Geneva, October 7, 2005 — Weber Shandwick has been awarded a prestigious contract to support UEFA’s Marketing and Media Management division (UMMM). The firm was appointed following two projects it carried out for the UEFA, the governing body of European football, in June and July 2005 around the UEFA WOMEN’S EURO 2005 and the launch of the official UEFA EURO 2008™ logo.

Weber Shandwick will work with UMMM to develop strategic communications targeting the European trade, marketing and business media. Weber Shandwick also will help UMMM raise awareness of its EUROTOP programme, a new marketing concept that regroups UEFA’s professional National Team Competitions, which offers a comprehensive four-year sponsorship programme to its partners.

“We wanted to communicate the innovative marketing and commercial programmes that we are putting into place for our next sponsorship cycle in 2006,” said Philippe Margraff, Chief Operating Officer of UMMM.  “We feel that Weber Shandwick has the sports experience, capabilities and global network to help us communicate our message to the business community, National Associations and media.”

Weber Shandwick will manage the programme from its office in Geneva and will work with UMMM to enhance its profile and the awareness of its marketing operation in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

UEFA has announced three of its six EUROTOP partners, McDonald’s, Carlsberg and JVC, and recently concluded a four-year strategic licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Consumer Products. 

Weber Shandwick is also working with UEFA on a broader review of its overall communications offering to its relevant stakeholders; from the media and fans to the National Associations.

UMMM is the commercial division of UEFA, responsible for generating revenue from sponsorship and licensing for all professional National Team Competitions, and managing the relationships with all associated commercial partners including broadcasters. The events managed by UMMM include UEFA’s flagship event – UEFA EURO 2008™ (2008) as well as the UEFA European Under-21 Championships (2006, 2007, 2009), UEFA European Women’s Championship (2009) and UEFA European Futsal Championships (2007, 2009), all of which fall under the UEFA EUROTOP programme.

Weber Shandwick is one of the world’s leading public relations agencies, with offices in major media, business and government capitals around the world. Weber Shandwick, named “Agency of the Year” by PRWeek and The Holmes Report, and Advertising Age’s highest rated public relations firm, is a leader in marketing public relations, public affairs and corporate communications counseling, and also provides services in advocacy advertising, market research and visual communications. Find out more at http://www.webershandwick.com/.

Weber Shandwick is a unit of The Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG) which is among the world’s largest advertising and marketing services organizations