Scott Baradell, an accomplished corporate brand strategist and communicator who has been the senior corporate communications executive for two Fortune 1000 companies, today announced the launch of Dallas' newest public relations firm: the Idea Grove. The Idea Grove is a strategic communications consultancy specifically designed to succeed in today's overcrowded information marketplace.

"In every waking hour, Americans are bombarded with marketing messages. Thousands of times each day, consumers see images or hear words designed to shape their desires or change their buying habits," said Baradell, the Idea Grove's president and CEO. "Unfortunately for consumers and for marketers, it's become a case of diminishing returns. America has developed a collective case of attention-deficit disorder, and it's getting worse, not better."

Baradell, most recently the vice president of corporate communications for media powerhouse Belo Corp., explained how this information overload has led to a related problem: "PR overload."

"Many PR agencies take a quantity-oriented approach to getting a client's message out," Baradell said. "For example, at most agencies, calling the news media to pitch a story is a 'bulk' activity. They make many calls to reporters to increase their chances of a placement. And - for the sake of cost-efficiency - a junior staffer who knows very little about the client's product or company often does the work. The staffer might make 100 calls to journalists to get mentioned in, say, three publications. And the agency presents that to the client as a success.

"At the Idea Grove, we worry about the 97 other calls. Did the caller, because of his or her inexperience or lack of knowledge, have rude or embarrassing interactions with reporters that will cause them to never write about the client's product or company? We don't take a 'bulk' approach at the Idea Grove - in media relations or anything we do.

"That's the Idea Grove's answer to PR overload. We do the homework to create highly focused messages for our clients; then, we communicate those messages to highly targeted groups of people. People, in most cases, who actually want to receive the message. We don't waste words and we don't waste time - our clients' time, the news media's time, or our own time. That's ultimately what sets the Idea Grove apart."

Baradell, 39, recently opened the Idea Grove's first office at The Points at Waterview in Richardson. Baradell served from 2001 to 2004 as vice president of corporate communications for Belo (NYSE: BLC), a diversified media company with revenues of more than $1.5 billion. Prior to Belo, he served as vice president of corporate communications for PageNet, a wireless communications company with 1999 revenues of $1 billion. Baradell also co-founded Brightpod, a venture-funded technology consulting company acquired by InPhonic (NASD: INPC) in 2001.

During his 17-year career, Baradell has gained broad-ranging industry experience encompassing media and entertainment, financial services, technology, travel, health care and telecommunications. A former newspaper journalist for the Dallas Times Herald and Dallas Observer, Baradell has an MBA from Southern Methodist University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia. He maintains an APR designation from the Public Relations Society of America.

To learn more about the Idea Grove's philosophy, expertise and services, please visit the Web site at www.ideagrove.com or call the company at 972.235.3439.