Charm Communications Appointed by Leading Companies as Exclusive Agency at CCTV 2011 Prime-Time Public Auction

BEIJING, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Charm Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: CHRM) ("Charm" or the "Company"), a leading advertising agency in China, today announced that it has been appointed as the exclusive agency for more than 20 top advertisers at CCTV's 2011 Prime-time Public Auction, which will take place on November 8, 2010. With the auction date drawing nearer the Company expects its client list to continue growing as more and more companies join the race for CCTV prime-time resources.

With nearly all of China's leading brands competing for advertising slots in the annual public auction, it is the most high profile event in China's advertising industry. The annual event is also closely monitored outside of the advertising industry as a leading economic indicator of business confidence heading into the next year.

CCTV kicked off its 2011 auction introduction meeting on September 13 in Beijing notifying of the changes with regards to timing and formatting. The auction date is being brought forward from November 18 to November 8, accelerating companies' preparation time and advertising budget decisions. Additionally, online bidding is going to be introduced for the first time, allowing greater flexibility for agencies participating in the bidding process.

In the 2010 Prime-time Public Auction, which took place in November 2009, CCTV contracted a total sales volume of a record breaking RMB 11bn, and Charm accounted for more than 21% of this volume, making it the auction's largest agency for the eighth consecutive year. Over its sixteen year history Charm has built a customer base which regularly participates in the auction, all of which are either blue-chip national brands or emerging leading domestic brands.

In preparation for the auction, Charm held its VIP pre-sale marketing event on August 28, welcoming over 100 clients, and so far more than twenty of them have already appointed Charm to be their exclusive agency at the 2011 auction, including the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, China Citic Bank, Hua Xia Bank, Yunnan Baiyao, Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, Midea Household Appliances, COFCO, Beingmate, Bosideng and Heilan Home Men's Apparel. Advertisers can only participate in the CCTV Prime-time Public Auction through an agency.

"We are confidently looking forward to another successful year as we continue to bring our clients industry leading expertise and leverage our integrated service offering to help them successfully navigate through this important yet complex auction event," commented He Dang, founder, chairman and CEO of Charm. "With our highly experienced team of experts, six self-developed media planning tools including CHARM ZOOM IN, MIOS and VALUATION, and eight industry-leading third party media and market research databases including CTR and CSM, Charm's CCTV Prime-time Public Auction management system is the most effective in the industry."

About Charm

Charm Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRM) is a leading 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 .

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SOURCE Charm Communications Inc.