The customer relationship marketing (CRM) firm, Merkle (www.merkleinc.com), which is the nation’s largest privately-held agency, was honored at yesterday’s 2011 NCDM Database Excellence Awards Luncheon & Ceremony with the Silver award in the business-to-business marketing category. The award was based on the company’s work with Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management.

 The NCDM sponsors and presents the awards at its annual conference and exhibition, which was held this year at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and focused on Engaging Customers Using Data and Technology.  The awards honor organizations that are engaging customers using data and technology to improve the quality of marketing programs and achieve measurable results and increased value to the bottom line.

 Merkle’s relationship with Schneider Electric involved the successful development of an enterprise CRM database and included a comprehensive data quality analysis, international and domestic data sourcing, data cleansing, international merge/purge, analytical services, CRM strategy, database design and modification, systems design, process design and change management consultation.

 “The solutions that we are providing to Schneider Electric represent a wide variety of the database and CRM tools that Merkle has to offer the global marketplace,” said Joseph Colletti, vice president of database solutions for Analytici, a Merkle Company. “We are proud to be recognized by the NCDM as a leader in providing b-to-b and consumer-focused customer relationship marketing solutions that help our international clients maximize the value of their customer portfolios.”