Heat Gets Dialed in to Modtones

June 19, 2005 -- Advertising agency HEAT announced it has signed new client Moderati, the market leading provider of ringtones and other downloadable content for mobile phones. Moderati offers the popular Modtones brand of ringtone services, including the top-selling polyphonic ringtone application on Verizon Wireless. Modtones is ranked among the highest in brand awareness according to M:Metrics. Moderati distributes ringtones to customers of all major wireless carriers in the U.S., as well as many regional carriers.

Agency creative will involve print, online and radio targeting the tween and teen demographic, with the first print ads breaking in September. HEAT is also the agency-of-record for the Condé Nast Media Group.

Said Cindy Mesaros, Vice President of Marketing, Moderati, “Our goal is to increase brand awareness for Modtones, and HEAT has proven they can market to a young, tech-savvy audience with humor and intelligence, not to mention unconventional media ideas. I’ve wanted to work with HEAT ever since I knew they were from Black Rocket. I’ve always been a big fan of their work and I’m really excited about our new partnership.”

HEAT, which opened its doors in February 2005 by Black Rocket alums including Steve Stone, has a long track record working with technology companies. As Yahoo!’s AOR for over eight years, Black Rocket helped elevate the 14-person start-up to become a multi-billion dollar brand and the youngest company ever elected to the S&P 500. In the process, Black Rocket cemented the trademark Yahoo! yodel as one of the iconographic advertising soundbites of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Said Steve Stone, co-founder of Black Rocket and HEAT President & Creative Director, “It wasn’t that long ago that we introduced the world to Yahoo! and by extension, to the Internet. The next evolution in distribution is widely perceived to be wireless content over cell phones, and the fastest growing content area for cell phones is in ringtones. Modtones is at the forefront of this burgeoning market, so it’s a thrilling venture to be involved in. Besides, my thirteen year-old daughter said it was cool.”

Moderati (formerly Faith West Inc.) is a subsidiary of publicly traded Japanese corporation Faith, Inc., which pioneered the technology behind polyphonic ringtones.

About Moderati
Moderati makes mobile phones rock. A wholly owned subsidiary of publicly traded Japanese corporation Faith, Inc., Moderati delivers high-impact mobile content to consumers and wireless carriers under the Modtones brand. The company also provides service to global licensees of its parent company's software-based mobile sound solutions, including support for the CMX® multimedia software solution developed by QUALCOMM utilizing Faith technology. www.moderati.com

About Heat
Heat is an independent full-service advertising agency located in sunny San Francisco with over $12-million in billings. The creative, account service and management teams are made up of people with agency experience from Black Rocket, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners Hal Riney and Fallon; and client experience with Yahoo!, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, United Airlines, Holiday Inn, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Nikon and Ben & Jerry's. Collectively, all employees of Heat have been involved with advertising projects that have been recognized with major industry awards including Clios, Cannes Lions and Gold Pencils at the One Show. They are also extremely fun at cookouts. For more information visit www.sfheat.com or call 415. 477. 1999.