Company’s New Strategy To Be Guided By Seasoned Sales and Marketing Professionals

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Starco Brands (OTC:STCBD) is formally introducing a Brand Advisory Board consisting of veteran sales, marketing and media professionals to guide the Company’s new strategy of introducing a diverse range of innovative, behavior-changing consumer products and brands. The Brand Advisory Board includes:

• Dave Dreyer (Marketing)
• Xanthe Wells (Creative)
• Lisa Becker (Public Relations)
• Kendra Bracken-Ferguson (Digital and Social Media)

“For more than 20 years, these world class marketing and communication professionals have contributed to building some of the world’s most recognized and iconic brands, such as Apple, PlayStation, Ford, Pepsi, Nest, Infiniti, Burger King, Dr. Pepper, GRAMMYs, Sara Lee, Pizza Hut and others. It is exactly the caliber of team we need to complement our cutting-edge portfolio of intellectual property and soon-to-be commercialized product lines,” said Ross Sklar, CEO, Starco Brands. “With such a strong group of seasoned brand-building, digital and sales experts, I’m confident Starco Brands will become a channel leader and a marketing force in the consumer verticals we’re active in.”

Consistent with the strategic pivot the Company announced six months ago to create leading edge and on-trend brands around novel products licensed to the company by The Starco Group, the Brand Advisory Board will work with the Starco Brands executive team and The Starco Group’s technical, logistics and financial departments to implement poignant in-store, online and traditional marketing strategies. These initiatives are designed to launch the company’s behavior-changing products in an array of consumer categories.

Dave Dreyer, a veteran of more than 20 years in strategic marketing and campaign innovation for some of the world’s most recognized brands said, “After years of pitching marketing programs in the biggest boardrooms in the world, working on behalf of some of the most powerful consumer brands, it is exciting to be part of a team building new brands from the ground up to ensure we offer best-in-class products.”

Complementing the new Brand Advisory Board is the Starco Brands executive team, which includes:

• Ross Sklar – Chief Executive Officer
• Darin Brown – Chief Operating Officer
• Jim Leonardi – Chief Sales Officer
• Rachel Boulds – Chief Financial Officer

Sklar added, “The Brand Advisory Board, as well as the executive team and The Starco Group’s overall infrastructure, are incredibly focused on commercializing our proprietary technology that has the potential to disrupt the verticals we’re active in and significantly increase shareholder value over time. I am so proud of our team and of the talent that Starco Brands has been able to attract.”

Bios of Brand Advisory Board

Dave Dreyer – Marketing -- With over 20 years of marketing experience with marquee brands such as Apple, Pepsi, Ford, DIRECTV, Pizza Hut, Sara Lee, Pennzoil and the GRAMMYs among others, Dave understands how brands and the companies that produce them, work. In-house experience includes Honda and Stamps.com, while his agency track record includes Deutsch LA, TBWA\Chiat\Day and TBWA\Media Arts Lab, where he was responsible for globally managing Apple. Dave recently joined Civic Entertainment Group, a Seacrest Global Company, where he helps develop innovative campaigns for Ford. In his spare time, Dave is a professor of advertising at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He holds a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing from Northwestern University and an undergraduate degree from UC San Diego. 

Xanthe Wells – Creative – Recognized in 2015 by Ad Age as one of the industry's "40 Under 40” and by Business Insider as one of "30 Most Creative Women in Advertising," Xanthe is currently Global Creative Director at Nest.  She has more than 15 years of creative experience at agencies including TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Pitch and TBWA\Chiat\Day where her work earned a place on Ad Age's "Agency to Watch" A-List and a Silver in the Small Agency Awards. Xanthe's work has been cited by numerous press outlets, including Ad Age, Fast Company, Adweek, Creativity and the New York Times in addition to being recognized at all the major industry award shows including Cannes Lions, The One Show, Addys, Andys, Communication Arts and Clios.  

Lisa Becker – Public Relations – Lisa is an award-winning public relations professional with nearly 20 years of experience building brands and launching products.  She spent nearly fourteen years at Burson-Marsteller, one of the world’s leading public relations consultancies where she represented internationally-respected consumer brands including Sony, Ford, Activision, QANTAS Airways, ACH Food Companies and Kay Jewelers.  She’s also a former adjunct professor of public relations marketing at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.  She holds a master’s degree in public relations from Boston University and an undergraduate degree from UC San Diego.

Kendra Bracken-Ferguson – Digital and Social Media – With nearly 20 years as a global digital architect, Kendra is currently the Chief Digital Officer of CAA-GBG (a joint venture between Global Brands Group Holding Limited and Creative Artists Agency) where she leads a global team of digital marketing experts and social media natives for the largest brand management agency in the world.  Previous experience includes founding of Digital Brand Architects, directing digital media at Ralph Lauren and Vice President, Digital at Fleishman-Hillard, an international public relations firm representing clients such as AT&T, DKNY and P&G.  Kendra has been awarded the Emerging Voice Award by her alma mater Purdue University, named one of the "Most Influential African American Women" by Essence Magazine, and noted by Mobile Marketer as a "Mobile Women to Watch.”

Bios of Executive Team

Ross Sklar – Chief Executive Officer – In addition to being CEO of Starco Brands, Ross is the founder and CEO of The Starco Group, a chemical, food, beverage and spirits manufacturing conglomerate spanning the US. Sklar is a chemical formulator by trade and started his first company - SEI Group - while still in college in 1997. He was able to commercialize novel chemical technologies in the fields of corrosion and microbiological control. In 2004, Sklar began a robust acquisition strategy and acquired approximately a dozen companies in a decade and, in the process, created The Starco Group. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from the University of Manitoba. In 2017, he became the CEO and largest shareholder of Starco Brands.

Darin Brown – Chief Operating Officer – Darin has over 20 years of experience in chemical operations and consumer package goods distribution experience. He is currently also the Executive Vice President of Operations for The Starco Group. He is an exceptional leader of over 200 employees in a chemical manufacturing conglomerate.  

Rachel Boulds – Chief Financial Officer – Rachel has more than 17 years of auditing, accounting and consulting experience including serving as a public-company CFO preparing full disclosure financial statements for public companies to comply with GAAP and SEC requirements.  Prior to starting her own accounting firm in 2009, she was employed as an Audit Senior for HJ & Associates, LLC, where she performed audits and reviews for public and private companies including the preparation of financial statements.  She also has audit and accounting experience with Mohler, Nixon and Williams and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Rachel holds a B.S. in Accounting from San Jose State University and is licensed as a CPA in the state of Utah.

Jim Leonardi – Chief Sales Officer – With more than 30 years of extensive CPG experience selling to mass retail, Jim has previously served as head of sales for three different companies with greater than $50 million in sales.  In addition, he has taken multiple companies from start up to over $50 million in sales.

About Starco Brands
Starco Brands, restructured in September 2017, is a brand development, marketing, licensing sales and asset holding company. The Company conceives, designs, commercializes and markets a wide range of consumer products across multiple categories. For more information, investors should visit www.starcobrands.com. 

About The Starco Group 
The Starco Group was founded in 2010 by Ross Sklar and today is a large-scale manufacturer of a wide range of industrial and consumer chemical, food, beverage and spirit products.  For more information, visit www.thestarcogroup.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may include forward-looking information and statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Except for historical information contained in this release, statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements regarding assumptions, projections, expectations, targets, intentions or beliefs about future events. Statements containing the words “may”, “could”, “would”, “should”, “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “estimate”, “target”, “project”, “intend” and similar expressions constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current belief, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management.

While the Company believes that its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurances that its goals and strategy will be realized. Numerous factors, including risks and uncertainties, may affect actual results and may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made by the Company or on its behalf. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, risks related to the Company’s liquidity, the substantial uncertainties inherent in the acceptance of existing and future products, the difficulty of commercializing and protecting new technology, the impact of competitive products and pricing, general business and economic conditions, risks associated with the expansion of our business including the implementation of any businesses we acquire, factors discussed in our public filings, including the risk factors included in  the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports. Except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Company is under no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement after the date of this release whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

CONTACT: 
CONSUMER/TRADE PRESS                                                                           
Starco Brands                                                                                                    
Lisa Becker                                                                                                          
888.816.1161                                                                         
lisa@starcobrands.com                                                                             

INVESTORS/FINANCIAL PRESS
Liolios
Sean McGowan
949.574.3860
smcgowan@liolios.com

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