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Vae Solis Corporate

Consultants in corporate information strategy and

crisis management

15 rue Henri Heine – 75016 Paris

Tel. 33 1 53 92 80 00

www.vae-solis.com

December 2008

"The two most important things don't show up on a company's balance sheet:

its reputation and its people."Henry Ford (1863 -1947)

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Our vision

Rapid changes in the competitive or political environment, financial, social or health crises,

mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, conflicts of opinion: as a senior executive you are

confronted daily with the need to deal with such developments.

Your reputation is directly touched by the events of the moment (economic, social,

administrative or media); permanently exposed to this shifting context, as a result it is a matter

of strategic priority, requiring attention at the highest level of governance.

In this new world, the management of relations with opinion leaders is essential.

To avoid crises or transform them into opportunities, to have a deep understanding of your

environment and the capacity to exert real influence, to properly define your identity and

enrich your relations with interested parties… competitive advantages and the conditions

for creating value.

Backed by analysis and ongoing observation (of the economy, competition, regulations and

society), strategic advice, information channels, crisis management, press relations,

public affairs and financial communications are the tools by which Vae Solis Corporate

serves your growth strategy in an open world that brings both risks and opportunities.

Arnaud Dupui-Castérès Corinne Dubos Antoine Boulay Laurent Porta

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Our approach

A threefold management of your image issues

Constructing the image: information strategy

Acting on the identity and image of companies and institutions, we define their positioning,

underlying identity, key messages and arguments that most effectively present these

organisations and give them the entrée to public debate.

Developing and enhancing reputation capital: levers of influence

Relations with opinion leaders are today an essential tool in the development of public

awareness, the improvement of a reputation, the construction of an image. We work to

enrich your relations with interested parties through public relations procedures, press

relations and lobbying.

Protecting the value of brands and organisations: risk prevention and

crisis managementWe aim to provide a real safety-net for our client companies and institutions, by protecting

the values incorporated in their brands, their market share, their image, and their public

reputation. To achieve this we support our clients with advice on risk prevention and crisis

management.

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A global, strategic approach…

Advisory: personalized strategic support for managers

in private and public sectors.

Definition of information and communications

strategies: from initial strategic positioning to

development of an operational communications plan.

Implementation: support and implementation of the

communications plan.

…which covers all our clients’ target publics:

Public authorities

Partners

Media

Internal

Users/clients

Our approach

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CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONSDeveloping communications plans, executive coordination, implementation of action plans

and use of specific tools.

INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS AND CHANGE MANAGEMENTDevelopment of internal communications plans and actions in support of change

management (shutdown of a production site, moving premises, M&A, business restructuring

and change in strategy etc.).

RISK PREVENTION & CRISIS MANAGEMENTInventory of risks, mapping, developing crisis scenarios, establishing and implementing crisis management processes, simulation, operational support etc.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS / LOBBYING / PRESS INFLUENCEIdentifying decision-makers and opinion leaders, developing strategies to influence them,

providing support for management of contacts, media watch etc.

RANGE OF OUR SERVICES

MANAGEMENT COACHING AND TRAINING As a registered training organisation, we offer numerous training programs ranging from

media relations to specific crisis management.

FINANCIAL COMMUNICATIONSManaging financial and stock market communications, implementing strategic plans for friendly or hostile operations etc.

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– Support in crisis prevention for Roche, Guerlain and Charal;

– Support and management of national and international health crises, including "mad cow disease", bird 'flu and the Chikungunya outbreak;

– Crises involving several food and health industry targets (suspicion thrown on food or health products);

– A number of crises involving pollution on industrial sites;

– Crises linked to changes in legislation (creation of a new telecoms service; health system reform; taxation, etc.)

– Image crises linked to rumours about financial products ;

– Various labour unrest crises, involving strikes, sequestration of senior management, etc.

– Several judicial crises…

Vae Solis is the initiator and founder of the Observatoire des Risques Sanitaires(Health Risk Observatory) which published its 3rd investigation into the perception of health risks and crises in June 2008, and author of La Crise en 100 mots (The Crisis in 100 Words), edited by the SIG and published by Documentation Française in May 2007.

All our consultants work together in the management of crises affecting our clients and since

2000 have provided support and advice in handling numerous difficult situations such as:

Our expertise – a few examples

Crisis management

Our team supports institutions and businesses in improving their image and assists them in

public affairs, based in particular on:

Information strategies

– Brand platforms (e.g. for Bouygues Immobilier, Taj, CNRS -national scientific research centre)

– Communication planning (e.g. for the CNES - national space research centre)

– Public relations and press contact activities (e.g. for Numericable, Macquarie, LIR -pharmaceutical industry association)

– Internal communications management (e.g. for General Electric and SMABTP - professional insurance for construction industry)

– Training of spokespersons (e.g. for Merial, Charal and the ANPE -national employment agency)

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Industry / Energy

High-Tech/ Telecoms /

Media

Food and Agricuture / HealthPublic Service Sector

Banking / Services / Insurance / Finance

Our principal clients

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Facts & Figures

Date founded:

- 2000: creation of Leo Corporate, the corporate

communications subsidiary of Leo Burnett

group;

- 2007: the consultancy became independent

and changed its name to Vae Solis Corporate.

Team:

- Founded and led by Arnaud Dupui-Castérès,

Vae Solis Corporate is a team of 24

multidisciplinary consultants with comple-

mentary profiles and experience in the public,

political and private sectors.

- Three associate directors manage the teams.

- The consultancy is backed by an Advisory

Board of personalities from finance,

administration and politics.

Forecast 2008 turnover:

- €5.7 million

Means:

– The consultancy has a 24/7 duty roster:

tel. +33 (0)6 25 01 43 39

email. urgent@vae-solis.com

– Vae Solis Corporate has operational partnerships with

independent consultancies in several European

countries (London, Brussels, Geneva...).

– As a recognised training organization, Vae Solis has

the technical means (studio) and necessary expertise

(network of professional journalists) to provide

coaching and training.

Commitments:

All our assignments are governed by the usual professional

guarantees:

- Confidentiality agreement

- Undertaking not to compete in the sector

- Compliance with ethics and customary business

practices