Ricoh Demonstrates Digital Thought Leadership Through Creation Of New Technology Blog – “The Documentor”

Partnership with Gigante Vaz and CBS Interactive Provides Document Management Insights for IT Community

West Caldwell, NJ — Ricoh Americas Corporation, through a partnership with Gigante Vaz Partners, Inc. and CBS Interactive, today unveiled, “The DocuMentor,” a new technology blog on the topic of document management. The blog, which is featured on CBS Interactive Business properties ZDNet (www.zdnet.com) and TechRepublic, is part of a first-of-its-kind 360-degree marketing campaign created by Gigante Vaz. “The DocuMentor” combines social media, content and branding, and provides targeted information on key document management issues important to the IT community such as security, compliance and the environment.

Exclusively sponsored by Ricoh, “The DocuMentor” (also known as Doc), is a persona created by Gigante Vaz and CBS Interactive. The persona will serve as an expert on all things related to document management. The DocuMentor will answer IT professionals’ looming document management questions, deliver custom content to his audience and share everything he creates and collects with his friends on other social networking sites. The ZDNet and TechRepublic product marketing team manages Doc, who will maintain the blog with related content. Ricoh decided to pursue this opportunity to be at the forefront of the conversations occurring in the document management industry and provide a place for the IT community to get new, critical content to help propel their businesses forward.

“We challenged Gigante Vaz to come up with radical thinking that would make Ricoh the authoritative voice for everything in the document management category, and we are confident that Doc will deliver,” said Ron Potesky, senior vice president, Corporate Communications, Ricoh Americas Corporation. “Based on the unbiased, brand-agnostic, content provided, this program will help the IT community learn and share information to make better and more informed decisions.”

Ricoh was interested in being at the forefront of conversations related to document management issues. Ricoh selected Gigante Vaz and CBS Interactive to develop the Doc concept from the ground up including the go-to-market strategy and implementation plan. The effort involved developing all elements of the Doc persona such as his tonality, back story, image and credentials, as well as all the functional components of the program including the blog, workspace, videos, white papers and social marketing elements.

“It was a natural fit to work with Gigante Vaz in creating a blog that offers tremendous value and information to our core audience of IT decision makers,” said Don Marzetta, vice president, Marketing Solutions, CBS Interactive Business. “Our community is solely focused on IT-related issues from document management to security, and they thrive on each other to learn and seek advice to help their companies succeed.”

Paul Gigante, creative director and founder of Gigante Vaz, added, “We recognized early on that with all the conversations about document management that are occurring, Ricoh needed a way to both participate in and influence the conversations. Rather than try to pull users away from what they’re doing and bring them over to a fully branded environment for information, the Doc program joins the conversation and brings content to the leading sites IT professionals are already frequenting.”

The Doc program launched on the ZDNet and TechRepublic Web sites in May 2009 and will remain active through December. In addition, Doc resides on www.ricoh-usa.com.

About Gigante Vaz Partners

GVP is an independent, full-service agency with a 20-year history of servicing clients whose ambitions exceed their resources. Paul Gigante and Madeleine Vaz won the Ricoh business from Chiat/Day in 1989, a client the agency continues to service today. The agency’s calling card is generating fresh thinking year-in and year-out, one reason it can boast some of the longest average client tenures in the industry. See www.gigantevaz.com

About Ricoh Americas Corporation

Ricoh Americas Corporation, headquartered in West Caldwell, N.J., is a subsidiary of Ricoh Company Ltd., the 73-year-old leading supplier of office automation equipment and electronics, with fiscal year 2008 sales in excess of $20 billion.

Ricoh Americas Corporation is a leading provider of document solutions. Ricoh’s fully integrated hardware and software products help businesses share information efficiently and effectively by enabling customers to control the input, management and output of documents.

Ricoh Americas Corporation directly or through its network of authorized dealers markets and distributes products in North, Central and South America.

Information about Ricoh’s complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at www.ricoh-usa.com.