Merkle Hires Chris Crayner as Senior Vice President, Customer Management Strategy

Merkle (www.merkleinc.com), one of the nation’s largest and fastest growing database marketing agencies, announced the hiring of Chris Crayner to the position of senior vice president, customer management strategy. A marketing, technology and data professional with extensive experience in the entertainment, media and pharmaceutical markets, Crayner will play a key role in developing and leading marketing strategy for some of Merkle’s top clients.

Prior to joining Merkle, Crayner held technology leadership positions in the areas of brand management, customer relationship management (CRM) and business intelligence within The Walt Disney Company, which he joined in 2001. Most recently, Crayner was vice president, global customer managed relationships at Disney Parks and Resorts in Orlando. Earlier, he served as vice president, corporate technology - brand management at Disney’s Burbank, Calif. headquarters, where he oversaw the implementation of a corporate-wide CRM initiative to unify the company’s business divisions.

Prior to joining Disney, Crayner was the director of e-business and marketing, technical service at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in Evansville, Ind. There, he led the company’s e-business strategy, which included technical and analytical components for direct-to-consumer marketing initiatives and programs. Earlier in his career, Crayner held management roles at a large regional holding company that served the banking industry.

Patrick Hennessy, executive vice president, Merkle, said, “We are extremely excited to have Chris Crayner onboard in this new position and to gain this caliber of talent at Merkle. Chris has demonstrated a thorough knowledge of CRM, integrated marketing, technology and analytics from both an operational and strategic standpoint. We’re confident that his insight and effectiveness as a team leader will have a significant impact on helping our clients further their CRM initiatives.”

About Merkle

Merkle is one of the nation’s largest and fastest growing providers of data-driven marketing solutions that enable organizations to maximize the results from their marketing investment. Merkle provides strategic consulting, database services, content solutions, analytical services, interactive and creative services, and production services to Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations. With more than 1,100 employees, the privately held corporation is headquartered near Baltimore in Columbia, Maryland with additional locations in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, Seattle and Hagerstown, Maryland. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-MERKLE or visit www.merkleinc.com.