Merkle Appoints Sandeep Kharidhi as Analytics Leader

Sandeep Kharidhi Joins Quantitative Solutions Group as Analytics Leader

COLUMBIA, Md. -- Merkle (www.merkleinc.com), one of the nation's largest and fastest growing customer relationship marketing agencies, today announced the addition of Sandeep Kharidhi to its Quantitative Solutions Group, which provides leading organizations with analytical insight and strategy that drives highly targeted and measurable marketing programs. As Analytics Practice Leader, Insurance and Wealth Management, Kharidhi will oversee data analytics and marketing strategy for clients in the insurance and wealth management vertical.

Sandeep Kharidhi joins Merkle with more than 12 years of experience within the insurance and financial services industries. Prior to Merkle, he was with Acxiom and ChoicePoint, where he led analytics and strategy teams. Earlier, Kharidhi was responsible for home equity and mortgage customer acquisition initiatives at Wachovia Bank. His background includes overseeing programs involving direct-to-consumer and distributed marketing, customer acquisition and retention, and marketing universe expansion. Sandeep is a frequent speaker at industry events and has contributed to several articles and papers related to insight and targeting.

Kharidhi will lead a team that oversees the delivery of comprehensive solutions centered aroundIntegrated Customer Marketing,^TM Merkle's optimization framework for actively managing customer and prospect interactions across sales, marketing and services throughout the customer lifecycle. Within the insurance and finance verticals, Merkle's approach helps marketers by creating a true 360-degree view of their entire membership and customer portfolio. With this powerful insight, marketers can continuously engage their current customers and prospects using multi-channel strategies.

John Lee, Vice President and Client Team Leader, Insurance and Wealth Management Vertical, said, "We are thrilled to welcome Sandeep Kharidhi to the Merkle team. Within the insurance and wealth management vertical, Sandeep's experience spans property and casualty as well as life and health insurance, in addition to his extensive knowledge of the financial services industry as a whole. Merkle has long set itself apart by providing what we believe to be the strongest marketing analytics talent in the industry today. Sandeep's ability and talent will help us continue to raise the bar and create competitive advantage for our clients."

Merkle's Quantitative Solutions Group employs over 100 professionals with Masters degrees and PhDs in statistics, math, economics and related quantitative fields. The group provides vital marketing data and insight to drive Integrated Customer Marketing^TM programs for clients within industries that include financial services, retail, telecom and media, travel and entertainment, consumer products and nonprofit.

About Merkle

Merkle is one of the nation's largest and fastest growing customer relationship marketing agencies. For more than 20 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. By combining a complete range of marketing, technical, analytical and creative disciplines, Merkle works with clients to design, execute and evaluate Integrated Customer Marketing^TM programs. With more than 1,000 employees, the privately held corporation is headquartered near Baltimore in Columbia, Maryland with additional offices in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Little Rock, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle and Hagerstown, Md. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-Merkle or visit www.merkleinc.com.