Jayne Hancock Group (JHG) and Townsend Inc. Join Forces to Create JHG-Townsend, a New Model of Marketing and Public Relations Group
Jackie Townsend to stay with newly merged company as executive vice president

Jayne Hancock Group today announced the acquisition of partner agency Townsend Inc. and the formation of a merged entity, JHG-Townsend™, which represents a new model of marketing and public relations group created to serve business clients in a changing media and technology landscape. With firm grounding in traditional marketing, Jayne Hancock Group has been an industry leader in harnessing new media — Web-based applications, social networking, mobile technologies and interactive media — to develop innovative marketing strategies for their business clients. Similarly, having developed a strong list of clients from the life sciences and technology sectors, Townsend Inc. has combined traditional marketing and public relations strategies with newer digital public relations practices. The merged company now offers a comprehensive set of marketing and brand communications services to clients across a broad spectrum of businesses — media and entertainment, technology, health and life sciences, sports, consumer goods, government and education.

Since founding Townsend Inc. 14 years ago, Jackie Townsend Konstanturos and her team have promised and delivered "breakthrough marketing that works" for a veritable "Who’s Who" of regional organizations — QUALCOMM, National University, Toshiba, ARM, Continuous Computing, Sequoia Communications, The Rady School, Vidacare and more. Townsend Konstanturos, who takes on the title of executive vice president of JHG-Townsend, said, "We’ve taken a lot of companies through the rigors of an IPO, through their growing pains, and even through re-branding a few years later. With the digital revolution, there has been a seismic shift in the way business gets done. Companies, including our own, must evolve and adapt, and, more importantly, anticipate the technology and societal changes yet to come. As JHG-Townsend, we now have the combined resources and the expanded skill set to be a better partner to our business clients than ever before. We know this business and we know this market. As part of our new merged company, I can honestly say, I’ve never been more excited about the future."

With an equally illustrious career focused primarily from the business side, Jayne Hancock joined a little-known start-up, DIRECTV, in 1995, where as vice president of consumer marketing she was responsible for the company’s consumer marketing initiatives and helped to launch a variety of services, including DIRECTV Para Todes, the DIRECTV publishing unit and also oversaw all sponsorship activities. While at DIRECTV, Hancock was instrumental in the development of numerous service packages, most notably NFL Sunday Ticket — considered by many to be the most successful sports broadcast package in history. During Hancock’s tenure, DIRECTV was the fastest growing electronic consumer product of its time. Hancock founded Jayne Hancock Group in 2005, and with her solid multi-channel experience and business savvy, attracted an impressive list of clients, including Comcast, Rogers Communications, Cox Communications, MediaFLO USA and MediaFLO Technologies, Muttropolis, CFL Toronto Argonauts and SponsorHouse.com.

"With the explosion of digital marketing and technology, this merger couldn’t have come at a better time," said Hancock, chief executive officer of JHG-Townsend. "I’ve always had the utmost respect for Jackie Townsend and what she has accomplished during the past 14 years. Jackie and I both agree that our two companies together create a distinct synergy from our combined passion and our relentless commitment to our clients’ success. Going forward, our new company, with an impressive team of talented professionals and wealth of business experience, will empower our clients to not only be heard but to succeed in an increasingly noisy and digital marketplace."

Business clients welcome the formation of the new company and echo the value of marketing services made more relevant in a digital world. "I’ve worked with a lot of marketing groups but never have I seen such an impressive combination of talent, creativity and experience as I’ve seen at JHG," said Adrian Montgomery, director of strategic alliances at Rogers Communications. "Their knowledge of media — old and new — Web-based applications, sports marketing, consumer marketing and more, has been a perfect fit for the help we’ve needed. We are excited to continue this partnership with the merged company, JHG-Townsend."

Rounding out the executive team at JHG-Townsend is Executive Vice President Elizabeth Estes-Cooper. An 18-year media veteran, Estes-Cooper spent four years as director of news/talk programming for Clear Channel Colorado where, among other things, she managed the network radio programming for NFL and MLB teams. Estes-Cooper’s talent for content creation, development and production will help JHG-Townsend deliver powerful ideas and programs to connect clients with their audiences, especially in the way brands deliver their story to consumers.

JHG-Townsend benefits from a diverse group of seasoned experts and young professionals who collectively are well-versed in all marketing and public relations disciplines and all media technologies to address the changing business and consumer environments. The company will maintain their current offices in Sorrento Mesa, where they have co-located for the past two years.

Here is What Clients Say About JHG-Townsend:

Deborah Chalmers, Director of Corporate Communications
Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC):
"We partnered with Townsend because of the company’s unique industry knowledge coupled with a breadth of expertise in branding and advertising. Townsend developed a new verbal brand strategy and advertising campaigns for TAEC, which strengthened and solidified TAEC’s leadership in the technology marketplace. We look forward to continuing our work with the now expanded team at JHG-Townsend."

Russ Mann, Chief Executive Officer
SEMDirector:
"As a new media company, SEMDirector underwent an extensive search for a partner communications agency that understands and embraces the continually evolving marketing technology landscape. Townsend has been an ideal match in providing us with the necessary strategic public relations guidance and tactical implementation so that we can best serve our Fortune 50 clients with cutting-edge technologies for today’s interactive media marketing."

Brian Wood, Vice President of Marketing
Continuous Computing:
"When Continuous Computing approached Townsend three years ago, we needed to re-position the company in the telecom infrastructure industry. We turned to Townsend and its seasoned strategic public relations team to boost our market perception and establish a thought leadership program. As a result of engaging with Townsend to drive a comprehensive branding and PR initiative, Continuous Computing is now positioned as an influential player in the industry, and we continue to look to JHG-Townsend to deliver communications strategies that grow our thought leadership position in the ever-changing telecom market."

Keith Pelley, President
Toronto Argonauts:
"In a saturated marketplace you need to have an agency that cares, is passionate about success, and extremely talented and creative. JHG is that agency. Under their tutelage, all facets of our business have soared, including sponsorship which has now reached record heights. Their unwavering commitment and obsession to be the best will lead to results. We have re-energized our brand with the help of JHG including launching a very innovative community outreach program which has now become a full-fledged foundation helping thousands of kids annually."

Linda Pinney, President
Asteres Inc.:
"With a long career in healthcare automation, we developed a great product that addressed a genuine consumer need in retail pharmacy. ScriptCenter, an ATM-like device, allows consumers to pickup and pay for prescriptions when the pharmacy is closed or without waiting in line when the pharmacy is open. Jayne and her team very quickly grasped the unique go-to-market challenges I faced and developed a partner and a consumer communications platform that works beautifully. I look forward to working with the new JHG-Townsend for many years to come."

About JHG-Townsend
San Diego-based JHG-Townsend represents a new model of marketing and public relations agency in a digital world. JHG-Townsend empowers businesses with strategies that are reality-based, forward-looking, and both business-to-business and consumer-focused. The group combines traditional communications with new media, such as Web-based services, digital public relations, interactive and mobile to create breakthrough marketing programs. From strategy to execution, from marketing research to evaluation, and from creative brainstorming to creative campaigns, JHG-Townsend offers a complete set of communications and marketing services to business clients in the following industries: technology, health and life sciences, media and entertainment, sports, gaming, consumer goods, government and education. JHG-Townsend clients include QUALCOMM, MediaFLO USA and MediaFLO Technologies, National University, Toshiba, Vidacare, Comcast, Continuous Computing, Sequoia Communications, SEMDirector, Visual Sciences (NASDAQ: VSCN), and many more.

JHG-Townsend is here for business, here for their clients’ success. For more information, visit www.jhg.com or call 1.858.457.4888.