase for us. Phil could have gone to any agency in the world and he chose R2C Group.”

Phil will lead all R2C Group companies, including Respond2, Cmedia, R2Ci, MMSI, Production West and the NOW Networks, and will report to Michelle Cardinal and Tim O’Leary, R2C Group co-founders.

Phil brings a diverse portfolio of experience that will benefit R2C Group clients. His professional background spans large and small agencies worldwide. As Chairman and former CEO of Mindshare North America, Phil managed all operations throughout the U.S. and Canada, overseeing 950 employees and an estimated $8.6 billion in billings.

Honored by MediaWeek Magazine as the 2010 Media Executive of the Year, Phil helped the agency garner more than $2 billion in new business in less than two years. During his 10-year tenure at Mindshare, he worked with clients such as Unilever, Kimberly-Clark, IBM, Cisco, Ford, Land Rover, M, Amex, HSBC, Farmers Insurance, CVS, RadioShack, Abbott Laboratories and Boehringer Ingelheim and numerous other well-known brands. Prior to his leadership at Mindshare, Phil led teams at MediaVest/SMG in London, as well as teams at Saatchi & Saatchi/Zenith in China.

“R2C Group has experienced phenomenal growth over the last decade as the line between brand and direct response has blurred. Now the most cutting-edge, savvy clients are benefiting from our integrated approach across multiple screens: TV, online and mobile. Our creative services, plus our innovative tracking technologies and highly efficient media buying give clients a roadmap for success,” said Michelle Cardinal, R2C Group Co-Founder and CEO for Cmedia. “We proactively recruited Phil Cowdell to join R2C Group – together we will take advertising to the next level.”

About R2C Group

R2C Group, the industry’s largest independent direct response advertising agency, offers clients a winning combination of creative and production, media-planning and -buying, as well as performance-based media for TV, online and mobile. For more than a decade, the team at R2C Group has been harnessing the power of TV for marketers to drive response, acquire customers, sell products, and build brands – ultimately providing the most efficient and effective advertising possible for its clients. Headquartered in Portland, Ore., with offices strategically located across the country, the agency’s clients include Adobe, bareMinerals, NordicTrack, Shark, TiVo and many others. More information is available at http://www.r2cgroup.com/.

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