DES PLAINES, IL - Schawk, Inc., a leading provider of brand point management services enabling companies of all sizes to connect their brands with consumers to create deeper brand affinity, announced today that it has appointed Eric Ashworth to its executive management team as the Company's chief strategy officer.

Ashworth, who has served Anthem Worldwide, Schawk's strategic design company, as chief strategy officer since 2003, is charged with enhancing the strategic product that is part of the Company's brand point management offering. In this new role as chief strategy officer for the entire Company, he reports directly to Schawk's President and Chief Executive Officer, David A. Schawk.

Schawk defines brand point management as the strengthening of a brand through the delivery of compelling and consistent brand experiences that create greater brand affinity between consumer and brand. Brand point management does this by integrating strategic, creative and executional services.

David A. Schawk stated, "Eric has been instrumental in leading the development of Schawk's strategic offering to clients, and this appointment to our executive management team demonstrates our commitment to enhancing Schawk's strategic capabilities."

Added Schawk, "Elevating the role of strategy and further enhancing our creative resources is a key initiative for Schawk moving forward. Our focus is on the talent required to deliver world-class strategy and creative, whether that talent is acquired, developed or leveraged."

Eric Ashworth commented: "As part of the team that is leading Schawk through a bold, visionary transformation, I will be focusing on how our strategy offering allows us to impact our clients' businesses in ways that add greater value. Recent examples of this include the development of Schawk's retail practice and the ability to offer clients a range of services from on-site brand management roles through comprehensive marketing stewardship."

Added Ashworth, "Schawk is uniquely capable of developing strategic platforms for the next generation of great brands, as well as managing their development and deployment. Not only can we generate the 'big idea,' but we can also manage its manifestation in the marketplace. This 'purity of process' ensures that the big idea is not splintered or diluted across marketing channels or multiple business partners. It amplifies not just the brand, but the investment in the brand."

Prior to joining Anthem Worldwide as chief strategy officer, Ashworth served Fitch Worldwide as chief marketing officer of the Americas, and Levi-Strauss, Clorox and Colgate-Palmolive in brand management positions. He also co-founded Blue Mint Associates, acting as its president prior to Schawk's acquisition of Blue Mint in 2003. Ashworth received an MBA from the University of San Francisco and has served as a guest lecturer on brand strategy at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.