Creative Company Celebrates 30th Anniversary

News Release: for immediate release
Date: March 21, 2008
Contact: Lisa Weidman
Phone: (503) 883-4433 or 1.866.363.4433 (toll-free)
Email: lweidman@creativeco.com
Web: www.creativeco.com

MCMINNVILLE, OR: Creative Company, Inc., a strategic branding and
communications firm based in McMinnville, Ore., is celebrating its 30th
anniversary in 2008. The award-winning firm has grown from a local ad agency
serving the Salem area to a regional player offering a broad range of
marketing, branding and communication services to clients throughout the
West and across the U.S.

Creative Company was founded in Salem, Ore., in 1978 when Jennifer Larsen
and Eve Hawkes of Larsen & Hawkes Design joined forces with Dez Young of
Young Communications, a sole proprietorship. The name of the new partnership
was Young, Larsen and Hawkes Creative Company, Inc. The new firm provided
advertising services to mid-Willamette Valley clients from its office at 341
State Street in Salem.

"When we started in business, I was focused on graphic design, and our
essential tools were the rapidograph pen, veloxes, rubber cement and X-acto
knives. Now, of course, we can't function without computers, and the drawing
boards we relied on are no longer needed," said Morrow.

By 1983, Hawkes and Young had departed to pursue other careers, the name had
changed to Creative Company, Inc., and Morrow had become president.

In the 1980s the company's service offerings grew from graphic design and
advertising to integrated marketing communications, research, naming,
channel marketing, package development and design of point-of-sale displays
and signage.

The firm's clients included Commercial Bank (now West Coast Bank), McNary
Real Estate, Viacom Cablevision (now Comcast), Church Extension Plan, Supra
Products (now owned by GE), Oregon Fruit Products, SmokeCraft, Agripac and
NORPAC Foods.

By 1990, branding had become the primary focus of the firm, wrapping the
concepts of integrated marketing communications into comprehensive,
strategic programs designed to synchronize an organization's communications
with all audiences, from customers to employees. In 1998 Morrow began
offering workshops on branding, later named BrandACT for "Branding:
Audiences, Contacts and Tools." Speaking requests soon followed, including a
presentation in 2007 to the national marketing conference for the National
Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA).

In late 2000 the firm relocated to McMinnville, Ore. "It was less of a
commute for me, and with modern technology, it really doesn't matter where
the office is. We're well-connected electronically, and McMinnville is a
great town to be part of," said Morrow, who continues to be active in the
Salem community, serving on the boards of SEDCOR and Garten Services.

By 2006 Creative Company had become known in marketing circles throughout
the Northwest as one of the top branding firms, offering a wide range of
strategic and design services related to brand development, implementation
and management. To reflect and communicate this leadership position, the
firm undertook its own rebranding project. In the process the staff learned
even more about the challenges of redefining an organization's core values
and competencies and creating a new visual persona.

"Adopting a new brand for Creative Company has been a valuable opportunity
for us to practice what we've always preached to our clients--step into the
shoes of your target audiences to truly understand their perspective," said
Morrow. "By taking ourselves through our own branding process, we discovered
what an emotional experience it can be. And in the process, we developed a
new empathy for our clients as we work with them to reinvent their brands."

The firm unveiled its new corporate identity, Website and sales literature
in May 2007. "With our new brand, Creative Company has entered a new chapter
in its long tradition of distinctive and powerful brand work," said Creative
Director Steve Donatelli. "We are still committed to expanding our core
disciplines and to ensuring our clients' continued success."

In February Creative Company won a Gold Award for the new corporate identity
in the annual Service Industry Advertising Awards (SIAA), which followed
close on the heels of a Silver Award in the 37th annual Creativity Awards.
Other recent recognition includes awards for branding programs and marketing
tools for Linfield College, Willamette Valley Fruit Co., SELCO Community
Credit Union, Canby Telcom, Forest Grove Lumber Company and the Fly Salem
campaign.

No longer limited to the mid-Willamette Valley, Creative Company draws
clients from throughout the West Coast and as far away as Hawaii, Wisconsin
and Vermont. Current projects include a naming and branding program for a
Wisconsin telecommunications company, restaging a well-known Oregon food
brand, a branding program for an established building-products distributor,
and a series of recruitment publications for a private college.

"There have been numerous changes in the marketing, design and branding
field since 1978," said Morrow, "and yet it continues to be fascinating and
exhilarating. We learn about so many different businesses and continue to
create something new for each client and each program. It's a constant
challenge and always exciting to see the positive impact we have on each
organization we work with. And with the many years we have been in business,
we are doubly rewarded when we see how our work has stood the test of time,
still generating attention and results for our clients."

You'll see Creative Company's award-winning work in the grocery store on the
packaging for Oregon Fruit Products, FLAV-R-PAC's Just Add line of frozen
meal starters and Willamette Valley Fruit Company's pies.
In the mid-Willamette Valley, the service vans of Canby Telcom and Roth
Heating & Cooling show off the brand identity developed by Creative Company.
The Fly Salem campaign, Eye Care Physicians & Surgeons, Cherriots transit
system and Garten Services in Salem, and Western Oregon Waste (WOW),
McMinnville Chamber of Commerce, Forest Grove Lumber Company and First
Federal in McMinnville have all been rebranded by Creative Company. Many
other organizations focused on specific audiences, including Linfield
College, foodguys and Specialty Polymers, have also seen positive results
from Creative Company's work.