Contact information
Teri Citterman
The Branding Foundry PR
206 719 5001 or teri@cittermanink.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Over 1 Million Patents & Trademarks Are Filed Each Year
But Few Are Ever Commercialized
Renowned Marketing Guru Rowland Hanson and a Select Group of Successful Entrepreneurs Announced the Formation of The Branding Foundry: A Company Committed to Providing Funding and Expertise For Innovative Products and Services With Mass Market Appeal

SEATTLE, WA, January 31, 2007 – Rowland Hanson, creator of the highly acclaimed Microsoft branding strategy (including the naming and launch of Windows®) and the select group of co-founding successful entrepreneurs, today announced the launch of The Branding Foundry, a paradigm shift in branding-to-retail marketing that provides strategic financial resources and marketing expertise to inventors with fledging products or services that have a compelling mass-market appeal.

Though more than one million patents and trademarks are filed each year, most consumers never hear about them. “Most inventors don’t have the resources or wherewithal to take their product to market,” said Hanson, Chairman of The Branding Foundry. “The Branding Foundry enables inventors to commercialize a product or service that would otherwise never see the light of day.” Commonly, inventors and entrepreneurs don’t understand how to secure the essential resources such as an advertising agency or they simply lack the essential start-up capital.
The Branding Foundry, Inc. is changing the paradigm of how an innovative product ultimately ends up on a retailer’s shelf or website. The company takes control and shepherds it through the entire process, from building a solid brand strategy and associated product awareness to securing shelf space at major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Costco, Walgreen’s, Safeway, etc.

Based on a rigorous selection criteria and a proprietary economic model, The Branding Foundry will provide the appropriate funding and go to market expertise – including naming / packaging refinements, direct response TV to build rapid awareness, and introductions to retail channels – to bring these new products and services to the mass market.

The first recipient of The Branding Foundry services will the Mexico Real Estate Buyer's Guide a U.S.-based company focused on educating people how to safely identify and purchase prime residential real estate in Mexico. Awareness of these services and properties will initially be promoted thru direct response television and online but ultimately they will be “turn-key” branded products (book, DVD, essential forms, etc.) that consumers will find at selected retail locations.

By establishing mass-market appeal and proven product/service performance, The Branding Foundry will ultimately position each company for sale or acquisition. For example, through the use of direct response television that ultimately led to massive retail distribution, innovative products like the George Foreman Grill, Oxiclean, and Sonicare Toothbrush were acquired; each for several $100 million by large, established, companies.

Cesari Direct, www.crtv.com, one of The Branding Foundry’s key strategic partners and one of the nation’s most respected television direct response firms, was responsible for those companies’ campaigns. The Seattle-based firm has committed its intellectual capital and business resources to The Branding Foundry in order to help co-generate brand recognition and market penetration for selected products and services.
In addition to Hanson, The Branding Foundry is being launched by a seasoned group of successful entrepreneurs and business professionals. Ken Hunt is CEO of The Branding Foundry. Hunt has held key executive positions with Monsanto and Sara Lee. Recently Hunt was president & CEO of Anawah, a bio-tech, non-GMO, technology start-up that he built and successfully sold in 2005.

Kevin Young, president of The Branding Foundry and Bill Span, executive vice president, were pioneers of the pre-paid phone card industry, where they created the preeminent pre-paid solution to compete with enterprise companies’ $8 billion calling card market.

Young held executive positions with World Telecom Group where he was instrumental in creating the AmeriVox branded pre-paid phone card, a co-venture premium incentive calling card, and a breakthrough strategy that helped the company sell in excess of $100 million in phone cards. Prior to World Telecom, he founded Optimystix and Nourishingthechild.org where Lee Iacocca was recruited as the Chairman of the Board.
Span brings a wealth of entrepreneurial knowledge and experience to The Branding Foundry. Span is an expert lead generator and is owner of LeadProducers.com a lead generator to mortgage companies. He first worked with Young in establishing the pre-paid phone card industry. In 1999, Span started Gettuit.com and procured $2.5 million. Prior to that, Span formed FIRST Technologies, Inc. creating the first interactive, self-generating web site for virtual online communities.

About The Branding Foundry

Established in January 2007 and based in Seattle, WA, The Branding Foundry is dedicated to making inventors’ dreams a reality. The Branding Foundry carefully selects and screens products and services with the potential for mass-market appeal and then provides the critical financial resources and marketing expertise to build awareness and pent up demand. For products and services that are not directly funded by The Branding Foundry, the company provides an online clearinghouse called BizTube.com This revolutionary service has the potential of reaching several hundred million buyers daily by virtue of its viral technology.