NEW YORK, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Siegel+Gale, one of the world's premier strategic branding firms, announced today the appointment of Matthias Mencke as Creative Director of its Los Angeles office.

As a former design director for Interbrand in New York and as an independent communications designer and branding consultant based in Los Angeles, Mr. Mencke has directed major design initiatives for such clients as eBay Marketplace, Outdoor Life Network (now Versus), British Telecom, and Deloitte Consulting.

'Matthias Mencke brings a European design sensibility and a wealth of experience bridging the gap between strategy and design when helping large global organizations develop and implement comprehensive branding programs. These programs not only extend across all touch points, including Web and motion graphics, but also create seamless customer experiences that are always 'on brand',' says Alan Siegel, Chairman and CEO of Siegel+Gale. 'Matthias will work with Los Angeles Managing Director Jason Cieslak to expand our creative team and help fuel the growth of Siegel+Gale on the West Coast.'

Siegel+Gale's Los Angeles clients include Activision, Four Seasons, McAfee, Microsoft, and Yahoo!

'Matthias truly understands what it takes for brands to thrive in an ever-increasing and fragmented media landscape. He is a perfect addition to our West Coast team,' adds Mr. Cieslak.

'Having worked with numerous clients in the entertainment and technology industries, I'm very impressed with Siegel+Gale's work on Qore, a new Sony PlayStation product identity, and the new brand voice for Microsoft Windows,' says Mr. Mencke. 'I'm delighted to be working with Jason Cieslak and the L.A. team on those accounts and new accounts, as well as helping our business-to-business clients bring their brands to life with Siegel+Gale's 'Simple is Smart' approach.'

A native of Germany, Mr. Mencke graduated from Hochschule fur bildende Kunste Braunschweig (Braunschweig University of Art), and started his design career at wirDesign, one of Germany's top-tier branding agencies, in Braunschweig. He moved to New York in 1999 and joined Interbrand as senior designer and in 2001 was named design director. He developed brand and creative strategies for clients including IMS Health, Duke Energy, Tyco, KodakPro, JPMorgan Chase, International Paper, Ace Insurance, Indigo, and Hydro One.

In 2003, Mr. Mencke relocated to Santa Monica, Calif., and has since collaborated with a number of agencies. He developed a consistent visual design for all eBay Marketplaces worldwide. He developed the creative strategy and visual design system to reposition OLN TV; he outlined strategies to evolve the Energy Star brand; and he crafted consumer and trade advertising for Current TV, Sony Pictures, TV Guide, Warner Brothers, and AFI. He spearheaded the design of promotional materials representing the Los Angeles office of Ogilvy and he worked on the redesign of Lionsgate's visual identity. Working with Siegel+Gale Los Angeles, he crafted visual design initiatives for WellPoint's UniCare Division and Laserfiche, a leading document management company.

About Siegel+Gale

Siegel+Gale (www.siegelgale.com) is one of the world's premier strategic branding companies. Since it was founded by Alan Siegel in 1969, the firm has applied the art and science of simplicity to create branding programs that have helped many of the world's best-known organizations excel. Driven by its philosophy of 'Simple is Smart,' Siegel+Gale has led the way in bringing innovation to the corporate branding field, including transforming complex, incomprehensible customer communications into plain English; helping clients create distinctive brand voices across all their communications; transporting brands onto the Internet; and aligning the brand experience for customers with the brand promise.

The firm has worked with an array of leading organizations, including American Express, AARP, College Board, Cornell University, Dell, Duke University, Lexus, MBA.com, Merrill Lynch, Motorola, the National Basketball Association, 3M, Dow, The Four Seasons Hotel Group, Sony PlayStation, and Yahoo! Siegel+Gale has full-service offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Dubai and strategic partnerships around the world.