Captivate Network Unveils Plans to Help Brands Come Alive; Strengthens Senior Management Team

Captivate Network Unveils Plans to Help Brands Come Alive; Strengthens Senior Management Team

Media and Branding Veterans Join Leading Digital Network to Guide Company During Significant Growth Period

CHELMSFORD, Mass., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Captivate Network, the North American digital out-of-home news and entertainment network, today announced several new additions to the management team in order to execute on its plans to extend engaging network content beyond office tower elevators and lobbies and into the viewer's daily life. Currently in beta testing, the company's brand activation programs will be rolled out next year, creating exciting new ways for viewers to interact with brands that they see on the network, as well as offer advertising partners an integrated marketing platform approach to campaigns.

Recently, Captivate brought sought-after elevator programming to the Web via six new blogs by the company's live editorial team. Under this new initiative, Captivate will continue to find and build out unique ways to boost its clients' brand awareness initiatives through a variety of channels, including Web, mobile and events, increasing audience engagement among affluent consumers. To help execute the new strategy, Captivate has made three new hires that will strengthen the company's leadership position in the media and advertising space and steer the direction of the company during a time of growth. Scott Lyon joined the company as vice president of marketing, Deanna Murray has joined the digital network as director of content, and Heather Frugoli has joined as brand activation manager.

"Captivate continues to emerge as a rapidly growing multimedia brand, and this is just the beginning," said Mike DiFranza, president and general manager of Captivate Network. "We know that advertisers and viewers want to interact beyond the elevator and lobby, so creating more touch-points during the day is the next logical step. With new talent and innovative products in the pipeline aimed at increasing the brand awareness of our clients, I am confident that these three experienced media veterans will strengthen our corporate direction as we embark on the execution phase of our new strategy."

Lyon will spearhead efforts around product development, studio operations and research, as well as promote the network strategically to its three distinct audiences: the real estate and advertising communities and the Captivate viewers. He brings more than fifteen years of media, real estate and consumer-based experience to Captivate. Lyon previously served as the director of marketing and general manager for LATimes.com and has held management positions at Turner Broadcasting and Sony interactive gaming. Lyon has an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Deanna Murray, formerly the director of programming at AOL, will work with Captivate's editorial team and content partners to ensure the network provides live programming content to its viewers. At AOL, Murray led the team that developed and launched new consumer Web sites, including AOL RED, RED Blogs, RED U and Project Freshman. She has more than fifteen years of media content experience.

As Brand Activation Manager, Heather Frugoli will work closely with the network's advertising partners, and she will be responsible for leading the network's bundled offerings and services. Frugoli will leverage her more than ten years of experience in promotions, events and sales management in her new position. Before joining Captivate, Frugoli managed promotions and events for Comcast Spotlight, a division of Comcast Cable.

Captivate is the only medium that offers advertisers the opportunity to reach an exceptional audience of mobile professionals in a distraction-free environment during the workday. Captivate advertisers include BMW, Hyatt, Travelocity, Charles Schwab, AT+T, Avis, Microsoft, Visa, FedEx, American Airlines, Audi and Sun Microsystems.

Captivate's network is viewed on digital-quality flat-panel television screens in the elevators of premier office towers, reaching more than 2.6 million viewers each day in top DMAs. Captivate is seen in Atlanta, Boston, Calgary, Chicago, Columbia, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Hartford, Houston, Los Angeles/Orange County, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco/San Jose, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver and Washington, DC. Captivate recently announced new lobby displays and a multi-media platform for its elevator displays. These next generation products provide a scalable, complete solution for both office towers and suburban office buildings, as well as for advertisers seeking to reach a target audience.

About Captivate Network

Captivate Network (http://www.captivate.com/), is the North American news and entertainment network that delivers quality programming and advertising to a highly desirable and targeted audience during the workday, when they are making business and personal buying decisions. Captivate is one of the most effective advertising vehicles available, earning a high 48% average total ad recall, according to Millward Brown studies*. Captivate's network is seen in a distraction-free viewing environment, on wireless flat-panel television screens in the elevators of premier office towers across North America. Currently, Captivate is seen on over 8,400 screens, delivering more than 55.6 million impressions per month. Established in 1997 and headquartered in Massachusetts with offices throughout North America, Captivate Network is a Gannett company.

*unaided plus visually aided

Source: Captivate Network

CONTACT: Jennifer Johnson of Captivate Network, +1-978-845-5018,
jjohnson@captivate.com; or Denise Welch of Dotted Line Communications,
+1-781-849-2022, denise@dottedlinecomm.com, for Captivate Network

Web site: http://www.captivate.com/

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