Charm Selected for 2009 Chinese Classics Communication Awards

BEIJING, June 22 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Charm Communications Inc. ("Charm" or "the Company") (Nasdaq: CHRM), a leading domestic advertising agency in China, today announced that several of its marketing campaigns have been honored at the Chinese Classics Communication Awards.

The Chinese Classics Communication Awards are one of China's leading creative advertising awards with participants including both domestic and international 4A advertising agencies. Charm was one of the top performing domestic advertising agencies at the awards, which took into account targeted marketing strategies, execution and the effectiveness of the ads in improving brand awareness and sales for the advertiser.

The awards were hosted by Advertising Panorama Magazine, a top advertising trade periodical in China, and sponsored by the Chinese Advertising Association and the School of Journalism and Communications of Peking University. They are given to selected companies chosen from among both domestic and international 4A advertisers. Charm won a silver award for an advertising campaign for Yunnan Baiyao (pharmaceutical) and two bronze awards for campaigns for Huaxia Bank (financial) and Midea's soy milk maker (home appliance). Yunnan Baiyao's ad for its herbal cream links the advertiser's 100 year history with the importance of friends and family in present day society, bringing traditional Chinese medicine into modernity. The "Dragon Boat" campaign for Huaxia Bank's business solution for small-medium enterprises ("SMEs") featured Liu Guoliang, the coach of the Chinese national ping-pong team. The advertisements effectively linked the "smooth, small and fast" nature of ping-pong with the same characteristics of Huaxia Bank's SME solutions: fast, convenient and reliable. The "New Generation" campaign for Midea's soy milk maker, which came out after in depth industry and consumer studies, was able to ingrain "change to a new generation of soy milk makers" into the consumer, thus effectively promoting its soy milk maker's secondary brand status ahead of the industry leader in the minds of the consumer and changing the dynamic of the industry. Charm's vice president Xiao Kun, who is also part of the creative team for Yunnan Baiyao and Huaxia Bank, will be present to receive the award at the ceremony on June 22, 2010 at Peking University. The award winning TV commercials can be found on Charm's website at http://ir.charmgroup.cn .

"We are very pleased to hear that marketing campaigns we developed for three of our largest advertisers, which have successfully built brands and driven product sales, have been chosen for these leading industry awards," commented He Dang, Charm's founder, chairman and CEO. "Our ability to combine established in-house creative talent with strategic advice, planning and media purchasing to create winning marketing campaigns provides our customers with a one-stop solution and gives us a strong competitive advantage in China's advertising market.

About Charm

Charm Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRM) is a leading domestic television advertising agency in China. Charm operates its business under three brands: Charm Advertising, Charm Interactive, and Shangxing Media. Under the Charm Advertising and Charm Interactive brands, Charm offers integrated advertising agency services from planning and managing advertising campaigns to creating and placing advertisements. Under the Shangxing Media brand, Charm has established a portfolio of television advertising media resources through its exclusive arrangements with four programs on CCTV, and two satellite television channels, Shanghai Dragon TV and Tianjin Satellite TV, which includes not only advertising time but also opportunities for placing branded content. Charm's clients include well-recognized brand names in China across many industries, as well as emerging domestic leading brands. In January 2010, Charm formed a joint venture with international 4A advertising group Aegis Media, its strategic investor, to operate its brand "Vizeum" in China. For more information please go to http://ir.charmgroup.cn .

    For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

    New York

     Amanda Sham
     Brunswick Group
     Phone: +1-212-333-3810
     Email: [email protected]

    Beijing

     Henry Fraser
     Brunswick Group
     Phone: +86-10-6566-2256
     Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Charm Communications Inc.