Hartford, Conn. - January 22, 2009 — "We've known for some time that when a brand uses its power for good, consumers respond with their hearts, loyalty and purchases," says Mike Swenson, EVP, chief marketing officer, Barkley. "No other consumer demonstrates that more than women.” Swenson is one of several speakers set to present innovative new research on today’s female consumers during the 5th Annual M2W®-The Marketing To Women Conference, presented by Women@NBCU, April 29& 30, at the Chicago Cultural Center. “I'm looking forward to sharing Barkley & PR Week's new research that shows just how committed women are to brands who are cause marketers and what it means for today's smartest companies,” says Swenson.

The 2009 M2W® program, which marks the conference’s fifth anniversary, will bring together the best speakers and the brightest minds to give brands insight into what drives the purchasing decisions of women before they even enter a store—or turn on a computer. "When it comes to marketing to women, psychology is a blueprint for outstanding digital strategy," says Dr. Melissa Read, VP of research and innovation for Engauge Digital and M2W® presenter. "Leveraging insights from human decision making, perception, cognition, learning, memory and motivation, we can explain, predict and ultimately drive digital behavior. Psychology helps us discover more than what women want from digital. It helps us understand what they truly need."

During M2W®, research leaders will moderate small group discussions, lead workshops and provide presentations filled with real world case studies. “Lifetime believes the key to keeping up with consumers is to have a constant dialogue with them. To that end, Lifetime recently completed the first phase of an on-going study which examines the evolving perspectives of women called “femiNation”,” says Mike Greco, executive vice president, research for Lifetime Networks. “During M2W®, Lifetime will share the findings from this study which touch on several areas of women’s lives.”

Women@NBCU is the Exclusive Presenting Sponsor of M2W® with Associate Sponsors Ketchum Public Relations, Draftfcb, Engauge, SheSpeaks, Lifetime, Paramount Market Publishing, JSH&A, General Growth Properties and Barkley. Affina is a Hospitality Sponsor and Fast Company is a Media Sponsor. SNiPPiES is the Video Journalism Resource and Getty Images is the Imagery Resource.

M2W® is produced by PME® Enterprises, Hartford, CT. Please visit www.m2w.biz or call 860.724.2649 x 11 for more details or to register for M2W®.