Etre Helps Rolex.com Catch the Creative Industry's Eye During Awards Season

LONDON, January 16 /PRNewswire/ --     Etre's cutting-edge eye tracking technology has helped Rolex sweep the
board during the creative industry's web design awards season. Rolex's new
site - http://www.rolex.com - scooped two Gold awards and six Silvers at the
W3 Awards and took home a merit award in the "Best Consumer Website" category
at the Creativity Awards to boot.

The new website combines stunning graphics and rich media content to
showcase the Rolex's iconic range of watches and highlight its long history
of achievement, innovation and philanthropic activity. Experts had been
tipping it to win major honours after it picked up several industry accolades
earlier last year, including "Site of the Day" awards from Adobe, Favourite
Web Awards and the Taxi Design Network.

Critical Mass engaged Etre in late 2006 to assist in the delivery of
Rolex's website by evaluating a series of hi-fidelity design prototypes it
had been developing. Each prototype mimicked the functionality of a real-life
Rolex website, but incorporated different photographic, video, audio and text
components and adopted different page layouts, navigation systems and
branding elements.

Critical Mass tasked Etre with identifying the most effective aspects of
these designs so that they could be carried forward into the final version of
the Rolex website. In order to achieve this objective, Etre conducted an
extensive eye tracking evaluation of the prototypes at its research
facilities in London and New York.

The study saw 60 users - carefully selected so as to be representative of
Rolex's target markets - attempt a series of real-life tasks with the
designs. During each session, Etre's cutting-edge eye tracking equipment
quietly monitored what users looked at - and what they missed. These data
were invaluable in addressing questions relating to the positioning,
visibility and attractiveness of the prototypes' various design components.

"Our eye tracking technology let us climb inside the users' heads and see
the prototypes through their eyes," said Paul Schwartfeger, Managing Director
of Etre. "After analysing the data at the end of the study, we were able to
provide numerous insights into Rolex users' behaviours and thought processes.

"For example, by examining their eye fixations and the dilation of their
pupils, we were able to tell which images they found engaging - and which
they didn't. And by monitoring their eye movements we were able to determine
the amount of copy they read and establish items they found difficult to
absorb. This information simply couldn't have been obtained by any other
means and allowed us to provide Critical Mass with clear, objective design
direction as a result."

Critical Mass used Etre's findings and recommendations to inform the
development of a landmark in web design. The new Rolex website, launched in
February 2007, combines elegant photography with rich functionality -
capturing the spirit of the Rolex brand to perfection. (In keeping with the
company's tradition of precision engineering, the watch that appears on the
website's homepage displays the current time to the second!)

"All the plaudits should go to Rolex and the Critical Mass team. They've
created a truly stunning website that sets a new standard for the luxury
goods industry to aspire to," said Schwartfeger, "We're just delighted to
have been able to contribute."

"Etre's eye tracking expertise was invaluable to us," said Jaime Wood,
Account Manager for Critical Mass. "The team's experience, professionalism
and commitment, combined with their willingness to go above and beyond what
was expected of them, ensured that our relationship was a success."

Notes for Editors

The W3 Awards honours creative excellence on the web, and recognizes the
creative and marketing professionals behind award winning sites, videos and
marketing programs. It is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy
of the Visual Arts (IAVA), an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier
professionals from a "Who's Who" of acclaimed media, interactive,
advertising, and marketing firms. Rolex.com scooped two Gold awards in the
"Branding" and "Homepage" categories and a further six Silver awards. See
http://www.w3award.com/ for more information.

Created in conjunction with the pioneering Art Direction magazine, the
Creativity Awards is one of the longest running international design
competitions. For 38 years, this institution has honoured the outstanding
work of creative professionals in every discipline including print design,
advertising design and web design. In addition to achieving industry
recognition award winners' work is also reproduced in the Creativity Awards
Annual which is published and distributed by HarperCollins Publishers.
Rolex.com received a "Merit" in the "Best Consumer Website" category. See
http://www.creativityawards.com/ for more information.

Rolex.com was the Favourite Web Awards' Site of the Day on 14th March
2007. Forbes magazine refers to FWA as "one of the Web's top recognition
sites for innovative Web design". See http://www.thefwa.com/ for more
information.

Rolex.com was Adobe's Site of the Day on 8th February 2007. See
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/showcase/index.cfm?event=sotdarchive&year=2007&month=2&loc=en_us for more information.

Rolex.com was the Taxi Design Network's Site of the Day on 10th March
2007. The Taxi Design Network is "the world's most updated news source for
the creative industry". See
http://www.designtaxi.com/wotd.jsp?&monthview=1&month=3&year=2007 for more
information.

About The Rolex Company

Rolex has been the pre-eminent symbol of performance and prestige for
over a century. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with 28 affiliates
worldwide and relying on 4,000 watchmakers in over 100 countries, Rolex
continues to expand its long history of achievement and innovation. For
additional information, visit http://www.rolex.com.

About Critical Mass

Critical Mass is an interactive services firm that architects innovative
marketing solutions to help the world's leading companies increase revenues,
reduces costs and deepen customer relationships. We have designed and built
Web sites and customer experience management programs for clients such as
Dell, Mercedes-Benz USA, Procter and Gamble, Albertsons, Andersen Windows,
and many others. Founded in 1995, Critical Mass has offices in Calgary and
Toronto, Canada, as well as Chicago, New York, Atlanta and Austin. For
additional information, visit http://www.criticalmass.com.

Critical Mass is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC)
http://www.omnicomgroup.com. Omnicom is a leading global advertising,
marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks
and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning
and buying, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other
specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100
countries.

About Etre

Etre is a digital communications agency specialising in results-driven
user experience design. Etre works with multinational corporations, central
government departments, local authorities and not-for-profit organisations to
maximise their websites' usability, accessibility and findability. Recent
clients include Anglo American, British Council, Deloitte, English
Partnerships, Eurostar, Mars, Mencap and Ogilvy. For additional information,
visit: http://www.etre.com.

About Eye Tracking

Etre's eye tracking service lets you to climb inside users heads and see
your website through their eyes. For more information about eye tracking -
including a video of the technology in action - visit:
http://www.etre.com/usability/eyetracking/.