Media Maven Perianne Grignon Brings Deep Marketing Expertise to Organization

NEW YORK, NY – July 29, 2009 – The Online Publishers Association (OPA) today announced that Perianne Grignon has joined as senior vice president of marketing for the organization. A former vice president of media strategy and digital innovation for Sears Holdings Corporation, Grignon brings an immense amount of insight and experience to the OPA from her varied work with major advertisers and agencies. In her role with the OPA, Grignon will help president Pam Horan drive the OPA’s marketing initiatives to further the membership’s overall business objectives.

“Perianne’s extensive marketing and media experience coupled with her agency relationships will really complement the strategic initiatives of the OPA,” said Pam Horan, president of the Online Publishers Association. “As a respected thought leader, Perianne’s work with brands like Sears, AT&T and Nabisco will prove invaluable to our organization, providing insights into the requirements of today’s brand marketers.”

Previously, Grignon led the media operation for Sears Holdings, a top 20 advertiser in the U.S. She developed the widely successful partnership with ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and led the company into the use of digital and social media while controlling an annual media budget of $1Billion. Other previous roles included director of media strategy at AT&T, and executive vice president and director of media and new technologies at Bates Worldwide. Grignon is former co-chairperson of the ANA Television Committee and a member of the Executive Committee of the Family Friendly Programming Forum. In 2008, she was named a Media Maven by Advertising Age and Working Mother of the Year by AWNY.

“The OPA has been instrumental in growing the online publishing industry and providing structure and best practices for its members,” said Grignon. “I look forward to leveraging my online and offline marketing experience to help further solidify the relationships between advertisers and our members, and to move the industry as a whole forward.”

About the OPA

Founded in June 2001, the Online Publishers Association is an industry trade organization whose mission is to advance the interests of high-quality online publishers before the advertising community, the press, the government and the public. Members of OPA represent the standards in Internet publishing with respect to editorial quality and integrity, credibility and accountability. OPA member sites have a combined, unduplicated reach of 149.3 million visitors, or 79% percent of the total U.S. Internet audience (Source: comScore Media Metrix, August 2008 combined home/work/university data). For more information, go to www.online-publishers.org.