Merkle (www.merkle.com), the nation's fastest growing customer relationship (CRM) agency, today released its summary of the 2011 CRM Executive Summit, held last week in San Diego, CA. The eBook, entitled CRM 2.0: Optimizing Your Customer Portfolio- Presentation Highlights is now available here.

As a continuation of last year's theme of "Customer Strategy as a Business Strategy", this year's "CRM 2.0:Optimizing Your Customer Portfolio" agenda offered forward-thinking perspectives on the future of customer relationship marketing (CRM). The three day event included multiple keynote addresses, breakout sessions and intensives focused on customer centricity and the integration of digital into the media mix.

To support Merkle's focus on consultative, partner-oriented relationships with its clients, the event also included one-on-one guru meetings, where attendees could spend time discussing their unique marketing challenges in private sessions with Merkle thought leaders. More than 100 such meetings were held, with very positive feedback.

A new addition to the 2011 Summit, Merkle held the inaugural Marketing Innovation Awards in partnership with the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council to honor outstanding accomplishments in customer relationship marketing. Also, for the first time, Merkle invited its event sponsors to network with attendees in a special Partnership Showcase, with time and spaces set aside for sponsors to discuss and demonstrate their capabilities to attendees in their own, dedicated booth space.

"The 8th Annual Merkle CRM Executive Summit was a resounding success," stated Craig Dempster, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Merkle. "More than ever, this year's event showcased forward-thinking viewpoints in Integrated Customer Marketing (ICM). Not only did our clients benefit from the thought leadership of our speakers and gurus, but Merkle and our sponsors also benefited from the experiences shared by attendees during interactive discussions and networking sessions.

To learn more about Merkle's CRM Summit, including this year's content, speakers, sponsors and Innovation Awards, as well as the Presentation Highlights eBook, visit the Summit event site.