Visible World Closes $8 Million Second Round Led by RVC; Investment Reflects Confidence in New...

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 2003

Visible World, a technology and media service company that has developed an effective solution for getting consumers to watch TV ads, today announced that it has received $8 million in second round venture capital

Visible World's second round investors decided to participate in the funding because they strongly believe the company has developed a service that the marketplace is in desperate need of - i.e. a way to help advertisers keep viewers from skipping commercials. Called IntelliSpot(R), the system allows advertisers to finely customize TV commercials so they are more relevant to multiple segments of viewers, as opposed to one mass audience.

"The more relevant commercials are, the more powerful the impact and desired response," said Norman Fiore, a Partner at RVC. "Visible World's ability to provide relevancy through customization is a remarkable solution, and I believe it's going to positively effect how viewers react to TV ads."

Developed by Visible World and SeaChange, IntelliSpot lets advertisers create and deliver more meaningful ads for specific markets, zip codes, buying groups, times of day, and in the future, households. Through the IntelliSpot toolkit, commercials are easily broken down into all their individual media elements -- i.e. video, audio, text, and graphics -- and then assembled into a variety of unique ads, based on the advertiser's requirements, at or near the point of delivery. The result is dozens, hundreds or even thousands of commercials.

"The timing couldn't be better for a service like IntelliSpot," said Lance Maerov, Senior Vice President at Grey Ventures. "With media costs increasing, audiences fragmenting and new technologies available for skipping ads, it's clear that the TV advertising industry requires a different approach."

Maerov added that "Clients are demanding we come up with creative ways to keep viewers tuned to their advertising. We believe that Visible World's IntelliSpot can help us do that by allowing us to deliver highly targeted and relevant advertising," he said.

"It's no secret that mass audiences aren't mass anymore," said Seth Haberman, Visible World's CEO. "The secret has been about how to effectively reach what has become a very diverse audience. We believe it's by sending relevant, individual messages to the right viewer at the right time."

Haberman added that by making commercials more relevant, Visible World is not only helping to make sure TV ads are watched, but also extending the use of TV advertising as the most powerful and efficient medium for delivering messages to consumers. "We're very pleased that our investment partners understand what we've accomplished, and more importantly, our potential to positively impact the current state of TV advertising," he said.

About Visible World & IntelliSpot

Visible World is a technology and media service company that provides advertisers with the most intelligent, timely and cost effective solution for customizing their TV messages so they are more relevant to their target viewers. Founded in February 2000, Visible World is backed by the industry's leading advertising and financial organizations including the WPP Group, Grey Ventures, RVC, Waterview Partners, Fleck TIME Funds, and Leucadia National Corporation. IntelliSpot(R) is the customization system developed by Visible World Inc. in partnership with SeaChange International, Inc. Enabling advertisers and their agencies to cost effectively design and produce multiple versions of TV commercials -- up to hundreds or even thousands -- IntelliSpot ads can be delivered to designated markets, zip codes, and in the future, households. IntelliSpot's customization solution increases media efficiency and advertising effectiveness. More information on the company is available on its website: www.visibleworld.com

About RVC

RVC, which is the former venture capital arm of Reuters, was set up in 1994 and began investing (originally known as The Greenhouse Fund) in Palo Alto, California in 1995. In 1997, RVC expanded the focus of its operations to Europe, bringing its significant Silicon Valley experience to a market with relatively few venture capitalists focused on early stage information technology companies. In September 2001, RVC became independent from Reuters and is now wholly owned by its Investment Partners and Chairman. In establishing its investment independence, RVC has retained its strong relationships with Reuters, its affiliates (Tibco, Factiva, Instinet, Radianz) and its customers, which are primarily financial services and media companies who were amongst the first to be impacted by and adopt new technology. Since inception, RVC I has invested $444 million in 82 companies and has achieved 16 IPOs and 19 trade sales including Yahoo!, Verisign, Phone.com (now Openwave Systems), Digimarc, Infoseek, Orchestream, and Metamerge, amongst others.

About Grey Ventures

Grey Ventures, a wholly-owned business unit of Grey Global Group (NASDAQ: GREY), is an evergreen venture capital fund with an investment focus on digital media, market analytics, e-commerce and communications. Grey Ventures seeks to leverage Grey Global Group's extensive client relationships to create synergies between Grey Global Group's business units and its clients. Grey Global Group ranks among the largest global communications companies in the world and operates branded independent business units in many communications disciplines including general advertising, public relations/public affairs, direct marketing, internet communications, healthcare marketing, brand strategy and design, and on-line and off-line media services.

About WPP

WPP (NASDAQ: WPPGY) is one of the world's leading communications services groups, providing national, multinational and global clients with advertising; media investment management; information, insight & consultancy; public relations & public affairs; branding & identity, healthcare and specialist communications. WPP's worldwide companies include J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, Y&R Advertising, red cell, Bates Asia, MindShare, Mediaedge:cia, Millward Brown, Research International, Kantar Media Research, OgilvyOne Worldwide, Wunderman, 141 Worldwide, Hill & Knowlton, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Burson-Marsteller, Cohn & Wolfe, CommonHealth, Sudler & Hennessey, Healthworld, Enterprise IG, Landor and Fitch among others.

(C) 2003 Visible World Inc. All rights reserved.

IntelliSpot is either a registered trademark or trademark of Visible World Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.