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GOT GAME?Here are 40 winning marketers who do.

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Marketing today takes savvy, perseverance, and deft juggling skills. Winners of the 2013 Direct Marketing News 40 Under 40 Awards have them all, in spades.

These 40 leaders represent the most accomplished young talent in marketing. They’ve launched initiatives that have helped to significantly grow their companies, or spur their customers’ successes, and influenced the industry in numerous ways—from enhancing the core elements of direct marketing, to advancing measurement, to guiding their company and clients on mastering new technologies.

Their work is helping to guide others in marketing to master such areas as integrating digital and traditional marketing, using cross-channel data to inform marketing decisions, and building loyalty at a time when customers churn at the click of a mouse. Their stories are ones of determination, creativity, and adaptability. —Ginger Conlon

By Elyse Dupré, Ryan Joe, Allison Schiff, and Al Urbanski

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Greg Alvo, Founder & CEO, OrderGrooveWinning ways: A nationally ranked tennis player in his youth, the bane of Alvo’s existence was replacing the strings he habitually popped on his racquets.

“It’s the catalyst behind this business,” he says. The busi-ness is OrderGroove, which takes brand advocates and super-monetizes them by transforming them into brand subscribers. Only five years old, OrderGroove serves 75 brands including CVS, L’Oreal, and Johnson & Johnson. Zabar’s, the legendary New York City gourmet retailer, multiplied customer purchase frequency by five times and nearly doubled their annual spend with the Z-Peat subscription program OrderGroove designed. Defining moment: “Hands down, launching and growing OrderGroove to capture the massive subscrip-tion commerce opportunity in front of us. The desire to create value out of nothing has driven my career from day one.”Good read: The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki. “It was an amazing reference when I was first launching OrderGroove. It laid out how to get started in a practical and refreshing way. I encourage all aspiring entrepre-neurs to read it.”Good advice: “Test and measure everything, then learn and innovate accordingly.”

Amy Avery, SVP, Head of Data and Analytics, Proximity North AmericaWinning ways: Avery helped the Ma-rine Corps march to the rhythm of data while at JWT, created a digital analyt-

ics department from the ground up at BBDO, and now melds social with customer relationship management (CRM) as head of data and analytics at Proximity NA. She is the elusive right brain–left brain hybrid that is the quarry of marketing departments everywhere. “Amy has the uncommon combination of account and ana-lytics background,” says Proximity Chairman Andrew Bailey. “She has a unique ability to apply advanced solu-tions to client problems and explain them in a simple manner.” And apply them she does. After testing the best placement for the call to action in a recent campaign, Avery’s team delivered the client a tenfold increase in response and incremental revenue of $1.3 million.Defining moment: “Working on FEMA as an ac-count director, my role was to convince people to pur-chase insurance. I spent a lot of time working with a database and analytics team to collect and analyze data on what made people buy. As a result of the targeting and contact strategy we put together, the National Flood Insurance Program had unprecedented policy sales. I took that experience into a newly created role of busi-ness intelligence director, where I served as the ‘transla-tor’ between clients and the analytics resources, finding creative solutions to solve business challenges.”

Good read: And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hos-seini. “It has reminded me that compassion and loyalty are often the most valuable things you can offer.” Good advice: “Look for opportunities rather than wait for them to come to you, and don’t be afraid of failure.”

Aaron Bell, CEO, AdRollWinning ways: There was a time, not long ago, when tracking people’s serpen-tine Web journeys and targeting them with relevant ads along the way was a strategy for big budget players. Now re-

targeting is a weapon in every direct marketer’s arsenal, thanks largely to ex-programmer Bell. One of Micro-soft’s youngest software engineers, he busted out AdRoll in 2007 to bring retargeting to the marketing masses. AdRoll hit pay-dirt last year, tripling its revenue from 2011 and showing its first profit. Not bad, but fate could have taken Bell in another direction. In 1999 he and two Stanford classmates launched Steamtunnels, an online version of the school’s “facebook.” The university shut down the project due to privacy concerns.Defining moment: “I took to computers early in life and started professionally coding in my early teens. At age 15 I had the opportunity to interview at Microsoft and was hired as a software development engineer in the Microsoft Exchange group. I can't overstate how much I learned about team and software best practices in my five years there. The leader of the group was Brian Val-entine, who also came to management through a pro-gramming background, and inspired his team with his gumption and humor.” Good read: “I like the notes from PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel’s recent Stanford lecture series.”Good advice: “Start from your customer and work backwards.”

Jeremy Bloom, Cofounder, IntegrateWinning ways: The business world loves sports metaphors—but Jeremy Bloom doesn’t need metaphors. An all-star athlete turned entrepreneur, Bloom

skied for the U.S. Olympic team and played professional football for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles before tackling the world of direct marketing. After winning 11 World Cup Gold medals in freestyle skiing and retiring from the gridiron, Bloom went on to cofound ad-tech company Integrate, where he and his team developed AdHQ, an omnichannel workflow management platform for marketers. Under Bloom’s leadership, Integrate nearly doubled its revenue in 2012. But Bloom also sets aside time to give back—since launch-ing nonprofit organization Wish of a Lifetime in 2008, he’s helped grant more than 650 wishes to elderly people across the country.Defining moment: “Raising Integrate’s Series A funding was my true initiation into the world of busi-

Greg Alvo

“When given the

choice between

an A team with

a B idea or a B

team with an A

idea, always go for

the former. The A

team will figure

out how to turn

the B idea into an

A-plus.”

Amy Avery

“Anything is

possible.”

Aaron Bell

“Grace under fire.”

Jeremy Bloom

“Mahatma Gan-

dhi’s ‘Live as if

you were to die

tomorrow. Learn

as if you were to

live forever.’”

WorDs to LIve By:

ness. It was confirmation that we were indeed on the right course, creating something special, and it provided Integrate with tremendous momentum.”Good read: “Good to Great by Jim Collins prepared me for many of the obstacles Integrate has encountered dur-ing its maturation process and given me a realistic grip on what it takes to create a great company.”Good advice: “Get focused from the very beginning on measuring the ROI of every dollar spent—whether those dollars are yours or your clients’.”

sam Brubaker, Marketing Director, Champion Factory DirectWinning ways: Brubaker has helped Champion Factory Direct generate in ex-cess of $200 million in annual revenues.

Because of his work, Champion has achieved over 35% marketing productivity improvement in direct market-ing investments, an 8% increase in average contract sales due to geo-targeting, and a 20% improved profitability due to product mix targeting efforts.Defining moment: Although Champion is a na-tional brand and online activity was handled at the national level, media buying used to occur at a local level. Brubaker found himself in the position of having to educate the brass by proving the value of programs that had occurred online. “Much of it was changing the methodology of what we buy, how we buy, and how we drive the inquiries,” he says. “It’s changed the way we do business.”Good read: Seth Godin’s Tribes. Good advice: “Always be a good listener, whether it’s being coached or whether it’s listening to people in the field, and always ask a lot of questions.”

Jennifer Bunner, Director of Insight, Outsell LLCWinning ways: For Bunner, data and analytics are true passions. In the past two years alone she’s grown the insights team at Outsell by 200%. With Bunner at

the insights helm, Outsell has created innovative digital experiences for some of the biggest brands in the auto industry—helping those clients see results like increasing dealership new vehicle sales by 13% and sparking a 22% uptick in customer retention.Defining moment: “Early in my career I was given the opportunity, along with a great deal of responsibility and freedom, to build a CRM program for a key client from the ground up. I had a great mentor who allowed me to take ownership of the project, take risks, make mistakes, and learn from those experiences—while being extremely supportive along the way. Through this I was made visible to leaders within and outside the company, but most important it helped me build my confidence as a businesswoman and believe in myself.”Good read: “Don’t Kiss With Your Mouth Full by Henry

P. Mahone presents complex situations in single parent-ing, inter-generational relationships, and family matters with a gentle, humorous touch. The main character shows how imperfection is OK as long as we know what is good and keep striving.”Good advice: “Have a vision for your career early on and then find a strong mentor to support, advise, and advocate for you as you work toward it.”

Jon Butts, President, Muscle Up MarketingWinning ways: Jon Butts left a sta-ble, well-paying job to found Muscle Up Marketing less than three years ago with $1,000 in cash. Today, the gym and health

club marketing agency is a multimillion-dollar company. Not only are the agency’s campaigns effective—a recent direct mail effort brought in an impressive 5% response rate—its attention to detail is nonpareil. Muscle Up Mar-keting has a 100% quality track record. In its entire his-tory, the agency has never had to reprint a single piece of work.Defining moment: “I was at my last job over four years when the company introduced a new non-compete that I thought was over restrictive. I was given the ulti-matum: Sign it or else they’d be forced to terminate me. I was making good money, but I was unhappy. I opted to walk away and start my own company. Everyone thought I was crazy.”Good read: “The Art of Client Service by Robert Solo-mon. I believe in sweating the small stuff—because the small things really add up and go a long way.”Good advice: “Take the chance when it’s there, so you don’t have to wonder ‘what if’ later in life.”

Gurbaksh chahal, Founder and CEO, RadiumOneWinning Ways: At only 30, Chahal is on his third company. He dropped out of high school to start the first, ClickAgents, which he sold to ValueClick for $40 mil-

lion. Next came BlueLithium, which Yahoo! acquired for $300 million. Now he helps marketers target consum-ers with hashtag ads at his new company, RadiumOne. Hyundai used the company’s services to launch its first hashtag campaign during Super Bowl XLVII and ex-ceeded its mobile click-through rate benchmark by 41 times. “I firmly believe that Darwin was right, that those who are able to adapt and change will survive,” Chahal says. “We’re now at an inflection point where science and society are bound together and we must to remain nimble to evolve with the changing media landscape.”Defining moment: “Starting my first company at the age of 16. The company was hailed as a market-mak-er in the ad network space and within 18 months I sold it…. Innovation is moving at the speed of light. Within the next five years technology will advance so quickly that life as we know it will challenge us to rethink the

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Sam Brubaker

“By this time

next year, you’ll

wish you’d

started today.”

Jennifer Bunner

“Amazing things

rarely happen

in your

comfort zone.”

Jon Butts

“I have a custom

graphic with the

letters FTWSIC

(‘For those who

said I couldn’t’)

framed in my of-

fice to motivate

me to prove the

doubters wrong

every day.”

Gurbaksh Chahal

“When you want

to succeed as bad

as you want to

breathe, then

you’ll be

successful.”

way we approach business, relationships, and play.” Good advice: “A successful business is not run by algorithms but by relationships.”

carrie chitsey, CEO, BLK24Winning Ways: Chitsey founded and sold her first company before she was 30, so she took that money and used it to roll out 3Seventy, a company with a revolutionary SMS text program that was

embraced by companies large and small. Not yet 35, the poker-playing Chitsey has dealt herself another winning hand with BLK24, a marketing consultancy that helps brands meld mobile initiatives with their overarching strategies. “Poker has taught me how to read people, and how to make the right decisions in business,” she says, adding that successful entrepreneurs must have a little riverboat gambler in them. “If you’re going to go your own way, you have to go in strong or go home.” Defining moment: “I had personal motivations that made me leave a Big 5 consulting company and start my first company in 2006. I was driven to work for my-self, make my clients proud, and start charting my own course. I've had a path I've been working toward ever since and driving toward that every day.” Good read: “I’ve been reading the Steve Jobs [biogra-phy by Walter Isaacson] and it shows me more than ever that you have to chart your own course and, in doing so, you don’t always make friends. You have to stick to your own instincts and ethics, first and foremost.” Good advice: “The only person who defines your success is you. There is never a good excuse for ob-stacles; there is always a solution if you are determined to succeed.”

Louis cohen, SVP, Head of Search, Affiliate Marketing and Lead Generation, Citibank, NAWinning Ways: Cohen is a digital marketing superhero. He led the expan-

sion of Citibank’s digital customer acquisition efforts across all U.S. consumer businesses and grew the core program by more than 400% in two years. He shares his marketing knowledge by working as a digital marketing professor for Baruch College and NYU.Defining Moment: “After my freshman year of col-lege, thanks to guidance from my older brother, I landed an internship at Marvel Comics in marketing. During that summer—when I thought I was headed toward a ca-reer in advertising and marketing, working with what we now consider “traditional” media—I had a brilliant idea for a website, called Collectors’ Exchange, which I launched with a friend. The experience of trying to survive in the .com boom, failing to hit it big, but learn-ing a ton, is what propelled me toward a career in digital marketing and gave me life lessons that still serve me well to this day.

Good read: First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. “It makes perfect sense: Manage people to their strengths, and they will be happier, more productive, and more engaged.”Good advice: “Stay on top of the latest industry news so you can always hold an intelligent conversation with even the most seasoned professional.”

Kristy croft, Partner, RosettaWinning Ways: Croft knows the value of marketing/IT collaboration. She started in computer programming, but switched to marketing after determining that she was way too social for IT. But she

continues to apply her IT knowledge to digital market-ing at Rosetta. Croft is also a born leader. She restruc-tured Rosetta’s paid, owned, and earned media team, resulting in a 30% boost in aggregate revenue with only a 5% headcount increase.Defining Moment: “My first week on the job I was asked to go on site with a client and build out their digi-tal marketing program from the ground up. I was brand new to the agency world and relatively new to market-ing. I threw everything I had into making sure that the engagement was a success. I learned a lot about myself and my ability during that time…I learned that I had what it took to play with the big boys.”Good read: Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. “I’m the executive sponsor of the Lean In program at Rosetta. I have three small children, my oldest is three years old, and I’m a mentor to a lot of young female professionals at Rosetta. The book just resonated with me because I feel like, at times, women unnecessarily put limits on themselves that they shouldn’t.”Good advice: “Be firm but fair.”

viji Davis, VP, Marketing, Resolution Media, OmnicomWinning ways: When Viji Davis joined the Resolution Media executive team she was 28. She became VP only a year later. From 2011 to 2012 she helped

Resolution Media generate 32% total revenue growth and 30% new client growth.Defining moment: Davis’s family moved from In-dia to Africa when she was two. When she was in el-ementary school, her parents moved to the U.S. It was a tremendous culture shock and, at a very young age, Davis was forced to learn how to make connections with people. “When I moved here, I had a British accent and when you’re a little kid, nobody understands what you’re saying,” she recalls.Good read: 365 Dalai Lama: Daily Advice From the Heart. Davis keeps a copy of the book in her office and reads random sections whenever work is especially stressful. “It sounds cheesy but it really does help,” she says. “Even when things seem stressful, you realize stress

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Carrie Chitsey

“Marketing is all

about making

calculated

gambles. You

can’t be scared to

place bets.”

Louis Cohen

“Challenge accept-

ed best practices

and develop your

own—develop bet-

ter best practices.”

Kristy Croft

“Honesty is a

cornerstone of all

success, without

which confidence

and ability to

perform shall

cease to exist.”

–Mary Kay Ash

Viji Davis

“Don’t worry

about what

everybody else

is doing.”

is just a perceived emotion and it’s just a matter of how much you can control it.”Good advice: “Do more than what’s required of you and, above all, just be nice.”

Jason DeLuca, Managing Director, Digital Media, Allscope MediaWinning ways: DeLuca knows digi-tal. On top of growing the digital busi-ness at Allscope by 400% in just three

years, the agency’s holiday campaign for MasterCard yielded such high sales conversions that it’s considered to be the most successful digital media execution the brand has ever run.Defining moment: “Getting out of college at the same exact time that digital media was just starting to take off and riding that wave as one of the first employees in the digital media department at BBDO, which handed over access to some of the biggest brands in the world. That invaluable experience and opportunity opened the door for many others down the road and gave me the knowledge and confidence I needed to excel.”Good read: “What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School by Mark McCormack, founder of IMG Management, left a big impression on me since I first read it back in high school. So much of business is all about people and managing personalities rather than just dollars and cents. It taught me that having the abil-ity to invoke laughter in the right moments is an ex-tremely useful tool that can make a big difference in getting deals done.”Good advice: “Surround yourself with the smartest, most successful people you can find in the field and study the way they work, think, communicate, and get things done. Then try to improve upon it in your own unique way and you will be on the right path toward success."

Amanda Dempsey, Managing Director, Sports and Experiential, hawkeyeWinning ways: Dempsey helped ener-gize client North Face’s running business (up 208%) with The North Face Endur-

ance 50 and helped put Anheuser-Busch on the menu of active, health-minded drinkers during the launch of Mi-chelob ULTRA. As a result, she made hawkeye’s sports and experiential practice soar, doubling its growth since taking the helm. A former varsity soccer player at SMU, Dempsey is grateful to remain active in the sports world as she prepares for her next big challenge: directing the soccer career of two-year-old daughter Payton.Defining moment: “As an intern, I was able to sit in the same office as the CEO. I took advantage of each and every second I could by listening in on ev-ery phone call, every meeting, and every question and answer that came through that office door. Over time I began asking questions and preparing answers and

ideas for clients. I tried to approach each day with the mind-set of a CEO and I was lucky enough to receive encouragement to do so.”Good read: “I’m currently reading The Happiest Tod-dler on the Block by Harvey Karp, M.D. Ironically, I’m having to seek advice on the best ways to communicate and ‘market’ to my daughter. Now that I know to as-sume she is more like a Neanderthal than a mini-adult, my strategy and approach have changed drastically.”Good advice: “Don’t be afraid to ask questions. This was the best piece of advice I ever received and I con-tinue to pay it forward by sharing it with every new hire and intern that I come across.”

Jeremiah Desmarais, VP, Marketing and Strategy, Health Partners AmericaWinning ways: From graphic design-er to top-level marketer—Desmarais’ ca-reer trajectory is evidence of the breadth

of his skills. Through his efforts as VP of marketing at Applied Systems, the company was able to cut its budget by hundreds of thousands of dollars while still increas-ing leads to sales by 300%. Clearly, when it comes to lead gen, Desmarais just gets it. He developed a white-paper engagement strategy that led to a 251% increase in response without a single dollar spent and created a direct response digital presentation format for the sales team at Health Partners America that resulted in a 660% increase in new leads per week.Defining moment: “Starting my career at a startup with no staff, no budget, and no formal marketing edu-cation. This helped me become incredibly resourceful and creative in the ways I would market. Despite it all, only one thing mattered: results.”Good read: “The Book of Proverbs. Conducting good business is really being able to conduct good human re-lations. Many business books leave this out and focus on people as pawns in a strategic game of supremacy. However, I've found that finding lasting fulfillment in business comes from contributing value, serving others, and being a force for good.”Good advice: “Give first.”

theo Fanning, Executive Creative Director, TractionWinning ways: As cofounder of Trac-tion, Fanning’s leadership has contribut-ed to the agency being selected to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies

in the U.S. twice in the past five years. His work has also paid dividends for clients. Juice brand Nomsi saw a 550% year-over-year sales increase due to Fanning’s integrated work, and in the six months since the launch of a campaign for Accountemps, the brand’s stock price jumped from $26 to $36.Defining moment: Fanning went to university to be a film major. Before he arrived on campus, the school

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Jason DeLuca

“Knowing is half

the battle.”

—GI Joe

Amanda Dempsey

“‘Function in

disaster.’ This was

something said to

me in high school,

but it didn’t have

much of an impact

on me until I be-

gan my career in

marketing. There’s

not a week that

goes by that I

don’t repeat this

motto in my head.”

Jeremiah

Desmarais

“Do you see a man

skilled in his work?

He will stand in the

presence of kings.”

Theo Fanning

“Fake it ’til you

make it; f**k it ’til

you break it.”

shuttered the film school, which resulted in Fanning spending the next four years going through nine majors resulting in two degrees he swore he’d never get: fine arts and English literature. “I basically spent four years exploring a variety of topics that have shaped my ca-reer,” he says.Good read: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. “It’s about the concept of creation and having to deal with the con-sequences thereof,” he says. “It’s an example of every action having an equal and opposite reaction.”Good advice: “Take every opportunity; be humble.”

Judah Fontz, VP, Search Fundraising, VeraDataWinning ways: Fontz is so good at his job that Google actually called him to ask how he does it. When he first joined Vera-Data, Fontz decided to take a risk: Rather

than focus on known sources of search revenue, he set his sights on developing a mastery of search marketing for fundraisers—and it’s a gamble that’s paid dividends for all involved. Not only has he personally generated more than $2 million in search marketing grants in the past three years, he’s also helped capture tens of thou-sands of donors for the charities he’s worked with. In just one example, Fontz increased monthly impressions for a national animal rights charity by 1,391%, while boosting its monthly click-through traffic by 9,516%, and pumping up monthly newsletter subscriptions by 7,985%. Monthly online donations to the charity soared 8,500% as a result.Defining moment: “Overcoming traditional direct marketing mind-sets and ways of doing things. Now our clients are coordinating their multichannel efforts and are continuing to open up to a more holistic way of allocating budgets and analyzing omnichannel cam-paign results.”Good read: “The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators. I’m interested in learning about the behaviors of the best innovators and how to apply them.”Good advice: “Don’t be afraid to question com-mon practices when you have ideas and solutions out-side the norm.”

Justin Gray, CEO, LeadMDWinning ways: Gray doesn’t do any-thing half way. He founded his first com-pany, RootOne Marketing, to help him pay for college. Later, as VP of sales and marketing at BillingTree, he helped the

start-up grow to a multimillion-dollar company. Today, as CEO of LeadMD, he’s overseen a 36% aver-age increase in lead volume for clients—6% higher than the industry average.Defining moment: “I’ve been fired from every job I’ve ever held…. I’m basically unemployable. I don’t like the status quo and I don’t like the dead weight…that was something people couldn’t always handle.

When I walk into a company, I see ways to improve it. So I found the only way to achieve that was to build something organic.”Good read: “The Art of War is a stereotypical answer, but it’s still my answer. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t mentally reference it. I’m currently read-ing James Altucher’s Choose Yourself! because he always makes me question why I’m doing something. That’s a healthy question in any situation.”Good advice: “Don’t settle. Plenty of good people become bad at their professions by accepting compla-cency—once you start, it’s hard to stop.”

Geoff Gross, President, Medical GuardianWinning Ways: Innovativeness is an attribute common among the 40 Under 40 winners, and it is certainly a common thread in Gross’s success story. He was

the first in the medical alert industry to deploy geo-targeted paid search, remarketing, and a mobile site. The former high school point guard leads a team of six in-house marketing professionals and 10 agencies in a quest to keep on top of not only the latest methods in marketing, but also the mainstream thoughts of his cus-tomers. Among thousands of keywords relevant to his company’s business, his goal is to focus his customers’ website experience on the ones most uniquely relevant to each of them.Defining moment: “The self-inflicting challenge of trying to do everything myself for too long slowed the growth of my company. Once I was able to figure out that surrounding myself with smart people was the key to success, we grew very quickly. I have an amazing team.” Good read: “I’ve read many books about John F. Ken-nedy. What I have taken out of them is the idea that every situation has many angles. It’s important to under-stand things from different perspectives and make deci-sions accordingly.” Good advice: “I’d give the same advice my dad gave me a long time ago: ‘Stick to simple ideas.’”

Ashley Johnston, SVP, Global Marketing, Experian Marketing ServicesWinning ways: Johnston’s launch of a cross-channel marketing platform trans-formed the go-to market strategy of Ex-

perian’s marketing services unit. The Dana Campaign, an international effort she helped create and implement, demonstrated to prospects using EMS’s intelligence and tools how a real person interacts with brands across various channels. Johnston’s thought leadership efforts led to 11,000-plus downloads of the company’s Digital Marketer report and helped secure 17 new clients and $4 million in incremental revenue. Defining moment: “My tenure with Experian began almost 11 years ago with a startup called Chee-tahMail. The passion that ran through our small office

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Judah Fontz

“Work hard and

surround yourself

with smart

and hard-

working people.”

Justin Gray

“‘We’ll get it done.’

I mean, what’s the

alternative?

For me, there

isn’t one. The true

legacy of your

business is what

you’re willing to do

for your clients.”

Geoff Gross

“The best way to

wow your custom-

ers is to take care

of the people

who take care of

your customers.”

Ashley Johnston

“Deliver value

every day.”

was palpable and made going to work exciting and chal-lenging. The culture of empowerment and innovation inspired us to take risks and to color outside the lines.” Good advice: “Control the controllable. There are very few things in life you can control, so when you have the opportunity; take advantage of it.”

Katie Klumper, Group Account Director, Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + PartnersWinning Ways: Klumper never set-tles for less than the best, which was evi-dent when she led BMW’s social-centric

ActivE campaign. BMW sold 700 vehicles within two months of the campaign’s launch, and kbs+ was named BMW’s agency of record soon afterwards. Defining Moment: “When I was five years into my advertising career, I knew I wanted more and moved from Vancouver to New York against the advice from al-most everyone. At the time I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, not knowing what I was walking into. But it was exactly what I needed—a real life lesson in business…. Brand strategies, testing, marketing plans, multi-tiered advertising, and really big brands.” Good read: Mad Women by Jane Maas. “It details many of the day-to-day challenges women across the globe take on in advertising—from being cut out of meet-ings and being taken seriously in the workplace, to man-aging families at home. I’m fortunate to have a female mentor and CEO who has really taken a stand to help females develop into leadership roles in advertising and addressing these challenges real time.”Good advice: “Don’t underestimate how important it is to really listen to people and understand what people want and need.”

Ingrid Lindberg, Chief Customer Experience Office, Prime TherapeuticsWinning ways: Lindberg is a pioneer. Before becoming the healthcare indus-try’s only chief customer experience of-

ficer, she helped designed Wystar, a retirement services platform that has since been adopted by Ameriprise and Wachovia. In the past year alone, her rewrite of Prime Therapeutics’ mail service member materials garnered a 34% increase in the annual response rate.Defining moment: “I took a ‘break job,’ a small role that would afford me some work/life balance for a year or so before I would take on the next big role. It was in an industry I knew nothing about, having worked in fi-nance, packaged goods, and retail up to that point. Little did I know that joining Definity Health would change the course of my career. I was lucky enough to be brought into Definity to design and implement the first Health Savings Account. I had no idea what the impact of my design would be on the industry—but creating that little product opened doors that I could never have imagined.”Good read: “The Discipline of Market Leaders by Mi-

chael Treacy and Fred Wiersema is the ‘what’ part of my equation, and All In: How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton is the how.”Good advice: “Never, ever be afraid to ask why and suggest alternatives.”

Mike Lund, VP of Sales, Epsilon Online Solutions, EpsilonWinning Ways: After Lund joined Epsilon Online Solutions at the ground level, he helped grow the team over 700%

in staffing and 334% in sales. He also helped build the team responsible for tripling sales of Epsilon’s TargetDis-play solution year-over-year.Defining moment: In 2007 Lund left Epsilon to start up the e-commerce division of surfwear company Qui-ksilver. At the time the company had no CRM team and its website only allowed users to download wallpaper and watch videos. Lund’s task required him to take direct marketing concepts to “an organization that largely had a wholesale mind,” he says. But the job also required him to move his family from Denver to Huntington Beach, CA. “That helped define me, because now I’m willing to take risks and live outside my comfort zone,” Lund says. “That’s the biggest piece, especially in this digital age; you have to do things outside your comfort zone.”Good read: Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Choui-nard, founder of Patagonia. “I went to high school and middle school in Aspen, so I’ve been skiing my whole life,” Lund says. Good advice: “Attitude will get you farther than any-thing else.”

Kira Marchenese, Senior Director, Digital Platforms and Strategy, Environmental Defense FundWinning Ways: To say that Marchen-ese is digitally savvy would be an under-

statement. Many of the digital initiatives she introduced to EDF were creations she built from the ground up, including a strong testing and analytics practice and a winning social media and content marketing team.Defining Moment: “When I was at AOL, my boss realized that I was in need of a change. He engineered a swap for me to go into another department and work on search…. But when I got there I realized that the op-portunity was completely different from what either of us had realized. This was in 1999 or 2000 and search marketing hadn’t really started yet. We were sitting on piles of data that nobody had figured out what to do with or how to manage just because there was so much of it. What I was able to do was develop different ways of making that data usable. It was an amazing opportunity to be part of an entire field starting to recognize what it could be and the power that good, strong data analysis could [bring].”

26 | November 2013 | www.dmnews.com

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Katie Klumper

“Don’t be

afraid to fail.”

Ingrid Lindberg

“My motto: Have

the patience of

a saint, the heart

of a lion, and the

tenacity of a

street fighter.”

Mike Lund

“‘Quietly kick ass,’

which goes back

to high school

years, as a fresh-

man shooting

guard trying out

for the varsity

basketball team.”

Kira Marchenese

“It’s just us.”

Good read: Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug. “It’s a completely honest but positive look at how little people care about what you do.” Good advice: “Respect and understand the people that you’re trying to connect with. That outlasts any technology or channel expertise you might develop.”

Marisa Nelson, Email Channel Manager, U.S. BankWinning Ways: Nelson is an email marketing expert. She sourced nearly one million email names from within U.S. Bank’s systems to fill the bank’s database,

and increased the number of emails sent by U.S. Bank Retail Payment Solutions from 1 million to 6 million in 2012. By launching a trigger-based, automated approach to delivering relevant, timely emails, her efforts increased click-throughs, open rates, and cross-selling results. Defining Moment: “My first job out of college. It was a startup marketing agency...I was actually their first hire. I went to my first client on my second day of business, and it was a rollercoaster and excitement from there. I had so many opportunities and so much respon-sibility. I don’t think I ever would have gotten that had I not had that small startup agency life. It allowed me to touch so many different types of marketing.”Good read: Strengths Finder by Tom Rath. “Not only did it help me understand where I excel and what things I should leverage in my personality, but it helps you un-derstand other people and what their strengths are.”Good advice: “Don’t underestimate the power of data and or understanding the technical components of your job.”

Matt olson, Director, Marketing & Customer Analytics, AvivaWinning Ways: Olson’s work has set the bar high for the life insurance indus-try. He led Aviva’s analytics team in cre-

ating a suite of predictive models that drive fact-based decisions on customer retention, customer experience, customer valuation, and marketing campaigns. Under his guidance, Aviva launched a data-driven, customer-driven approach to marketing that’s driving a competi-tive advantage. In fact, last year Aviva USA had one of its best years ever.Defining moment: “Transitioning from my initial job out of college to my second job. It was moving from a cush risk analytics position to an advertising agency, which provided me exposure to a much broader set of industries, a much more complex type of application of marketing, and using analytics in marketing applica-tions. It really broadened my horizons to understand, outside of the financial industry, what kind of applica-tions there are for analytics and for marketing.”Good read: Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning by Thomas Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris. “It helped me understand the best way to develop an

analytical capability not only for marketing, but for an entire organization in general.”Good advice: “Reach out to understand the data world, how data can improve your decision making, and how you can use data to better identify the targeted cus-tomers that you want to market to.”

William Peterson, Email Marketing Manager, U.S. BankWinning Ways: Peterson knows how to balance the art and sciences of email marketing. His data-driven approach helps U.S. Bank deliver triggered, tai-

lored emails based on customers’ behavior to establish customer loyalty, and to ensure that the relationships be-tween the customers and the bank remain positive. He also headed U.S. Bank’s transition to a new email execu-tion platform and was able to seamlessly maintain har-mony across about 20 business sub-lines. Peterson works diligently to ensure that companywide and individual unit goals are met. Defining Moment: “You always need to start some-where. For me, that was as a direct mail buyer. When an opportunity to work as an email program manager was offered to me, I accepted the challenge of learning the email craft. Now, more than six years later, I'm helping to lead the email team at U.S. Bank. I continue to focus on streamlining our process, bringing new opportuni-ties to our sales team, and partnering across channels to optimize the email experience for our customers.” Good read: The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. “[Gladwell] focuses on mechanisms by which trends take hold. Understanding the mechanisms has helped me to focus on who we target and how we talk to them.” Good advice: “Never waste an opportunity to build a closer relationship with your key stakeholders.”

tom Pettus, VP, Creative Director, INNOCEAN USAWinning Ways: At INNOCEAN USA, Pettus has delivered award-winning campaigns for clients as diverse as Hyun-dai, Nike, and Best Buy. At Hyundai, for

instance, Pettus’s integrated campaign, which enhanced the site for the Elantra car with a virtual test drive ani-mation, garnered more than 910,000 virtual test drives in less than six months and helped the Hyundai Elantra surpass Hyundai’s perennial sales leader, the Sonata.Defining moment: When Pettus arrived at R/GA in 2003, most of his experience had been on the traditional side of marketing. He’d done print and radio at agencies like Deutsch and McCann Erickson. But at R/GA, Pettus found himself dropped into a group working on new Nike business. “I started getting a digital grad school educa-tion by virtue of where I was seated,” Pettus says. “That’s where I transitioned into the work I’m doing now.” Good read: Pettus reads mostly blogs, like Read-WriteWeb, TechCrunch, and Mashable. Good advice: “Don’t think just within your medium.”

www.dmnews.com | November 2013 | 27

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Marisa Nelson

“Nothing can stop

a person with the

right mental atti-

tude from achiev-

ing his or her goal.

Nothing on earth

can help a person

with the wrong

mental attitude.”

–Thomas Jefferson

Matt Olson

“If you can prove

it, then you know

you’re doing the

right thing.”

William Peterson

“Live the

dream, one email

at a time.”

Tom Pettus

“If you’re not

curious and open-

ing up new apps

and technologies

as they come

online, this isn’t

the place for you

to be.”

–Alex Bogusky

slavi samardzija, Chief Analytics Officer, WundermanWinning ways: The data insight tools and best practices Samardzija created at Wunderman are now used by global brands like Nokia, Citigroup, Kimberly-

Clark, Coca-Cola, and IBM. Within the company he has led, mentored, and managed large teams of marketing strategists, data analysts, and advanced level statisticians.Defining moment: Samardzija grew up in the for-mer Yugoslavia, where he attended a school specializing in math. When he moved to the U.S. to further his edu-cation, he felt he should study business since he could easily get an engineering degree in his home country. One year into studying marketing, however, Samardzija realized that there was a significant intersection between numbers and business in market research. “I went into business to get into other areas but quickly found that market research was a perfect fit,” he says, “and that grew into direct marketing, where I’ve been the last 15 or 16 years.”Good read: Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome’s Great-est Politician by Anthony Everitt. “It’s just fascinating to read about their system of government and interactions among the senators and the politics and the interperson-al relationships that existed at that time.”Good advice: “It’s critical to seek out mentors early on.”

Jodie sangster, CEO, Association for Data-Driven Marketing & AdvertisingWinning ways: Jodie Sangster is a direct marketing powerhouse. Not only does she sit at the helm of the ADMA,

Asia-Pacific’s largest marketing association—a role she took on at just 35—she’s chair of the International Federa-tion of DMAs, which spans more than 30 countries. She recently developed Australia’s first CMO network and helped to establish a DMA in Saudi Arabia. A trained lawyer in three countries, Sangster has served as both the chief privacy and compliance office at Acxiom Asia Pacific and as SVP of education and global development for the DMA in Washington, D.C. Defining moment: “Going to work in the United States. I went from being a lawyer in Europe and Aus-tralia into a much broader business role that included a global remit and a wide marketing perspective. I loved being a lawyer, but found myself more inspired by the business world. Because of this opportunity, I felt ready to take on my first CEO role.”Good read: “I’m not a big fan of business books, al-though I have read a few in my time. Too many give advice without context. But one of my staff loaned me Douglas Rushkoff’s Present Shock: When Everything Hap-pens Now, which examines anxiety about living in a con-tinuous ‘now’ world enabled by the pings of email, social media, and technology. It’s fascinating and disturbing.”Good advice: “Take every opportunity that presents itself—no experiences are ever wasted.”

stephanie scheele, Senior Director, Marketing Insights and Services, Vera BradleyWinning Ways: For Scheele, integrat-ed marketing is always in style. During her 11-year tenure at Vera Bradley, she

led the consolidation of the company’s customer data-base, which allowed the company to move from one-size-fits-all messaging to tailored communications. She also played a major role in the launch of Vera Bradley Japan. Defining Moment: “In the recent past our VP of marketing left Vera Bradley to take a position with an-other company. His departure left me in a position to as-sume several roles. That situation, while initially viewed as a problem, turned out to be a great opportunity for me. I was given the opportunity to take on additional responsibilities, manage more people, and make more decisions for the marketing department at Vera Bradley. The situation, while challenging, provided an opportu-nity for growth and gave me additional confidence in my ability as a leader.” Good read: “The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. It revealed how happiness actually fuels success and per-formance, not the other way around.” Good advice: “No job is too little, regardless of your title.”

Jason siegel, Partner and Creative Director, BluetextWinning ways: In the grand tradition of young, driven entrepreneurs, Siegel founded his first digital agency, Internet Gravity, in his dorm room. Soon after (in

1998) he took home Yahoo’s College Web Designer of the Year award, and he hasn’t slowed down since. After selling Internet Gravity—which under Siegel’s leadership grew into a top 20 agency in the greater Washington, D.C. area—to global PR agency Qorvis, Siegel stayed busy, developing award-winning apps and still finding the time to found marketing software company UFol-lowUp in 2002. Not one to let moss grow, Siegel started integrated communications agency Bluetext in 2011 and sold UFollowUp to Lasso CRM in 2012. Today Bluetext is a multimillion-dollar company with top-tier clients, in-cluding Google and Cisco.Defining moment: “I had the opportunity to de-sign a mobile app for the 2008 inauguration of President Obama, creating a groundbreaking experience that provided information to more than a million attendees and conducted nationwide interactive surveys. The app resulted in both a Webby and widespread media recog-nition, including being interviewed on ABC News with Charles Gibson.”Good read: “Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. I strongly believe in learning from others’ mistakes and this book is a great set of lessons on how to overcome those mistakes.”Good advice: “The most important skill is to think. Don’t simply push paper—be creative. That will take you higher and farther than anything else.”

Slavi Samardzija

“There’s always

a way to do

things better.”

Jodie Sangster

“My personal

motto is, ‘Anything

is possible.’”

Stephanie Scheele

“Right or wrong,

never in doubt.”

Jason Siegel

“Pigs get fat, hogs

get slaughtered.”

28 | November 2013 | www.dmnews.com

40 UNDer 40

Loni stark, Director, Product & Industry Marketing, Adobe SystemsWinning Ways: Stark has never let her job define or limit what she can do. From engineering to product manage-

ment to marketing at Adobe and to cofounding Stark Insider—a technology, theater, wine, and food website—there’s no stopping her. Stark’s “can do” attitude helped her spearhead the launch of Adobe Experience Manag-er, which is number one in market share worldwide for web content management.Defining moment: “It was in a parking lot in San Jose one morning when I just started at Adobe. I had just had a setback and questioned my ability to achieve what I wanted. I paced around because I always think better when I’m moving. I had an epiphany. I realized that what I thought didn’t actually matter. If I questioned whether I was good enough, how could I ever convince someone else to give me a chance at something more? I vowed to never be the one to limit my own potential from self-doubt. I would shoot for the moon and let the world try to tell me otherwise.” Good read: “Crossing the Chasm [by Geoffrey Moore] is the book that has been most inf luential in how I think about the adoption of technology in business and creativity.” Good advice: “Always strive to understand the ‘why’ behind what you’re trying to accomplish, then constantly innovate and question how things ‘have al-ways’ been done.”

Mason thelen, Founding Partner and Owner, ElicitWinning Ways: Thelen is a master of customer-centricity, loyalty marketing, and analytics and segmentation—and he’s got the clientele to prove it. He’s devel-

oped loyalty and relationship marketing programs for the likes of Home Depot, NASCAR, and Pepsico.Defining moment: “[A successful career] is the sum-mation of the great colleagues, friends, mentors, com-petitors, and business partners [a person] has worked with who have given opportunities to grow, share, and build together.”Good read: How We Decide and Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer. “Lehrer, unintentionally, taught an important lesson this past year when he effectively killed his brilliant young career by making up a quote supposedly attributed to Bob Dylan....We can be bril-liant and do amazing work, but we are only as good as our word, we have to respect facts, and personal integ-rity can never be sacrificed.”Good advice: Thelen cites five key tenets to drive your career:• You are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with. • Honesty, loyalty, and respect should drive every decision you make.

• Over-preparedness is the secret ingredient to real success.• Get the facts; marketers have lived too long in an era of heuristics, self-created belief systems, and gut feel.• Find a way to work, partner, and challenge your universe of clients, partners, and competitors in a constructive and mutually beneficial way.

Gene turner, SVP, Managing Partner, Horizon Media Winning ways: Turner was under 30 when he arrived at Horizon Media to build a direct business. Less than a decade later the company’s direct mar-

keting division, headed by Turner, has 40 clients and is Horizon’s largest and most profitable unit, with billings of $550 million. Turner put together a cross-functional team conversant in digital marketing and brand devel-opment and built the unit on a “strategy first” platform that has attracted such clients as DISH Network, Geico, and Weight Watchers. In the past year alone Horizon’s direct division scored a dozen new client wins adding up to $300 million in billings.Defining moment: “I left Wunderman to join Hori-zon, whose direct marketing discipline was in its infancy, with only one other direct response employee and one cli-ent. I saw this as an incredible opportunity and it’s been rewarding to build my division from the ground up.” Good read: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. “It explains when you should trust your instincts and when to be wary of them, how first impressions matter, and that decisions made quickly can be just as effective as those made more deliberately and cautiously.” Good advice: “Be persistent and tenacious, have a sense of humor, and go above and beyond.”

Mike volpe, CMO, HubSpotWinning ways: Volpe has a knack for getting customers to come to Hubspot. His inbound marketing tactics have grown HubSpot’s marketing reach to in-clude 1.4 million blog views per month

and more than 290,000 Twitter followers. His market-ing leadership has helped the company grow 82% year-over-year in annual revenue. Defining moment: Volpe’s biggest risk was joining HubSpot in 2007, when it only had five employees, no money, and only a handful of customers. Before that, he had a great job as director of marketing at a growing, successful company called SolidWorks, which sold engi-neering software. But as SolidWorks grew Volpe wanted to try something more entrepreneurial. “I believed in [HubSpot] so much—I knew the market was there and if the product was there, if we could solve the problem, then people would buy it,” Volpe recalls. “There was a lot of risk in the execution. But I felt the market would be there.”Good read: The New Rules of Marketing and PR by Da-vid Meerman Scott.

www.dmnews.com | November 2013 | 29

40 UNDer 40

Loni Stark

“To deliver sub-

stance with style,

order matters.”

Mason Thelen

“Do what you said

you would do,

when you said you

would do it, for

what you said it

would cost.”

Gene Turner

“Horizon’s motto

is ‘Business is Per-

sonal’ and it really

does resonate with

the way I do busi-

ness. I emphasize

to our team that

our clients’ suc-

cesses should be

our successes and

their pain points

should be our

pain points.”

Mike Volpe

“Buyers don’t

wake up in the

morning and say,

‘I want to see

some ads.’ So why

do marketers wake

up and say, ‘Let’s

make some ads?’”

30 | November 2013 | www.dmnews.com

40 UNDer 40

Andrea Wilson

“Do what’s right.

Do your best.

Do unto others.”

Rudy Wilson

“Good, better,

best; never let it

rest ’til the good

gets better

and the better

gets best.”

Mike Woods

“Fail quickly.”

Wacarra Yeomans

“Be firm on things

that matter, fair

with your people,

and always the

first to smile.”

Good advice: “Get to know the buyer and become what they want to consume, rather than interrupting the things they want to consume.”

Andrea Wilson, Director of Digital Strategy, Luxury Practice Lead, iProspectWinning ways: Wilson’s position is proof of her trailblazing ways. iProspect’s Luxe Group didn’t exist until she in-

vented it. Noting how small the marketing budgets were with luxury clients and how little customer intelligence they had at hand, Wilson launched a research project and a whitepaper on affluent shoppers. A new practice was born at the global digital agency. “There are luxe-specific agencies in Europe, but we noticed there was a unique challenge here,” she says. “As an agency, if you don’t know how to speak to luxury consumers the right way, luxury clients are not going to work with you.”Defining moment: “Spearheading our affluent male research has had a significant impact on my own career and the agency. No one was really talking about the male shopper, and our exposure skyrocketed. We got coverage from CNBC and USA Today.” Good read: Outside In: The Power of Putting Custom-ers at the Center of Your Business by Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine.Good advice: “Don’t be afraid to ask ‘Why?’ and expose yourself to everything you possibly can beyond your comfort zone, especially the difficult and the scary. Pushing yourself will help shape your experiences and perception, allowing you to gain confidence and per-spective as you meet new challenges.

rudy Wilson, VP, Brand Management and Advertising, AT&TWinning ways: After 10 years over-seeing digital and direct marketing at Frito-Lay, Wilson took his talents to

AT&T where he oversaw the telco’s “It Can Wait” anti-texting-while-driving campaign. What began as a small effort one year ago has since garnered 1.5 mil-lion pledges to never text and drive, and more than 200 corporate collaborators, including Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile.Defining moment: When working on Doritos for Frito-Lay, Wilson was tasked with turning the brand around in a way that hadn’t been done before. “They gave me enough rope to be risky, but it gave me the con-fidence to do new things,” he says. The result was Crash the Superbowl, an online contest that began in 2006 in which contestants shot their own Doritos commercials. Good read: Wilson makes it a point to read and watch the same materials as his target audience. “It’s to understand their frame of reference,” he says. At Doritos, he zeroed in on MTV and teen magazines. At AT&T, he reads tech blogs. “Marketing is part art and part science,” Wilson says. “That art is a little about gut

and if I didn’t have that frame of reference, it’d be hard to get that gut built up.”Good advice: “There are a lot of people out there with great ideas, but not a lot of people out there who can sell their great ideas.”

Mike Woods, Head of Digital, FramestoreWinning ways: As a founder of Framestore’s Digital Department over a decade ago, Woods identified the impact of the Internet and began creating a con-

tent platform. His success today is best seen through the iconic characters on primetime commercials made pos-sible by the work he pioneered—from GEICO’s Gecko to Coca-Cola’s Polar Bears.Defining moment: Woods’ defining moment came from horsing around at work. In the mid-1990s Woods worked in CGI and post-production on video. However, he’d also use some of his work resources to experiment on his own building websites and making video content years before YouTube and viral videos, putting it online, and trying to understand what people liked to watch. “Silly mash-up things seemed to be the perfect material for online consumption,” he says. “This was the time of the Ally McBeal dancing baby.”Good read: Woods has been reading the long-out-of-print British author Patrick Hamilton, whose books were steeped in working-class British life lurching in and out of pubs. Good advice: “Soak up as many influences in the field as you can.”

Wacarra yeomans, Director, Creative Services, ResponsysWinning ways: At only 30 years of age, Yeomans manages 70 Responsys team members and nearly 150 clients. She developed Responsys’ content strat-

egy offering, and in mobile email convinced 40 custom-ers to embrace responsive design. One leading outdoor gear and apparel retailer saw a 40% increase in mobile opens as a result. Defining moment: A few years ago, when Yeo-mans worked at a small agency that was eventually acquired by Responsys, she realized mid-presentation that the client already knew most of what she was talk-ing about. “Having a less awesome moment in your ca-reer makes you think about what you could have done better,” she says. The experience pushed her to look at ways to get in front of problems clients have, to antici-pate their needs so she can preemptively start working on a solution.Good read: The Art of Explanation: Making your Ideas, Products, and Services Easier to Understand by Lee LeFever.Good advice: “At its core, digital marketing is all about what the customer wants and the best way to suc-ceed is to make sure the marketing decisions you’re mak-ing will benefit your consumer.” n