Merkle (www.merkle.com), a leading customer relationship marketing (CRM) firm and the nation’s largest privately-held agency, announced it will fully integrate its wholly owned subsidiary, CognitiveDATA. With this organizational development, Merkle will reinforce its commitment to providing full-scale, technology-focused CRM solutions for world-class brands that span many industries.

Leading marketing technology firm, CognitiveDATA, was acquired by Merkle in 2009. Since then, the company operated as a wholly owned subsidiary, providing a unique and advanced approach to data accuracy, data processing and data management. Led by president & CEO, Rod Ford, the company was honored by Inc. Magazine and Deloitte Fast 500 for its growth and innovation, and by NCDM for its advancements in data quality technology. Ford and his team will join forces with Merkle’s consulting, data, analytics and creative groups to incorporate its IntelliDRESS, IntelliMERGE and IntelliBASE offerings into the CRM agency solution.  

Over the past several years, Little Rock-based CognitiveDATA has experienced dramatic growth, taking its team from 25 employees to 125. The company built 28 new CRM databases in 2011 alone. The expansion has led the company to increase its office space, moving its operations into the Museum Center in the historic downtown River Market district, overlooking the Arkansas River. The occupied space has the capacity to add approximately 125 additional employees as growth continues in the coming months.

“The combination of CognitiveDATA’s innovative technology and Merkle’s world-class analytics and insights has culminated in the only CRM platform which integrates data from all inbound and outbound marketing touchpoints to give a true 360-degree view of the customer,” said Ford. “This connected CRM platform is the only one of its kind; and with every new brand we serve, the capabilities of this highly intelligent solution continue to improve. It is the summation of years of marketing database experiences, all coded into a single platform. And while our platform is customized for every client we serve, its repeatable foundation creates operating leverage and product discipline for unsurpassed quality and accuracy.”

The well-established CognitiveDATA name will continue to be a differentiating brand for Merkle as a technology enablement source behind “Connected CRM”.