Interpublic Group Of Companies Inc Company Profile

Advertising and Specialized Marketing and Communications Services Businesses

In the last five years, the Company has grown to become one of the worlds largest groups of global marketing services companies, providing its clients with communications and marketing expertise in three broad areas:

' Advertising, which includes advertising and media management;

' Marketing Communications, which includes direct marketing, database and customer relationship

management, public relations, sales promotion, event marketing, on-line marketing, corporate and brand identity, brand consultancy and healthcare marketing; and

' Marketing Services, which includes sports and entertainment marketing, corporate meetings and events, retail marketing and other marketing and business services.

The Company is currently organized into four global operating groups. Three of these groups, McCann Erickson WorldGroup ("McCann"), The FCB Group and The Partnership, provide a comprehensive array of global communications and marketing services. Each offers a distinctive range of solutions for the Companys clients. The fourth global operating group, The Interpublic Sports & Entertainment Group ("SEG"), focuses on sports marketing and event planning activities. In addition to these groups, the Company also includes a group of leading stand-alone companies that provide their clients with a full range of advertising and/or marketing communications services.

The Company believes this organizational structure allows it to provide comprehensive solutions to clients, enables stronger organic growth among all its operating companies and allows it to bring improved operating efficiencies to its organization.

McCann Erickson WorldGroup was founded on the global strength and quality of McCann, one of the worlds leading advertising agencies. It includes companies spanning advertising, media, customer relationship management, events, sales promotion, public relations, on-line marketing communications and healthcare communications. Launched in late 1997, McCann has expanded rapidly to become one of the worlds leading networked marketing communications groups, now working with more than 25 key worldwide clients in three or more disciplines and with more than 40 US clients in two or more disciplines. McCann Erickson WorldGroup includes the following companies:

' McCann Erickson Worldwide (advertising),

' Universal McCann Worldwide (media planning and buying),

' MRM Partners Worldwide (direct/customer relationship management; on-line marketing communications through Zentropy),

' Momentum Worldwide (event marketing/sponsorship/sales promotion), and

' Torre Lazur McCann Healthcare WorldWide (healthcare advertising and marketing).

The FCB Group is a single global integrated network centered on Foote, Cone & Belding Worldwide and its advertising, direct marketing and sales promotion capabilities. This group also includes the following specialized services:

''FCBi (direct and digital marketing),

''Marketing Drive Worldwide (integrated promotional marketing),

''R/GA (web design and development),

''FCB HealthCare (healthcare marketing), and

''The Hacker Group (customer acquisition direct marketing).

The Partnership, a global, client-driven creative leader, is anchored on the quality advertising reputation of Lowe & Partners Worldwide. The Partnership provides collaboration across a global group of independently managed networks with creative and executional capabilities across all disciplines. The partners seek to preserve their uniqueness while creating the ability to interconnect seamlessly to better service clients. Partner companies include:

''Lowe & Partners Worldwide (advertising),

''Lowe Healthcare Worldwide (healthcare marketing),

''Draft (direct and promotional marketing),

''Zipatoni (promotional marketing),

''Mullen (advertising), and

''Dailey & Associates (advertising).

The Interpublic Sports & Entertainment Group focuses on sports marketing and event planning activities. SEG was formed during the second quarter of 2002 through a carve-out from the Companys other operating groups of related operations. It includes:

''Octagon (sports marketing),

''Motorsports, and

''Entertainment PR (Bragman Nyman Cafarelli and PMK/HBH).

Through March 1, 2004 Jack Morton Worldwide was included as a component of SEG.

The Company is currently evaluating the manner in which SEG and its component parts are managed and reported. In January 2004, Interpublic sold the four motorsports circuits owned by its Brands Hatch Circuits unit to MotorSport Vision Limited for approximately $26 million. As a result of the sale, Interpublics remaining interest in Motorsports consists of its obligations related to the Formula One British Grand Prix and the lease of the Silverstone track.

Independent Agencies

Interpublic also includes a group of leading stand-alone companies that provide their clients with a full range of advertising and/or marketing communications services and partner with the Companys global operating groups as needed. These include:

''Campbell Ewald,

''Deutsch,

''Hill Holliday,

''The Martin Agency,

''Carmichael-Lynch,

''Gotham,

''MAGNA Global (advertising media negotiations and television program development),

''Weber Shandwick Worldwide, Golin/Harris International and DeVries Public Relations (public relations),

''FutureBrand,

''Initiative Media (media planning and buying), and

''Jack Morton Worldwide.

Companys largest clients included General Motors Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Nestle and Unilever. While the loss of the entire business of any one of the Companys largest clients might have a material adverse effect upon its business, the Company believes that it is unlikely that the entire business of any of these clients would be lost at the same time, because the Company represents several different brands or divisions of each of these clients in a number of geographical markets, in each case through more than one of the Companys agency systems.