Merkle Inc.

Merkle Inc.
Part of Dentsu Aegis Network
Founded Lanham, Maryland, US (1971)
Headquarters Baltimore, Maryland, US
Key people
  • David Williams CEO
  • Tim Berry President, Merkle Europe
Products
  • DataSource
  • Connected Recognition
  • MerkleOne
  • MerkleInsights
  • Merkle Data Cloud
  • ResponsiveJS
Services
  • Consulting
  • Marketing Technology
  • Data & Analytics
  • Digital Agency Services
Revenue Increase$435 million USD (2015)
Number of employees
  • 3,400+ (2016)
  • 450+ advanced-degreed statisticians
  • 650+ digital experts
  • 800+ marketing technology professionals
  • 100+ creative resources
Website www.merkleinc.com

Merkle Group Inc. (also called "Merkle") is a privately held performance marketing agency specializing in data-based marketing solutions.

History

Merkle Computer Systems, Inc. was founded in 1971 as part of Merkle Press.

The current Chairman and CEO, David Williams, purchased Merkle for $5.2 million in 1988, at the age of 25, becoming the company’s 24th employee.[1] Merkle has grown revenue from $3.0 million in 1988 to $435 million in 2015, and has evolved from a database marketing firm into a full-service performance marketing agency.[1] In 2015, Advertising Age ranked Merkle as the 10th-largest and fastest growing CRM/Direct Marketing network in the world; the fourth largest US search marketing agency, and the largest independent agency in digital, CRM/data and search.[2] Merkle was recognized as a database marketing leader by Forrester Research Inc. in its "Buyer’s Guide to Database Marketing Service Providers," and is a member of "top 10." [3] Merkle was recognized as a market leader by Forrester in 2003, 2006, 2007[4] and 2015.[5]

Merkle & Conrad Direct Launch HealthSource List[8]
Launched Data Solutions business
Merkle receives a new contract from GEICO[13]
NCDM awards Merkle the Silver Database Excellence Award in the Modeling Applications category for its work with GEICO[14]
First annual client "thought leadership" summit
Merkle divests Merkle Mailing Services[16] and formed strategic alliance with Direct Group[17]
October: Acquires Domain[18]
December: Acquires Quris[19]
Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) Awards Merkle|Quris Best Email Message for work with Blockbuster Inc.[20]
Ad:tech Ad:tech Awards Merkle|Quris Best Email Marketing Campaign with Vail Resorts [21]
National Center for Database Marketing (NCDM), a small Norwegian company,[22]awards the Platinum Award for Overall Excellence and a Gold Award for Analytics & Modeling with Dell, Inc.[23]
Advertising Age 2006 Special Report ranks Merkle 38 in World’s Top 50 Marketing Organizations, moving it 9 positions above the prior year's position.[25]
NCDM awards Merkle the Silver Award for Analytics & Modeling with 21st Century Insurance and the Bronze Award for Technological Applications with Dell, Inc.[23]
Marks the third straight year in which Merkle has won an NCDM Excellence Award[23]
Rated a Market Leader for Email Marketing by Jupiter Research[26]
Wins first annual DMA Analytics Challenge at DMA06[27]
President & CEO David Williams named a Best Boss by Winning Workplaces and Fortune Small Business magazine[28]
Fundraising Success magazine awards Merkle|Domain and Food for the Hungry the Gold Award for Package of the Year[29]
Advertising Age 2007 Special Report Ranks Merkle 31 for World’s Top 50 Marketing Organizations, moving up seven positions from the year prior[31]
Acquired CFM Direct LLC,[32] the Response Processing Division of AB&C Group,[33] and CognitiveDATA[34]
Merkle President & CEO David Williams named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award winner in Maryland for 2007[35]
Awarded a Gold Award from Fundraising Success magazine for its work with CARE USA on its successful "A Million Thanks from a Million Places" renewal campaign [37]
Bronze Award from Fundraising Success for the package of the year CARE November/December World Report campaign[37]
Awarded a Bronze Award from Fundraising Success for its E-Philanthropy America’s Second Harvest "Fill the Fridge" campaign [37]
Ranked 31 in Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 Programs for Maryland[38][39]
Advertising Age ranked Merkle among the Top 10 Direct Marketing Agencies, in the Top 15 U.S. Marketing Services Agencies and among the Top 30 Agency Companies in the world[40]
Acquired CMS Direct[42]
Ranked 27th, Merkle was named the largest worldwide marketing services company and the 6th largest direct marketing agency in America[40]
Technology Crossover Ventures purchases a minority equity stake in Merkle[44]
On September 14th Merkle opened its first international office in Shanghai, China[45]
April 1: acquired Lenser[47]
Merkle Selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee as Agency of Record
Named a market leader by Forrester[48]
Received ISO 9001 Recertification
Merkle, Inc. and Loews Hotels, Inc. Sign Marketing Agreement
Debuts the Merkle Monitor, a Primary Market Research Solution
Ad Age ranked Merkle #6 of Top 10 CRM / Direct Agencies in the US [50]
Ad Age named Merkle in the 10 Agencies to Watch in 2012 [50]
Acquired 5th Finger
Acquired Brilig[51]
Won DMA Innovation Award[53]
Won Fundraising Success Gold Award in Nonprofit E-Mail Campaign $10 Million and Up Category[54]
Won Internationalist Award for Innovative Digital Solutions in Humanitarian Category[55]
Named to Post 200 guide to the Washington region’s top businesses, private companies category[56]
Published first book, It Only Looks Like Magic: The Power of Big Data and Customer-Centric Analytics, by Jennifer Veesenmeyer, Peter Vandre, Ron Park and Andy Fisher[57]
April 2: Acquired New Control[59]
Advertising Age Agency Report 2014 Rankings[2]
Fastest Growing Top 20 US Agency from All Disciplines
17th Largest US Digital Agency Network
10th Largest and Fastest Growing CRM/Direct Marketing Network in the World
10th Largest and Fastest Growing Search Marketing Agency
7th Largest US CRM/Direct Marketing Network
Top 25 US Mobile Agency (Ranked 19th)
Top 50 Agency in the World (Ranked 22nd)
Largest US Agencies from All Disciplines (Ranked 20th)
Won Bronze Stevie Award for 2013 Marketing Imperatives Campaign [60]
July 2: Acquired RKG[61]
November 18: Acquires startup 500friends[62]
  • 2015: April 7: Acquired Pointmarc[63]
May 5: Acquired Periscopix[64]
April 27: Published third book, The Rise of the Platform Marketer: Performance Marketing with Google, Facebook, and Twitter, Plus the Latest High-Growth Digital Advertising Platforms, by Craig Dempster and John Lee[65]
Advertising Age Agency Report 2015 Rankings[2]
10th Largest and Fastest Growing CRM/Direct Marketing Network in the World
4th Largest and Fastest Growing Search Marketing Agency
June 15: Periscopix, a Merkle company, received seven Drum Search Awards[66]
June 22, Received five Stevie Awards from the 2015 American Business Awards
Gold Stevie Award: Best Internal Recognition/Motivational Event: Merkle’s Dream Grant Program[67]
Silver Stevie Awards: Best Internal Recognition/Motivational Event: Merkle’s Annual Awards Program[67] and Best Brand Experience Event: Merkle’s 11th Annual CRM Executive Summit[67]
Bronze Stevie Awards: Marketing Campaign of the Year, Branded Content Campaign of the Year: Merkle’s Connected CRM Book Campaign[68] and Marketing Campaign of the Year – Corporate Reputation/Professional Services: Merkle’s 2014 Marketing Imperatives Campaign[68]
August 27, Recognized as leader by The Relevancy Group in "The Relevancy Ring: Email Agency Buyer's Guide"[69]
November 10: Recognized by Forrester Research as a Leader in the marketing database operations scenario of The Forrester Wave™: Customer Insights Services Providers, Q4 2015[5]
November 10: Joined the Yahoo Preferred Partner program[70]
November 12: Becomes first authorized Baidu reseller in United States[71]
August 8: Merkle announced that it sold a major stake in its business to the global media group Dentsu Aegis Network. This deal values Merkle at $1.5 billion. Merkle will be Dentsu Aegis Network tenth global brand and will remain semi-autonomous after the deal. [73]

References

  1. 1 2 "Fast growth in a fast-changing marketing world". Baltimore Sun.
  2. 1 2 3 "Agency Report 2015 Rankings". April 29, 2015.
  3. ↑ Franklin, Dave; Vittal, Suresh; Murphy, Emily; Grant, Michael J. (January 12, 2011). "The Forrester Wave: US Database Marketing Service Providers, Q1 2011". Forrester.com. Forrester Research. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
  4. ↑ Beck, Koa. "Forrester Evaluates Database Marketing Providers". Buyer’s Guide to Database Marketing Service Providers. Forrester Research.
  5. 1 2 "Forrester Research : Research : The Forrester Wave™: Customer Insights Services Providers, Q4 2015". forrester.com. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
  6. 1 2 3 "EBS' workforce to double". Herald-mail.com. 1997.
  7. ↑ "Paradigm, MapQuest Form Partnership". dmnews.com. 1998.
  8. ↑ "Merkle, Conrad Direct Launch HealthSource List". dmnews.com. 1999.
  9. ↑ "Merkle Receives Industry Excellence Award for Success with GEICO in Analytics and Modeling; Merkle Receives New Contract for Work to Provide Database and Direct Marketing Services.". allbusiness.com. 2001.
  10. ↑ "Merkle Response Management Group Earns ISO 9001 Recertification". tmcnest.com. 2011.
  11. ↑ "Merkle Inc.". Bloomberg. Businessweek. December 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
  12. ↑ "Merkle buys Sigma Analytics". UPI.com. May 18, 2004.
  13. ↑ "CCG Unveils CustomerCenter; Merkle Gets GEICO Contract". DMNews.com. December 2004.
  14. ↑ "Merkle Receives Two Database Excellence Awards.". Thefreelibrary.com. 2004.
  15. ↑ "Merkle Opens Boston Office". DMNews.com. August 2, 2005. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  16. ↑ "Commercial Services and Supplies: Company Overview of Merkle Mailing Services, Inc.". Businessweek.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  17. ↑ Prunier, Petsky (2005). "Merkle has divested its Merkle Mailing Systems and formed a strategic alliance with Direct Group".
  18. ↑ Khan, Mickey Alam (October 6, 2005). "Merkle Buys Nonprofit Agency Domain Group".
  19. ↑ Mag, D (December 6, 2005). "Merkle Acquires Quris".
  20. ↑ Library, Free (2005). "Email Solutions Agency Quris Wins 2005 Web Marketing Association Award with Blockbuster".
  21. ↑ Popescu, Valeriu (December 4, 2005). "2005 Awards for the Bests in the Branch – Watch and Learn!".
  22. ↑ "About us". Ncdmevents.com. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  23. 1 2 3 "Merkle Receives Two Database Excellence Awards". Business Wire. December 12, 2006.
  24. ↑ Campanelli, Melissa (January 12, 2006). "Analytics Put Epsilon, Merkle, Allant, Targetbase Atop Forrester Study".
  25. ↑ "Agency Report, Profiles of the top 50 marketing organizations in this 62nd annual ranking" (PDF). Advertising Age. Crain Communications. June 5, 2006.
  26. ↑ Daniels, David (October 31, 2006). "Email Marketing Buyer Guide 2006".
  27. ↑ Campanelli, Melissa (October 18, 2006). "Merkle wins data analytics challenge at DMA06".
  28. ↑ "Merkle CEO David Williams Named "Best Boss" by Winning Workplaces and Fortune Small Business Magazine". HighBeam.com. September 28, 2006.
  29. ↑ Battistelli, Margaret (September 2006). "And the Winners Are….". fundraisingsuccessmag.com.
  30. ↑ "Merkle Company Profile". Businessweek. Bloomberg. 2012.
  31. ↑ "Agency Profiles Yearbook 2007 Profile" (PDF). AdAge.com. AdvertisingAge (Crain Communications). 2007.
  32. ↑ Khan, Mickey Alam (May 8, 2007). "Merkle buys CFM Direct for financial services advantage Profile".
  33. ↑ Campanelli, Melissa (January 3, 2007). "Merkle acquires response services division from AB&C Group".
  34. ↑ Hosford, Christopher (August 16, 2010). "Marketing merger & acquisition activity surges".
  35. ↑ Library, Free (2007). "Merkle President and CEO David Williams Named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 Award Winner in Maryland".
  36. ↑ Fadner, Ross (August 29, 2008). "2008 OMMA Awards Finalists in the Online Advertising Creativity Category". MediaPost.com.
  37. 1 2 3 "FS Gold Awards: Complete List of Winners". fundraisingsuccessmag.com. September 2008.
  38. ↑ Thompson, David (2008). "Deloitte's Maryland Technology Fast 50 Rankings of Fastest-Growing Technology Companies" (PDF).
  39. ↑ Link, David (October 9, 2008). "EM7 – helping customers make the Deloitte Technology Fast 50?".
  40. 1 2 "TOP U.S. MARKETING SERVICES AGENCIES". AdAge.com. AdvertisingAge (Crain Communications). 2012.
  41. ↑ Haskins, Walaika (October 13, 2009). "Merkle's David Williams Named CEO of the Year by Baltimore SmartCEO Magazine". bmoremedia.com.
  42. ↑ Tode, Chantal (July 6, 2009). "CognitiveData acquires CMS Direct". DMNews.com.
  43. ↑ Mirabella, Lorraine (March 22, 2010). "Merkle acquires loyalty marketing firm Metzner Schneider".
  44. ↑ Funding, DC (August 31, 2010). "Merkle Announces Growth Investment by Technology Crossover Ventures".
  45. ↑ Palmer, Alex (September 15, 2010). "Merkle Opens Shanghai Office".
  46. ↑ Martinez, Juan (March 29, 2011). "Merkle buys search marketing firm Impaqt". DMNews.com.
  47. ↑ Martinez, Juan (April 4, 2011). "Merkle's CognitiveData acquires Lenser". DMNews.com.
  48. ↑ Frankland, Dave (January 12, 2011). "The Forrester Wave: US Database Marketing Service Providers Q1 2011" (PDF). TargetBase.com.
  49. ↑ Kamenec, Kara (February 2, 2012). "Merkle Acquires Social Amp, Tackles Facebook Open-Graph". dailydealmedia.com.
  50. 1 2 "Agency Report, 2012 Edition". AdAge.com. AdvertisingAge (Crain Communications). April 27, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  51. ↑ "Merkle acquires digital data exchange provider Brilig". AdAge.com. AdvertisingAge (Crain Communications). September 12, 2012.
  52. ↑ "Marketing Awards Categories Stevie Award Winners". StevieAwards.com. June 17, 2013.
  53. ↑ "DMA Announces Winners of 2013 Innovation Awards". thedma.org. September 5, 2013.
  54. ↑ "E-mail ($10 Million and Up): Canine Companions for Independence". fundraisingsuccessmag.com. October 2013.
  55. ↑ "Internationalist Awards for Innovative Digital Solutions". Internationalist-Awards.com. December 2, 2013.
  56. ↑ "Post 200". WashingtonPost.com. December 15, 2013.
  57. ↑ Veesenmeyer, Jennifer; Vandre, Peter; Park, Ron; Fisher, Andy (2013-06-10). It Only Looks Like Magic: The Power of Big Data and Customer-Centric Digital Analytics. Merkle. ISBN 9780989451505.
  58. ↑ Williams, David S. (2014-03-03). Connected CRM: Implementing a Data-Driven, Customer-Centric Business Strategy (1 ed.). Wiley. ISBN 9781118835807.
  59. ↑ Monollos, Kristina (April 2, 2014). "Merkle Acquires Digital Player, New Congrol". Adweek.com.
  60. ↑ "2014 Marketing Awards Categories Stevie Award Winners". StevieAwards.com. June 13, 2014.
  61. ↑ Pathak, Shareen (July 2, 2014). "Merkle Buys Search and Digital Agency RKG". Advertising Age. Crain Communications.
  62. ↑ Ha, Anthony (November 18, 2014). "Merkle Acquires Loyalty Startup 500friends". TechCrunch.com. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  63. ↑ "Merkle Acquires Pointmarc, Gains Analytics Consultancy Services". MediaPost.com. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
  64. ↑ "US performance marketing agency Merkle enters Europe with acquisition of Periscopix". The Drum. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
  65. ↑ The Rise of the Platform Marketer: Performance Marketing with Google, Facebook, and Twitter, Plus the Latest High-Growth Digital Advertising Platforms (1 ed.). Wiley. 2015-04-27. ISBN 9781119059721.
  66. ↑ "The Drum Digital Trading Awards - 2015 Winners". TheDrum.com. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  67. 1 2 3 "The American Business Awards: Live Event Awards". StevieAwards.com. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  68. 1 2 "The American Business Awards: Marketing Awards". StevieAwards.com. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  69. ↑ "The Relevancy Ring - Email Agency Buyer's Guide, 2015". relevancygroup.com. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  70. ↑ "Yahoo Adds Deeper Targeting to Yahoo Gemini, Expands Preferred Partner Program". adweek.com. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  71. ↑ "China Search Leader Baidu Taps Merkle As First Key US Agency Partner". AdExchanger.com. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  72. ↑ "Forrester Research : Research : The Forrester Wave™: Customer Loyalty Solutions For Midsize Organizations, Q1 2016". forrester.com. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  73. ↑ http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2016/08/08/merkle-sells-majority-stake-valuing-it-at-1-5-billion/#7d1103f83cb5
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