Leading the Marketing Organization for Senior Marketers, the CMO Council Announces Significant Expansion into European Market
Influential EMEA Advisory Board to Guide Programs and Intellectual Capital Development Focused on European Market Conditions

LONDON December 8, 2004 -- The CMO Council, an influential US-based organization of senior technology marketers, has announced today that it is extending its membership and programs into Europe, underlying the positive signs of improvement in the information technology and telecommunications market in Western Europe. An influential board of advisors in Europe will guide event content and research programs specifically designed to serve the needs of the European marketplace.

Formed in 2001, the by-invitation-only organization seeks to improve the practice and performance of marketing in the information technology and telecommunications sectors. In the US, the Council sports nearly 1,000 technology organization members representing companies with aggregated annual revenues of $500 billion, and a collective marketing spend of some $40 billion annually. The CMO Council is managed by GlobalFluency, the Independent Network of Influence which consists of 81 offices employing over 500 professionals in 65 countries.

The European Advisory Board recently met in London to finalize the 2005 program calendar and includes VPs and Directors of Marketing for some of the world’s leading global IT companies including Alcatel, Avaya, BT, Cable & Wireless, Cognos, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens, Hewlett Packard, Kodak, Lucent, Microsoft, Motorola, O2, Peoplesoft, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, T-Mobile, and Vignette.

The full membership of the CMO Council European Advisory Board is as follows:

Lynne Saunders, VP, Marketing – Actify Inc.
Ron Spithill, Executive VP & CMO – Alcatel
Mike Inglis, Executive VP, Marketing – ARM Semiconductor
Martyn Lambert, VP Marketing EMEA – Avaya
Kevin Smith, Head of Marketing Strategy – BT Global Services
Mark Quartermaine, Marketing Director, UK & Europe – Cable & Wireless
Christoph Kaderli, Director European Marketing – Cognos
Detlef Spang, Managing Director, Marketing – COLT
Keith Collins, Marketing Director – Dell Corporation Ltd
David Shaw, Director of Marketing – Energis
Nick Eades, Marketing Director – Fujitsu Siemens
Bill Gajda, CMO – GSM Association
Anette Nachbar, Director of Corp. Comm. EMEA – Hewlett Packard
Philippe Kalmbach, Marketing Director DFIS EAMER – Kodak
Masimmo Sangiovanni, Marketing Director, Europe – Lucent Technologies
Andrew McGrath, VP, Marketing & Strategy – MCI
Nick Barley, UK Marketing Director – Microsoft
Melissa Gardner, Director of Marketing EMEA – Motorola
Cath Keers, Marketing Director, UK – O2
Henry Seddon, VP, Marketing EMEA – PeopleSoft
Mark McMurtrie, Marketing Director – Retail Logic Ltd
Paul Moulds, Marketing Director – Siemens Comms
Dee Dutta, Corp. VP, Head of Global Marketing – Sony Ericsson Mobile
Derrick Emeka, Head of Int’l Marketing Planning – T-Mobile
Simon Crane, Managing Director, Europe – Tickets.com
Don O’Sullivan, Dept. of Management & Marketing – University College Cork
David Thorpe, Director of Marketing – Vignette
Ian McCann, European Program Director – CMO Council
Donovan Neale-May, Executive Director – CMO Council

European programs will be co-ordinated by GlobalFluency’s UK operation, which has been chosen to act as Secretariat for the CMO Council in Europe. Its Managing Director, Ian McCann, has been appointed European Director of the Council. Programs will be supported by other GlobalFluency consultancies across Europe including France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and Scandinavia.

“The CMO Council has made great strides in furthering the credibility, influence and understanding of marketing among business executives and opinion leaders in the US technology sector and we look forward to generating the same results in Europe,” said McCann. “The Council’s expansion into Europe comes at an exciting time as the information technology and telecommunications industries are gaining increasing traction across Europe, having outpaced the Western European economy as a whole. According to the European Information Technology Observatory (EITO), the ICT market in Western Europe has been growing at 3 percent this year and will increase to 4 percent in 2005, bringing total company revenue to $856.25 billion. We see this as an optimal time to showcase the work of the elite among the technology marketing industry.”

The formation of the CMO Council Europe was welcomed by Advisory Board members. Dee Dutta, Corporate Vice President and Global Head of Marketing for Sony Ericsson, said: “Much of the US program resonates in Europe and where it does not, we will customize content to reflect the different challenges faced on this side of the water. In the mobile market there are issues around brand extension, culture and services that the US market is yet to see or address. The CMO Council Europe gives us a platform for peer group debate and action on these crucial topics.”

Nick Eades, Marketing Director, UK and Ireland Region for Fujitsu Siemens, said: “The CMO Council provides a missing forum for thought leadership in technology marketing for senior decision-makers to tackle difficult issues and exchange ideas with peers. Its output, which will take the form of surveys, reports, and seminars, has the potential to transform technology marketing.”

This sentiment was echoed by another Advisory Board member, Mark Quartermaine, Marketing Director, UK and Europe for Cable & Wireless: “The European CMO Council has identified several initiatives for 2005 that will have a positive impact on our businesses. By focusing on such topics as marketing measurement, customer-centricity, and closing the gap between the sales and marketing functions, we are taking important steps to improve the technology marketing discipline.”

Donovan Neale-May, CMO Council founder and Executive Director as well as GlobalFluency managing partner, attended and spoke at the first European meeting. “Taking the CMO Council into Europe is a pivotal step. We look forward to bringing the global village concept to technology marketers everywhere. By entering Europe we will provide our members the opportunity for greater enrichment based on the cross-pollination of ideas that will be encouraged between North America and our colleagues in the unique and varied European market.”

Publications, news outlets and suppliers interested in becoming associated with the CMO Council Europe are invited to contact Beverley Bird at bbird@globalfluency.com

About the CMO Council
The CMO Council is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to high-level knowledge exchange, thought leadership and personal relationship building among senior marketing and brand decision-makers in the global technology industry. Based in Silicon Valley, the Council works to further the stature, credibility, influence, and understanding of the strategic marketing function among business executives, opinion leaders and critical stakeholders in the technology sector.

Nearly 1,000 technology companies are currently represented on the CMO Council, accounting for well over $500 billion in aggregated annual revenues. These include top decision-makers controlling more than $40 billion in global marketing expenditures for many of the world’s foremost computer systems, software, networking, communications, consumer electronics, component, distribution, and consulting brands. For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.cmocouncil.org.

The CMO Council is represented through regional chapters, which convene in technology centers worldwide under the auspices and administration of GlobalFluency, the Independent Network of Influence. Spearheaded by Silicon Valley-based Neale-May & Partners‚ GlobalFluency consists of 81 offices employing over 500 professionals in 65 countries. Together‚ these organizations represent more than $45 million in billings from scores of clients across the information technology‚ communications‚ systems integration and Internet service sectors. More information is available at http://www.globalfluency.com.