The Faction Agency - 2013 Capabilities

Thomas Morelli Heather Gore Managing Partner Managing Partner +1 (206) 499-0385 +1 (650) 888-1979 [email protected] [email protected]

Strategic Public Relations

& Communications

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The Faction Agency is a public relations and communications firm that drives results for companies that differentiate themselves through technology. With consultants in San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, New York and Vancouver, our mission is to amplify every client's business objectives—from market share gains to increased sales revenue—with powerful brand equity. Are you ready to use smart, strategic communications as a catalyst for taking your brand to the next level? The Faction Agency as the right team, the right experience, and the right thinking to hit the ground running.

Table of Contents

Overview 3

Approach 3

Services 4

Portfolio 6

Case Studies 7

Leadership 11

CONTENTS

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Unparalleled success starts now. Our goal is to achieve a new standard of excellence with every client. We stake our reputation on our knowledge of what’s going on in today’s technology-driven markets, and our ability to help our clients influence what comes next to achieve lasting and sustainable success. The Faction Agency was founded by Heather Gore and Thomas Morelli, veteran public relations and marketing executives with deep roots in the Silicon Valley and beyond. Over the course of nearly two decades, they have earned the respect and trust of their clients with work that has propelled a wide range of innovators to the forefront of their respective industries. With a reputation for being smart, hard-working and future-focused, The Faction Agency has grown to include consultants in five North American cities with considerable domain expertise spanning nearly every facet of the digital world.

Global perspective, precise reference points. The Faction Agency helps innovators move their vision out of the development lab and into the hearts, hands, and minds of customers. We stand out for our ability to inject new thinking that helps companies compete more effectively. By taking a long-term approach to client service, we're able to keep unnecessary costs low especially in terms of infrastructure and overhead, so we can pass the savings on to our clients. We expand our team and provide recommendations on program development only in support of client needs and objectives—not to generate more billable hours. We believe staffing models matter. Each member of The Faction Agency team is well qualified to counsel clients and orient daily work toward achieving results against measurable objectives. Our senior-level consultants play an active day-to-day role to ensure that clients receive valuable insights and high-caliber output. We relentlessly pursue quality. Our unyielding standards at The Faction Agency assure that the quality of everything from written materials to daily interactions will not only make the public relations process more effective, but ultimately generate a perceptual advantage in the marketplace. We think unconventionally. Few can match the insider knowledge and diversity of domain expertise resident at The Faction Agency. From the distillation of complex technologies to the promotion of world-renowned brands—we’ve been there. And we’re always pushing the envelope with ideas that challenge conventional thinking. We facilitate meaningful results. The Faction Agency sets clear priorities based on a rigorous, honest assessment of a client's needs. We evaluate the benefit and achievability of each recommendation, and whether the contribution to business objectives justifies the necessary investment.

OVERVIEW

APPROACH

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We think smarter, work harder. Our mission at The Faction Agency is to amplify every client's business objectives—from market share gains to increased sales revenue—with powerful brand equity. We stake our reputation on our knowledge of what’s going on in today’s technology-driven markets, and our ability to help our clients influence what comes next to achieve lasting and sustainable success. All program recommendations are developed and implemented in close contact with senior executives and key advisors. And amid today’s complex, 24-hour global media landscape, we aim always to improve understanding between client and customer, and ensure the consistent and timely flow of information to current and potential stakeholders—both inside and outside your corporate boundaries. The Faction Agency offers a set of services that can be tailored to meet your specific needs. Strategic Counsel & Positioning

Communications planning, media training and market positioning strategies for product launch planning and execution, storytelling, media engagement, and ongoing influence and awareness.

Prioritizing and proactively addressing market-pervasive trends and reputation issues that can affect organizational success, and keep companies focused on high-priority challenges and opportunities.

Public policy media relations, Internet advocacy and campaign management for conveying compelling stories on behalf of corporate clients in collaboration with trade associations and advocacy groups.

Executive Visibility & Thought Leadership

Full spectrum executive communications programs including speech writing, coaching, and topic development to find and express an executive’s authentic, powerful branded voice.

Thought leadership programs for deployment of executives as spokespeople at industry events, seminars, and tradeshows.

Message & Story Amplification

Message and brand development to build a dynamic, unified voice that amplifies technologies, products, and business models to captivate existing and potential customers, and impart a memorable impression.

Master narrative development for employee engagement, internal communications, financial and stakeholder mapping, and corporate social responsibility and cause-related campaigns.

Writing & Editing

Writing and editing sales and marketing collateral, press materials, white papers, bylined articles, advertorials, and customer case studies.

Digital collateral development, target identification and cultivation, digital news hubs, online newsrooms and microsites, owned media platforms, and blogs.

Media & Analyst Relations

Communication programs that leverage our extensive media, analyst, and influencer relationships to drive recognition, relevance and syndication through online and offline media coverage.

SERVICES

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Media & Analyst Relations (cont.)

Identification and execution for product reviews and awards submissions, including customer participation and reviewer guides for competitive and standalone product evaluations, ‘Sneak Peeks’, roundups, and industry honors.

Customer & Vertical Market Cultivation

Diversification of vertical market communications through outreach to specific industries with targeted messages.

Creation of convincing and engaged customer references to build on-the-record credibility and trust.

Digital Influence & Social Media

Multichannel social media program construction and management for PR and marketing campaign amplification, including integrated strategy and execution across paid, earned, and owned channels.

Digital Influence & Social Media (cont.)

Search engine optimization (SEO), link analysis, search engine marketing (SEM) strategies, online advertising strategies and implementation, and dimensional marketing programs.

Content creation and online editorial programs that reach influencers, tastemakers, bloggers, online community leaders, and moderators.

Reputation Management & Rapid Response

Offline and digital issues management for efficient containment and diffusion.

Sponsored conversations and word-of-mouth marketing for building sustainable relationships and loyalty among online and offline communities.

Crisis planning, rapid response, and perceptual audits and analysis of corporate and executive visibility among key influencers.

From emerging startups to established brands. From exciting startups to established brands and companies of all sizes in between, our focus at The Faction Agency is on the vibrant ecosystem of technology. Our consultants have successfully applied the art and science of strategic communications to a diverse list of clients spanning nearly every technology domain and sector. Wireless & Telecom MobiTV Verizon Cenoplex Danger Beatnik Tribal Brands Nortel Networks VoiceStream (now T-Mobile) Ricochet Digital Media & Advertising Affinity Media Rocket Fuel BBC Yahoo! Inktomi Shockwave

Digital Media & Advertising (cont.) Excite Corbis Answerbag (now Demand Media) Enterprise Computing & IT IBM Microsoft Intel VerticalNet (now BravoSolution) Sun Microsystems CrossWorlds Software Indus International InstantService (now Oracle) MIPS Technologies Amdahl Corporation ecVision ConneXt

PORTFOLIO

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Enterprise Computing & IT (cont.) Ecometry Escalate DataChannel (now Computer Associates) Xerox Software Mainsoft Lotus Software Zero G Software (now Macrovision) Visio (now Microsoft) Macromedia Microsoft Office Internet Explorer Wave Systems FrontOffice (now iManage) Security & Privacy eSafe (now Aladdin) Entrust Technologies UTM Systems Corp. Watchguard Venture & Professional Services Ingk Labs Internet Capital Group BondAgent.com Diligenz (now CSC Financial) Deloitte & Touche Gaming Yahoo! Games Gamerang IGE Sony Online Entertainment Sony PlayStation

Gaming (cont.) bEQUAL NEC Technologies TiVo Iomega Samsung Internet & Social Web Simplee Mixx (now Uber Media) Fandor XBowling Sports Challenge Network Starwave (Walt Disney Internet Group) The Motley Fool Earthlink Netflix PlaceWare Ecommerce CVS/Pharmacy Petopia BigWords Walmart.com Soma Hotels.com Non-profit mPowering Webby Awards A Home Away from Homelessness Child Aid California Association of Naturopathic Physicians University of Washington Medical Center Craft and Folk Art Museum Social and Public Art Resource Center

Tested implementation and strategies. We have helped clients face the most difficult challenges and exploit the most promising opportunities amid today’s complex, 24-hour global communications landscape.

Simplee—The Mint.com of Healthcare

With a simple integration that supports healthcare insurance and Medicare beneficiaries, Simplee is a comprehensive Mint.com-like portal for managing healthcare spending. Founded by a former eBay executive and based on his real-life experience with the

CASE STUDIES

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unanticipated cost of healthcare, Simplee enlisted The Faction Agency to launch its groundbreaking new service and help showcase how it makes life easier. Strategic Thinking We devised a launch strategy that was meant to drive new users to Simplee, and land coverage of the service in mainstream consumer publications to highlight its ability to solve the nightmare of managing medical bills and tracking healthcare expenses. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. As we began the countdown to Simplee’s launch, a direct competitor unexpectedly arrived on the scene only a few days before our intended debut with an in-depth feature story in exactly the same online news site we had targeted for the Simplee launch. Measure of Influence We knew about the competitive story within minutes and quickly went to work re-crafting our strategy based on the rapidly evolving media landscape. Leveraging the changed circumstances to Simplee’s advantage, we turned the tables on Simplee’s competitor with a revised set of high-impact messages meant to de-position the competition and ensure that Simplee was clearly understood as a superior offering. Our program resulted in coverage that significantly outpaced the competition, produced a massive jump in traffic for Simplee, and was ultimately credited by executives for nearly 100 percent of new sign-ups in the first six months. The final count included landmark coverage by The CBS Early Show, The Kim Komando Show, TechCrunch, C|NET, The Wall Street Journal, Lifehacker, AOL Daily Finance, Business Insider, Bankrate, The Huffington Post, GigaOM, Money, and Forbes. Pointing to the success of PR in driving consumer adoption of the service, Simplee then secured a multi-million dollar funding round to continue product development and customer acquisition efforts.

Rocket Fuel—Beating the Drum of Digital Advertising

An already successful digital-advertising startup, Rocket Fuel sought an agency partner that not only understood their business on a deeper level, but also their unique place in the market. The company’s previous agency had been largely unsuccessful in helping the company clearly define what made it different, and subsequent media coverage and interest was anemic. Strategic Thinking The Faction Agency ‘s strategy was to reignite interest in Rocket Fuel with a particular emphasis on the technical acumen of its founders. The core campaign was built around regular executive-level media engagement, customer stories and financial results focused on how Rocket Fuel could improve ROI and prove its position as the rising star of the digital-advertising market.

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Measure of Influence Our new customer leverage program surfaced outstanding customers for case study treatment, and jumpstarted advertising industry trade coverage through bylined articles, opinion editorials, and industry commentary. Product updates and customer stories all reinforced the messaging of the overall campaign, and these stories helped the sales team to demonstrate the benefits of Rocket Fuel’s solutions, while delivering a cohesive message to the market. Finally, we successfully publicized the company’s latest funding round, garnering more coverage than any previous financial news issued by the company including stories in The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, Reuters, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and Xconomy.

IGE—Yield of Dreams

Founded by Brock Pierce, a former child movie star and serial entrepreneur, IGE (Internet Gaming Entertainment) trades in virtual currency and provides gamer services for MMORPGs. Considered the premier dealer in the virtual economy, the company presented an unparalleled communications challenge to our team. Members of the gaming community were often critical of IGE, and we were charged with legitimizing the real-money trade of virtual currency in the eyes of the public amid active hostility—verging on belligerence—from a well-organized and influential group of detractors. The problem was amplified by a highly controversial management team with a well-publicized history of imperfections. Strategic Thinking Our strategy was to build a new legacy for the company’s controversial executives while engendering positive awareness and goodwill among the gamer community, influencers and policy makers with a reputation-turnaround campaign that emphasized gamer advocacy, industry innovation, and market stewardship. Measure of Influence The results were incredible. We achieved a right-angle turn in the overall corporate perception and leadership profile of IGE, repositioning the company as the undisputed leader of a newly defined secondary market for gamer services, and an advocate and friend of gamers worldwide. Our work garnered international business press coverage including in-depth feature stories by Fortune, Reuters, and BusinessWeek. We eliminated the cascade of negative stories, resulting in complete neutralization of the detractors who had run unchecked for more than a year, and drove the adoption of IGE’s market metrics as the gold standard by the industry’s most respected analysts and watchers including DFC Intelligence and the vast universe of gamer-focused media.

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MobiTV—Defining “Mobified” Entertainment

A provider of end-to-end mobile media solutions, MobiTV-powered services are available from T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, AT&T and US Cellular with programming from more than 40 television channels offering live news and sports and a variety of full-episode on-demand shows for streaming or download on mobile devices, personal computers and other Internet-enabled consumer electronics. With the goal of cementing its reputation in the mobile and broadband video segment, MobiTV hired The Faction Agency to develop a clear brand narrative, execute a media relations strategy to secure placements in top-tier and industry trades, and prepare senior executives as spokespeople. Strategic Thinking We carefully orchestrated an approach for demonstrating innovation, and declaring a leadership position in the mobile entertainment space. Our activities hinged upon putting the MobiTV service into the hands of influential media and analysts to generate high-profile visibility about the “mobified” handset experience, engender ongoing interest in MobiTV, and drive tangible new business opportunities for the company. Measure of Influence Our program generated a deluge of coverage and awards including the television industry’s highest honor, The Emmy® Award. In addition the company was listed among the OnHollywood Top 100, the Fierce Wireless Fierce 15, Fast Company’s Fast 50, and Red Herring’s 100 Hottest Private Companies. Our work also garnered accolades for MobiTV such as Cable & Satellite Product of the Year, Mobile Entertainment’s Best Video & TV Services Provider Award, and Frost & Sullivan’s Product Innovation of the Year Award.

Mixx—Building a Social News Movement Founded by a former Yahoo! executive and strategy director for USA Today, Mixx was a user-driven social-media website that served to help users submit or find content by peers based on interest and location. A pioneer in combining social networking and bookmarking with Web syndication, blogging and personalization tools, Mixx approached us to help launch the new service and project its influence over its primary perceived competitor Digg which was led by media darlings Jay Adelson and Kevin Rose. Strategic Thinking Our strategy was to create a groundswell of interest among beta users and online tastemakers to drive users to the new social-media hub, validating the business concept

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and exploiting a general dissatisfaction with Digg to build a social-news movement around Mixx as a non-geek alternative and an exciting new player in the space. Measure of Influence Mixx’s launch campaign started with a two-part story that was strategically leaked to Mike Arrington of TechCrunch, driving a cascade of interest among media luminaries that yielded hundreds of thousands of unique visitors and tens of thousands of registered users in a few short weeks. As a result of the campaign, more than 1,000 user-created groups were formed in the first two months, 3 million votes were cast on the new site, and 78 percent of new users personalized their Mixx pages with an average of more than 10 category tags each. The finally tally included more than 150 independent news stories, user-generated blogger reviews and online influencer discussions about Mixx, highlighting a growing and eclectic group of big media partners including USA Today, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, Slate, and The Weather Channel. Mixx was acquired by UberMedia.

Ingk Labs—Inspire, Educate and Influence Private Equity Typically, investors are faced with limited choices when liquidating distressed technology assets, particularly patents and intellectual property. From patent trolls to the chop-shop mentality of creative destruction, methods vary but the objective is always the same—liquidate resources and then pay investors, effectively killing the technology and ending the company as a going concern. Ingk Labs salvages undervalued intellectual property from dying startups, and then brings it back to life as new companies. They challenged The Faction Agency to grow the visibility of the company through the debut of its inaugural technology initiatives, and to design a communications strategy that would highlight the importance of its distinctive IP strategy. Strategic Thinking We positioned the company’s new approach as “IP rescue,” reinforced by a set of messages that tell the story of how Ingk Labs saves distressed technology assets from the IP graveyard with a re-entry strategy that recaptures and recapitalizes the long tail of the private-equity cycle. We then set about showcasing how Ingk Labs, through the convergence of its technology portfolio and its unique approach to the industry, helps solve one of private equity’s most vexing challenges. Measure of Influence By establishing relationships with highly influential journalists, and educating them on the full scope of the Ingk Labs proposition, our story of innovation and the economic gains from protecting and extending the life of distressed IP generated widespread interest among the private equity, venture capital, and angel investor communities.

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Stories appeared in The Wall Street Journal, GigaOM, and VentureBeat that reflected the company’s arresting point-of-view on IP strategy, and perhaps most importantly the company’s story was toasted among the private-equity class which opened the door to key partnerships with venture firms, technology partners, high net-worth investors, and Silicon Valley influentials.

Proven tools, fresh applications. Our senior-level consultants are the cornerstone of our communications initiatives. We deliver the right mix of experience and innovative strategies for achieving great results. J. Thomas Morelli Managing Partner With nearly two decades as a public relations consultant, Thomas Morelli is deeply committed to delivering value to his clients by aligning opinion leaders, customers and partners to gain their support and validation of corporate reputation, products, and services. He builds leadership, issues management, storytelling, PR, AR, and perception-shifting campaigns that drive business for companies that differentiate themselves through technology. Thomas has represented companies at all stages of business development. He is known for his strong credentials as a reputation-turnaround specialist, and for his expertise in formulating future-focused strategies for corporate image management and positioning—always with an eye on engaging key media and stakeholders to condition the marketplace and spawn demand. Prior to co-founding The Faction Agency, Thomas spent ten years in the Bay Area where he was the global communications director for Affinity Media, and a vice president at the San Francisco office of the worldwide communications firm Fleishman-Hillard. The early part of his career was based in Seattle where he was head of the technology practice group at Publicis Consultants, this after progressive account management and support roles at two highly respected agencies, Waggener Edstrom and Text 100 Public Relations. An accomplished writer, Thomas Morelli has received accolades from the Washington Journalism Education Association. He is a cum laude graduate of the University of Washington with a B.A. in Political Science and an LSJ minor.

Heather Gore Managing Partner Bringing more than 18 years of experience with some of the world’s most recognized technology companies, Heather Gore has vast knowledge in creating integrated communications initiatives for startups as well as established brands. Her expertise lies in the development and execution of scalable campaigns that build, heighten and sustain corporate reputation and brand recognition. She has gained the reputation of a strategic, dedicated practitioner with a deep understanding of the digital ecosystem, adept at distilling complex technologies to effectively communicate their

LEADERSHIP

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benefits and tap into the pulse of the marketplace. She concepts and delivers unified PR and digital marketing campaigns that are known for meeting and exceeding client business goals. Heather spent almost ten years in the Silicon Valley serving in various executive and managerial roles at both technology companies and communications agencies including Yahoo!, Excite, Fleishman-Hillard, and Burson-Marsteller, prior to co-founding The Faction Agency. Early in her career, she worked with technology startups, digital-media companies and non-profits in Los Angeles including BoxTop Interactive/iXL West, Earthlink, and the Craft and Folk Art Museum. An award-winning public relations executive, Heather has been a PRSA Silver Anvil finalist in addition to receiving the League of American Communications Professionals Magellan Award, and the SABRE Award of Excellence. Heather Gore graduated cum laude from Pepperdine University with a B.A. in Public Relations and a minor in Fine Arts.

Cathy Browne Director With a career that spans three decades, Cathy Browne has built a reputation as a creative, committed and connected technology PR professional. Cathy’s broad experience allows her to tailor integrated programs for both emerging businesses and established companies. Over the course of her career she has directed hundreds of company and product launches and led notable communications campaigns for a diverse list of large and small companies worldwide. Her work spans corporate and agency positions including serving as a senior member of communications teams at global public-relations firms including Fleishman-Hillard, Hill and Knowlton, and High Road Communications. Her agency experience is complemented by in-house work with several Silicon Valley innovators where she served as the chief architect and strategist behind all corporate communications from product launches to investor relations to the management of multinational PR teams across North America, Taiwan, China, and Japan. Cathy is known as an accomplished speaker, content creator and media trainer. Her successful approach focuses on building online and offline relationships that engage all parties from corporate partners, media, industry analysts, stakeholders and customers – and of course, having a good story to tell. Her particular expertise lies also in executing impactful social-media campaigns as a change agent for corporate clients who wish to reach highly targeted, passionate audiences, facilitate ongoing conversations in an always-on world, and convert sales leads at a higher rate. Cathy Browne is based in Vancouver and holds a B.A. in Hon. Classics from McGill University.

Rebecca Garcia Director An energetic and creative marketing communications veteran with more than 17 years experience, Rebecca Garcia has deep expertise in communications, social media and digital programs for consumer technology companies and non-profit organizations. Her experience includes brand and corporate identity, product launches, media relations, entertainment marketing, product placement, social media strategy, and interactive marketing. Rebecca has worked with Fortune 500 companies and launched technology startups across a wide variety of vertical industries.

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She successfully manages programs that build brand, engage customers, drive sales, and support corporate social responsibility particularly in the areas of the environment and education. Rebecca is well known for her smart research and market segmentation expertise, which she utilizes to execute finely tuned communications and marketing campaigns for her clients. Prior to working with The Faction Agency, Rebecca served in a leadership role at the Bay Area office of Burson-Marsteller, and was the director of brand marketing and creative services at TiVo for more than six years. Rebecca Garcia is an active member of the board of directors for a non-profit organization that supports literacy efforts in Central America. She is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz.