David Williams is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Merkle Inc. He purchased the company then known as Merkle Computer Systems, Inc. in 1988 and became its 24th employee. Today, Merkle has more than 1200 employees in locations throughout the United States and is today the nation’s largest and fastest-growing independent Customer Relationship Marketing agency.
Under David’s leadership, Merkle has sustained 25% annual growth over the last 20 years and was recognized as a market leader by Forrester Research in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Advertising Age ranked Merkle as the 15th largest marketing services agency in the U.S. and 7th largest marketing services agency specializing in direct marketing. David was recognized by Winning Workplaces and Fortune Magazine as one of America’s Best Bosses of 2006, and was the 2007 Maryland Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
David currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Direct Marketing Association and is 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 Customer Relationship Marketing, Database Marketing and Analytics, Digital Media and Marketing Technology. He began his career at Butcher & Singer, a Philadelphia-based investment bank, and holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.
