Steve leads Merkle’s Management Consulting Group and is a member of our Executive Committee.

As a practitioner, Steve is focused on driving client value by embedding advanced customer insight into client customer strategies, marketing and customer operations. He is typically engaged in enterprise transformation projects that include reinventing multi-channel customer experiences and transforming the client organization to deliver the target experience. Steve has deep experience in insurance, healthcare payer and retail industries. He has been published extensively on the topics of CRM and business analytics, most recently in the CNBC guest blog and MIT’s Sloan Management Review.

Steve joined Merkle in January 2011 with 25 years' experience in direct marketing and strategy consulting. He spent over 15 years at PwC Consulting/IBM Global Business Services, where during his tenure he held global strategy leadership roles in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Business Analytics and Optimization (BAO) practices. Prior to that, he was a consultant at A.T. Kearney and manager at Chadwicks of Boston.

Steve holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School of Business, focused on entrepreneurship and management as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School, focused in general management and strategy.

Prior to joining Merkle in 2010, Margie served as the EVP of Strategic Services at Wunderman, where she oversaw the CRM strategy, account planning and analytics practices, working with clients such as CVS/Caremark, Nokia and Abbott Nutrition. Before Wunderman, Margie led the strategy practice at Razorfish for nearly 10 years, serving such major brands as Capital One, Staples and general mills. Margie began her career in general advertising at agencies including JWT and Y&R, followed by management positions in several direct marketing agencies, and as marketing manager for Microsoft’s MSN.

She is a frequent speaker on various customer relationship marketing topics at industry events, and has been published on the topic of customer strategy in several trade publications.

She holds an MBA in Marketing and an MS in Information Systems from University of Maryland and a BA in Sociology and Statistics from Columbia College in New York City.

Bill joined Merkle in 2003 and is charged with  bringing together data, analytics, and technology to enable marketing performance. He has significant experience in marketing analytics, creating solutions for clients that drive targeting, insights, and measurement. His experiences also include the processes and technology that drive marketing; including data warehousing and campaign management (strategy, process, environment, tools). 

Brian has over twenty-five years of strategy consulting and marketing experience across a variety of industries, including retail, hospitality, consumer and industrial goods, electronics & high tech, communications, automotive, resources, nonprofit, and publishing. He has particular expertise in developing customer relationship management (CRM) strategy, customer strategy, customer experience, customer insight, direct marketing, relationship and loyalty marketing solutions, and defining database business requirements. 

Prior to joining Merkle, Brian was the managing partner of Customer Imperatives Group, a Minneapolis-based provider of customer-focused solutions for companies seeking to better understand and interact with their customers. Brian also spent nine years with Accenture, where he was the global lead for Accenture’s CRM Strategy & Roadmap market offering. In this role, Brian and his team collaborated with clients across industries to identify, prioritize, and plan CRM investments based on business and consumer strategies.

Brian also has experience in trade marketing in the food and retail industries, and was a product manager at General Mills in the U.S. and Canada. Brian has frequently spoken at CRM events and conferences, and has published numerous articles on CRM and customer strategy. Brian has an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College, and a BA from Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut.

Marc brings a wealth of cross-industry experience, and deep expertise in strategy, marketing, and technology to Merkle. Most recently, Marc was a partner at Peppers & Rogers Group, leading the management consulting firm’s healthcare practice, and driving the latest innovations in customer-based business strategy. In this capacity, Marc’s work focused on the health insurance, life sciences, and healthcare delivery verticals. Marc also co-led the strategy consulting business for the North America region, delivering marketing strategy consulting to marketing leaders like T-Mobile USA and Microsoft and automotive giants including Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Volvo and Aston Martin. 

Marc began his business career with McKinsey & Company, and has also served as a senior executive, on the client side, with two Atlanta-based public companies: John H. Harland, now an MF Global company, and ChoicePoint Inc., now a Lexis-Nexis company. His responsibilities included Strategy, Marketing, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Communications, Sales Support, Product Development, and Product Management.

Marc holds an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia where he was a Shermet scholar, Hyde Fellow, and Raven Award winner. His emphasis in Strategy and Marketing provided the foundation for his thesis, Consumer Adoption Behavior and the Diffusion of Innovations. Marc also received a B.S. in Computer Science from the United States Naval Academy, where he rowed on the top-ranked heavyweight crew team, and participated in trials for the US Pan-Am Games Team as well as the US Olympic Festival.

Leah is a versatile leader with a passion for excellence and actionable, insight-driven initiatives rooted in a sound marketing strategy. By orchestrating data, processes, technology, and analytics, she delivers measurable marketing results. With Merkle, Leah has delivered Integrated Customer Marketing solutions comprised of segmentation, marketing mix optimization, and executive dash boarding to transform client decisioning. In her six years with Merkle, Leah has also led marketing services efforts comprised of database marketing, campaign management, and reporting. Her consulting  efforts have also included customer journey mapping, cross channel integration, CRM capability assessments and capability road mapping.

Prior to joining Merkle, Leah spent five years at Accenture in the CRM practice, where she focused on capability design, process and organization design, and program management. She has also held market research and online marketing positions. Her experience spans multiple industries, including cable/satellite, insurance, telecommunications, and travel and entertainment. Leah holds a BA and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

As the General Manager of Merkle’s Data Solutions Group, Ozgur oversees the delivery of analytically driven data sourcing and optimization solutions for Merkle’s clients. Ozgur has 14 years of experience in building, implementing and integrating database marketing solutions for many Fortune 500 clients. Ozgur’s CRM experience stretches across many functional areas such as strategy, analytics, infrastructure, data content and many clients, including Capital One, DIRECTV, T Rowe Price, Glaxo Smith Kline, Procter & Gamble and 21st Century.

Ozgur is the recipient of multiple awards within Merkle, including the Exceptional Client, Operational Excellence, Database Marketing Excellence and most recently the Chairman’s Award, which is the highest recognition within Merkle. Ozgur has spoken at various Predictive Analytics and Database Marketing Events globally. Ozgur holds a B.S degree in industrial engineering and an MBA degree with a focus on marketing and management information systems from the University of Georgia.

Shambho leads the solution architecture group and oversees delivery of CRM solutions across all verticals. His team provides thought leadership and innovation in designing and architecting marketing solutions for Merkle clients. His team is also responsible for establishing design principles and architectural standards to help deploy seamless CRM solutions. Shambho has 20 years of experience in product development, consulting and CRM, including 15 years delivering batch and real-time CRM solutions for clients such as US Mint, Credit Suisse, Hasbro, Starwood Hotels, Toys R Us, RadioShack, T.J.Maxx, and PetSmart. He has been with Merkle since January of 2010. Previously, he was VP, Principal Architect at Harte-Hanks. Shambho has an undergraduate degree in Applied Sciences and a master’s degree in Computer Applications.

Scott has over 10 years of experience in developing and implementing analytical solutions to marketing programs for many different companies, including GEICO, AEGON, MBNA, Fidelity, DirectTV, Eli Lilly, GSK, and Dell. Prior to joining Merkle, Scott worked for American Express as a statistician and modeler and taught graduate students statistical methods and experimental design at Cornell University. Scott has dual BS degrees in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Statistics from The University of Rochester, a MS degree in statistics from Cornell University, and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.

Ron is vice president of Merkle’s Analytic Practice, which serves over 50 world-class clients with over 180 dedicated analytic professionals. Ron has more than 18 years of experience in customer and marketing analytics. He is responsible for driving Merkle’s overall value proposition of creating sustainable competitive advantage through the discipline of driving fact-based decision making with analytic methodologies. Merkle Analytics is organized by industry practice, with a senior analytic lead for each major vertical. That industry focus is complemented with dedicated practices comprised of marketing mix specialists, digital analytics experts, statisticians and marketing analysts both in the US and in our Global Delivery Center in Shanghai, China. Ron has led key engagements with clients like Walmart, Nike, Regions, Urban Outfitters and Dell. He has helped clients better define a CRM strategy internally to improve their marketing results through better targeting and through defined processes and methodical approaches to their marketing campaigns. Prior to joining Merkle, Ron has held positions at Hostway, a leading web hosting company for small businesses, InfoWorks, a member of Rapp Collins Worldwide, and Market Knowledge, now part of Equifax. Ron holds an MS in Applied Math from DePaul University and a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago.

Peter Vandre heads up Merkle’s digital analytics practice and is the solution leader for Merkle’s digital data integration product. During his career at Merkle, he has led analytical engagements with such clients as Dell, Samsung, NIKE, DIRECTV, GEICO, Urban Outfitters, Disney, and others. He has extensive experience in CRM strategy and measurement and has recently been recognized for his work in customer engagement modeling and integrated measurement. Peter has spent the last 6+ years at Merkle and has more than 12 years of consulting, analytics, and strategic marketing experience. He earned an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.