Barefoot, Proximity Worldwide and the Wall Street Journal Article

BBDO Buys Barefoot
July 14, 2008 6:00 a.m.
Cincinnati-based Agency to Become Part of BBDO's Proximity Network

NEW YORK, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- BBDO Worldwide announced today that it has acquired Barefoot, Cincinnati's premier creative advertising agency. The 15-year old agency will become part of BBDO North America and a member of the Proximity Worldwide Network, BBDO's award-winning global direct and digital marketing network.
"We have been interested in Barefoot for several years," said Andrew Robertson, President and CEO, BBDO Worldwide. "We're both about 'The Work,' and we have been impressed with how they've evolved into a digitally-driven integrated agency. Recently, we've had a chance to work together and get to know each other's organizations. We felt like this was a good time to forge a partnership."
Said Doug Worple, Barefoot's Founding Partner and Chief Creative Officer, "In BBDO, we found the kind of people we would want to sit down and have dinner with -- which we did. We found a partner who actually treats creative ideas with even greater reverence than we do. Finally, in evaluating potential partners, we wanted someone that would give us the scale to better service our globally focused clients. As part of the BBDO family, we will have opportunities that almost certainly would not have come our way otherwise."
Under terms of the agreement, Worple will continue to lead Barefoot and will also become a member of the Proximity Worldwide Board. Each of the partners of Barefoot will stay with the company and continue to hold shares in the agency.
About Barefoot

Founded in 1993, Barefoot (www.thinkbarefoot.com) is one of the fastest-growing agencies in the country. Barefoot has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the nation's fastest-growing private companies, making it onto the magazine's inaugural "Inc. 5000. list. Also earlier this year, Worple was honored with an Ernst & Young "Entrepreneur of the Year" award in Cincinnati.
About BBDO

BBDO Worldwide is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com). In 2008, BBDO was named Network of the Year at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes for the second year in a row as well as winner of The Gunn Report as the most awarded agency network in the world for the second consecutive year. In addition, BBDO was chosen Advertising Network of the Year by Campaign magazine for the second time in the past three years. To top it off, BBDO was the #1 ranked global agency network according to The Big Won across every major communication discipline ranging from above-the-line to below-the-line, online and offline.
SOURCE BBDO Worldwide

/CONTACT: Roy Elvove of BBDO Worldwide, +1-212-459-5797 , Roy.Elvove@bbdo.com /Web site: http://www.bbdo.com
/Web site: http://www.thinkbarefoot.com
/Web site: http://www.omnicomgroup.com