David Williams is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Merkle Inc., one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing database marketing agencies. Williams oversees the delivery of integrated customer marketing strategies and solutions to hundreds of nationally recognized clients that include AARP, the American Cancer Society, Blockbuster, Capital One, DELL, DIRECTV, Disney, GEICO, The Limited, Microsoft, Nike, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, Sanofi Aventis, and many others.
Williams acquired the company, which was then called Merkle Computer Systems, Inc., in 1988 at the age of 25, becoming the company’s 24th employee. Today, Merkle has more than 1000 employees in locations throughout the United States, including Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Little Rock, Philadelphia and Seattle. David has aggressively grown the company and sustained 25% growth since 1989. Merkle is a privately held corporation and is headquartered near Baltimore in Columbia, MD.
Under Williams' leadership, Merkle has been recognized as a market leader by Forrester Research three consecutive times (2003, 2006 and 2007), and by Advertising Age as the 13th largest marketing services agency in the U.S. (6th specializing in direct marketing). Merkle has also received numerous awards for its work with clients, from organizations including the National Center for Database Marketing, the Direct Marketing Association of Washington, and AD:Tech. David recently received recognition by Winning Workplaces and Fortune Magazine as one of America’s Best Bosses of 2006, and was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for 2007 in Maryland.
Williams is an active member of the direct and database marketing community. He is currently serving a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the Direct Marketing Association, and serves as a member of the Executive Committee. David is a frequent speaker at industry events and has written numerous articles and white papers about topics such as best-in-class database marketing, customer management strategy, marketing measurement and marketing technology infrastructure. Williams began his career at Butcher & Singer, a Philadelphia-based investment bank, and holds a BS in Business Administration from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.
