Creative + Strategy veteran Gary Whitlock joins Branding Leaders

October 1st, 2007 – SALT Branding LLC, the firm that branded Windows Vista for Microsoft, VAULT energy soda for Coca-Cola and Expedition Everest for Disney among other leading brands, announced today that Creative + Strategy veteran Gary Whitlock is joining the company effective today.

"We checked and Gary has a whole brain." said Rick Herrick, SALT Branding's Strategy Director. "I'm not joking, we meet lots of people who are good at solving part of the problem, but not all of the problem. With Gary, he's a right-brain creative director who became a left-brain strategy analyst. Too often clients get strategies that can't be executed or they get pretty but meaningless visuals. Not at SALT — we approach strategy creatively and creative strategically — Gary is a perfect fit."

Mr. Whitlock has held a number of senior-level creative and strategy management positions throughout his career, including:

• Director of Brand Strategy for ABC / Word Entertainment for over 12 years
• Creative Director and Brand Strategist for Frontier Natural Brands
• Chief Creative Officer and Design Strategist for Interbrand Cincinnati
• Senior Director, Brand Strategy and Design for LPK, San Francisco

"Our clients keep telling us that SALT is one of the few firms that can create an insightful strategy and actually bring it to life creatively in ways to help their business grow," added SALT's Creative Director Paul Parkin. "Fortune 500's don't need a colorful swoosh or a pretty design for design's sake. They need a big idea and great creative that hits the mark. The branding business is about business, and Gary understands that."

"Both sides of my brain as well as the rest of my body are thrilled to be joining SALT – especially at the same time!" said Gary. "Seriously, over the years I've realized that great strategy and great creative work best when they work together. I came to SALT to focus on the work because that's when I have the most fun."

About SALT
SALT is a full-service branding, design, and communications company that helps build leading brands. With its distinctively practical mindset, SALT provides a full range of integrated branding services including brand strategy, naming, design, communications, advertising, and corporate culture. SALT has developed leading brands and programs for a diverse set of companies ranging from Fortune 500s to VC-funded start-ups, including Avery Dennison, Bank of Hawaii, Coca-Cola, Disney, EMBARQ, Fatbrain, Genentech, Glu Mobile, Harrah's, Microsoft, Nissan, Pacific Capital Funds, Ribbit, Sprint, Vinfolio, Wellpoint, Wi-Fi and Xerox.

For more information on SALT, please contact:

Paul Parkin
SALT Branding
415.616.1506
paul@saltbranding.com