6114 La Salle Ave. #186 Oakland, CA 94611   Phone:  510.547.6191 Fax:    510.547.2581 www.marketingacumen.com

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Speedway Digital Printing and Marketing Acumen Bridge Gap with
Novel Partnership to Better Serve Bay Area Printing & Marketing Needs

One-stop shopping for marketing communications solutions & printing services
capitalizes on key business trends

Oakland, CA – August 18, 2004 – Marketing Acumen, an Oakland, CA-based marketing management consultancy that provides tools, training and consulting to businesses who need to improve their marketing results today announced a partnership with Speedway Digital Printing, a downtown San Francisco institution known for its range of pre-press and printing services. The goal of the alliance is to leverage both organizations' areas of expertise and bridge the gap between marketing materials planning and execution.

By working with Marketing Acumen, Speedway Digital Printing will provide a novel service currently unavailable in San Francisco Bay Area print shops.  Speedway customers interested in printing materials will now also have the option of incorporating marketing best practices into their programs through educational seminars, guidebooks and toolkits. These solutions offer customers instant mastery of the skills needed to deliver an integrated, world class MarCom program, improved productivity, and increased credibility. This alliance allows both organizations to capitalize on key business trends such as the increased demand for marketing programs accountability; improved, measurable return on all marketing investments; and consolidation of front-end integration with back-end results.

Together, Speedway and Marketing Acumen will work with marketing professionals during critical phases of the marketing lifecycle - from the strategic development of the MarCom plan to the actual execution and printing of the marketing pieces.  To achieve this goal the Speedway Digital and Marketing Acumen union will address three critical areas: 1) Promotion and distribution of the breakthrough MarCom Acumen Guidebook & Toolkit,  2) Informative seminars and mentoring programs where marketing professionals learn to leverage their budgets for maximum returns, and 3) Joint marketing of each other’s services.

"The move from silo-based marketing to integrated marketing communications based on sound strategy, multiple MarCom elements, and measurable results is a business trend that's here to stay,” said Marketing Acumen CEO Steve Knowles. “By aligning our products and services with Speedway Digital's comprehensive production and printing expertise, we can both better serve our client base and meet their growing need for improvements in results and accountability.”

Harry Newhall, President of Speedway Digital added, “At Speedway, we understand the critical nature of MarCom and how it relates to business success.  We’ve been looking for ways to assist our customers in developing effective marketing strategies that can boost their business goals.  We feel the synergy between our service offerings and the broad complement of effective tools offered by Marketing Acumen can be useful for any company, large or small.” 

For more information on Speedway Digital, please visit: www.speedwayprinting.com or call David Riker at 415-247-2202. For details on the integrated marketing programs available through Marketing Acumen visit: www.marketingacumen.com or call 510-547-6191. Contact either firm for the time/location of upcoming seminar: the MarCom MasterCourse - Elements & Program Integration.

About Speedway Digital

Speedway Digital Printing is a one-stop printing services company, serving the San Francisco Bay Area since 1970.  Speedway offers a complete range of print services including full color offset printing, Fiery digital output, high speed photocopying, large format digital output, complete bindery and finishing, as well as photo finishing and bulk mail services.  Speedway is locally owned and operated. 

About Marketing Acumen

Marketing Acumen, LLC, is a marketing management consultancy that empowers marketing professionals – regardless of their level of expertise - with the tools, training, consulting and mentoring necessary to effectively manage the complete spectrum of marketing programs, deliverables, and budgets. Marketing Acumen’s unique blend of products and services empower marketing professionals with proven best practices and the solutions to implement them – over and over again – on their own. Customers realize improvements in their marketing program returns, with a quick ramp-up and short learning curve. Founded in 1998, Marketing Acumen is based in Oakland, CA, and does business around the globe.

All company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright © 2004 Marketing Acumen, LLC. All rights reserved.

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