Press Release

NEW YORK, October 13, 2000 - Sean F. Orr, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE: IPG), announced today that Susan V. Watson has been named Senior Vice President - Investor Relations, a new position at the company.

"Susan Watson is a well-known and highly regarded professional, with more than 20 years experience in the investment community," said Orr. "Interpublic's size and scope now demand a formal investor relations effort: our company and our investors will benefit from Susan's expertise."

Watson joins Interpublic from PepsiCo, where she served as Vice President-Investor Relations. Prior to joining PepsiCo, she led the investor relations effort at Nielsen Media Research and Cognizant Corporation, both spin-offs of the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. From 1986 to 1996, she was Vice President, Investor Relations at Gannett, one of the country's largest media companies.

Watson began her career as a securities analyst at Scudder, Stevens & Clark in Los Angeles. In 1981, she joined EF Hutton in New York, and subsequently followed media stocks for Morgan Stanley. She earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 1980. She has a BA in Economics from the University of Southern California (1974).

A seasoned investor relations professional, Watson won AIMR awards for best Investor Relations program in Media three times while at Gannett, and her program at PepsiCo was recognized as most improved large capitalization investor relations program by Investor Relations magazine for 1999.

Watson joins Interpublic on October 16 at its New York headquarters. "It was a privilege to be associated with Roger Enrico and his team at PepsiCo," said Watson, "but after 20 years in media, joining Interpublic feels like coming home."

The Interpublic Group of Companies, now a $5 billion corporation, includes McCann-Erickson WorldGroup, The Lowe Group, DraftWorldwide, Initiative Media Worldwide, Octagon, Zentropy Partners, NFO Worldwide, Allied Communications Group and other related companies. The shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. are listed on the New York Stock Exchange ("IPG"). For further information, visit www.interpublic.com.