Merkle (www.merkle.com), the nation's fastest growing customer relationship marketing (CRM) agency, has named Paul Evers as Vice President and Client Group Leader and Sandra Swindle as Sr. Director, Technology Solutions, both within the company's Retail Banking and Consumer Finance Group.

With over 50% sustained growth in the retail banking sector for the past two years, Merkle is expanding its leadership team to support client development and continued market expansion. Both hires support Merkle's focus on the evolution of the retail banking and consumer finance market from product-focused marketing to customer-driven business strategy. Evers leads a group of key client relationships, supporting their core database marketing and CRM programs. He is responbile for the integrated delivery of Merkle services and the attainment of program business goals. Swindle is the industry technology solutions lead. She is responsbile for defining, implementing and supporting the enabling technology behind customer marketing and engagement initiatives across online and offline channels and media.

"Significant market and regulatory pressures have accelerated innovations in this sector, and the shift toward customer-driven marketing and customer portfolio optimization is sweeping the industry. Merkle's strong CRM heritage resonates with this market, driving accelerated growth and innovation with our retail bank partners," said Will Bordelon, Vice President and General Manager of Merkle's Retail Banking and Consumer Finance Group. "Through Paul and Sandra, we're adding scale to our client leadership team and placing increased focus on applying technology to the changing requirements of customer engagement in retail banking."

Evers brings more than 15 years of agency and client-side experience in database and CRM. Most recently, he spent three years with Rosetta, as an Associate Partner leading their relationship marketing services group. He previously held CRM and interactive consulting positions with Ernst & Young and Diamond Management & Technology Consultants as well as roles with Cendant and Wyndham Hotel Group, leading database marketing, analytics and interactive marketing. Evers holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Swindle joins Merkle after 10 years with Acxiom, where she honed her expertise in decision support, solution architecture, technical consulting and solution infrastructure management. Most recently, she was a technology client leader with P&L responsibility for several top 10 financial services clients. Priot to this role, she was a technical executive, responsible for overseeing all aspects of solution architecture, sales support, security standards, and client audits. She holds a BA in Computer Information Systems from University of Arkansas at Little Rock.