THE WORLD'S LARGEST INDEPENDENT MARKETING AND TECHNOLOGY AGENCY OPENS US HEADQUARTERS IN NEW YORK
. Two Premier Interactive Shops, Special Ops Media and IconNicholson, Integrate to Create a New Kind of Agency, Marrying Unparalleled Digital Marketing Experience with Unrivalled User Experience and Technology Skills

Among the Company's Global Roster of Clients Are Unilever, BT, National Grid, Electrolux, Universal Music Group, Bristol Meyers-Squibb, MTV Networks, and Starwood Hotels

LBi, the world's largest independent marketing and technology agency, today announced the launch of its US headquarters in New York. Born from two of the US's most venerable interactive services firms, Special Ops Media and IconNicholson, this new kind of agency is created expressly to combine social media and emerging forms of digital marketing with rich interaction and user experience design. This allows the agency to manage brands digitally throughout the entire customer journey. LBi's US flagship is part of a global and highly awarded interactive resource network encompassing more than 1,800 people in 15 countries worldwide. LBi's New York headquarters in Soho hosts 160 digital and social media experts under one roof.

LBi's expertise runs across the whole customer journey, from executing branded digital campaigns to building and managing complex transactional websites. The IconNicholson legacy brings award-winning execution in platform service innovation and branded experiences, while Special Ops Media comes with best-in-class marketing solutions including social media, CRM, and media planning and buying. This combined service offering reflects the demand of modern clients and strategically brings together under one roof the ability for both ideation and production on a global level.

"The combined entities of our offering provide a unique grouping of services and makes for a tremendously diverse client base," said LBi Global CEO Luke Taylor. "We're the one agency where you'll find clients like 1800 Tequila and National Grid rubbing shoulders. We're different because we are creating social media campaigns where users can customize a tequila bottle at the same time as developing sites where customers can manage their power usage and pay their utility bills."

Continued Mr Taylor, "LBi is the next generation of the agency model and as such we've put together an amazing group of people to fulfill on this mission. We've brought in top client services talent from our UK office, outstanding operational leadership from AKQA, and creative prowess from Tribal DDB. Underpinned by the long-standing legacy of entrepreneurism and social media and buying/planning pedigree from Special Ops, we know we have the right team in place to succeed."

Helming LBi's US operations as CEO will be Special Ops Media co-founder Christian Anthony. Judith Carr, former US managing director of IconNicholson and eight-year LBi UK veteran, and Jason Klein, co-founder of Special Ops Media, will serve as Co-Presidents. Ms. Carr will lead the agency's Strategy and Planning and Client Services departments, while Mr. Klein will spearhead Media, Social Media and ePR. Rounding out LBi's executive leadership in the US are COO, Frank Pedersen who will oversee the Technology and Delivery departments; Executive Creative Director, Cedric Devitt; CFO, Scott Heydt; and Joe Schab, who oversees the agency's Atlanta office.

"LBi represents the new type of agency that today's advertising landscape requires," said Christian Anthony. "The Web has dramatically changed the relationship between brands and consumers. We have an unrivalled track history in all types of digital marketing and technology, combined with second to none social media chops. Where others can claim they can do it, we have proved we can do it, and do it brilliantly."

In 2009, LBi was recognized as a leader in the field by Forrester in both the US and Europe, named UK Marketing Magazine's number one agency, agency of the year in Denmark, and has won a record number of awards this year across creative, technology, and CRM. In short, LBi was the most awarded marketing and technology agency in Europe.

The heritage of the two agencies in the US also speaks to this innovation. Special Ops Media has been recognized for a number of innovations in social media and ePR, well before the term "social media" even existed, including executing more than 500 groundbreaking campaigns. They were responsible for the first fully integrated brand presence on MySpace in 2004, and the first-ever live tweeting of a television event. IconNicholson has been continually lauded for myriad tech innovations, including a Time magazine honor for their Social Retailing® work as one of the best inventions of the year.

About LBi
LBi is a global digital marketing and technology agency, blending insight, creativity and expertise to solve business problems. The largest genuinely full service agency of its kind in Europe, LBi provides the full range of digital capabilities, including digital strategy, branded content, service design, media, CRM, technology, managed hosting and support services. On February 25, 2010, LBi merged with Bigmouthmedia, the largest search engine marketing specialist in Europe. Combining LBi's best in class services with Bigmouthmedia's leading search engine marketing, LBi is now positioned to meet the growing customer demand for one agency to provide all of these services across geographies. The company now employs over 1,800 professionals located primarily in the major European, American and Asian business centers such as Amsterdam, Atlanta, Berlin, Brussels, London, Milan, Mumbai, New York, Paris and Stockholm. LBi is listed on Nasdaq OMX in Stockholm and NYSE Euronext in Amsterdam (symbol: LBI). www.lbi.com/us