For Immediate Release
Media Inquiries: Audrey Whaley
Director of Public Relations
SMITH
919-876-5143
awhaley@smithadv.com

SMITH Awarded Partnership For The Sounds Contract

RALEIGH, N.C. (Dec. 19, 2006)—SMITH, a fully-integrated advertising and marketing agency with offices in Raleigh and Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Sarasota, Florida, has been named the agency of record for the Partnership for the Sounds, a private, non-profit (501.c.3) organization that promotes environmental education, sustainable development, and ecotourism in the Albemarle-Pamlico region of eastern North Carolina.

SMITH will be conducting a research project for the Partnership, with a combination of focus groups and in-depth interviews. Following the research findings, the agency will develop a full-encompassing marketing plan including the implementation of strategic marketing tactics, a media plan and creativecampaigns for logo redesign, collateral, Web site and print advertising.

“We are extremely excited to be working with such a unique and groundbreaking organization,” remarked SMITH President and CEO Gary SMITH. “We feel that with the dedication of the Partnership organizations and the experience our agency has gained over the years in destination marketing, we have a winning combination for success.”

SMITH is currently the agency of record for several different tourism destinations throughout the Southeast, including the Charlotte County Convention & Visitors Bureau ( Port Charlotte, Fla.), the Augusta Convention & Visitors Bureau ( Augusta, Ga.), the Southeast Tourism Society and NC’s Brunswick Islands. The agency is also working with Hilton Head Island Tourism on several different projects.

ABOUT SMITH
SMITH is an award-winning marketing and advertising agency with fully-integrated services that include brand development, account planning, marketing research, interactive services and public relations. Headquartered in Fayetteville, N.C., the 32-year-old firm has agency offices in Raleigh, N.C. and Sarasota, Fla. SMITH’s clients include regional, national and global companies in travel and tourism, healthcare, consumer products, real estate and financial ervices. For more information on SMITH, call (800) 421-1973 or visit www.smithadv.com.

ABOUT PARTNERSHIP FOR THE SOUNDS
In the early 1990s several local communities were independently looking into building centers that would encourage tourism by highlighting the unique environment of the Albemarle-Pamlico region. As these communities separately lobbied many of the same legislators for funding, it became apparent they could achieve more by working together than by competing for the same dollars. The Partnership was chartered in 1993 and began operations in 1994. The Partnership consists of several different organizations, including the North Carolina Estuarium, the Columbia Theatre Cultural Resource Center, Roanoke/Cashie River Center, Tyrell County Visitors Center, and the Hyde County Mainland. For more information, call (252) 796-1000 or visit www.partnershipforthesounds.org.