Merkle (www.merkle.com), a leading customer relationship marketing (CRM) firm and the nation’s largest privately-held agency, today released its second quarter and first half of 2013 results, highlighting significant growth across the entire business. These results showcase Merkle’s sustained growth, outpacing competitors as a leader in the delivery of world-class CRM solutions for its clients.

In the first half of 2013, Merkle’s net revenue was 20% higher than the same period in 2012, with corresponding EBITDA growth of 76%.  The company’s top-25 accounts experienced a 35% increase over the first 6 months of last year. In the second quarter analysis, Merkle posted a 27% growth rate for net revenue, with organic growth of 23% and EBITDA growth of 119%. The company’s vertical industry focus across the enterprise has proven to be a core differentiator in the market. Revenue performance across Merkle’s leading four vertical markets (insurance and wealth management, retail consumer goods, financial services, and technology/B2B) experienced year-over-year growth rates in excess of 30%.

Over the past two years, Merkle has invested heavily in the advancement of its digital capabilities. These investments are paying dividends, with year-over-year net revenue growth of 78% for the first half of the year. This growth makes Merkle’s digital services group the second largest driver of revenue, after its technology business. Another key driver of Merkle’s success is the momentum of its consulting business, which works with clients to build customer strategies through its proprietary Connected CRM™ approach to identifying, serving and retaining customers, based on their value to the organization. Connected CRM™ utilizes orchestrated customer interactions that improve financial results, create competitive advantage, and drive shareholder value.

Several achievements stood out in the first half of 2013, which also drove growth in the business, including:

• The ongoing expansion into global markets, including the addition of a new global delivery center in Nanjing, China
• The successful launch of the company’s first published book, which was written by analysts, for analysts, entitled “It Only Looks Like Magic; The Power of Big Data and Customer-Centric Digital Analytics”
• The release of a comprehensive report and webinar, entitled “Customer-Centric Transformation,” written by Steve LaValle, Partner and EVP for Merkle’s Management Consulting Group and based on a recent research study on how large U.S. organizations drive value using CRM
• The success of Merkle’s 10^th Anniversary CRM Executive Summit, where more than 300 marketing executives came together for three days of learning, networking and activities
• The launch of Merkle’s 2013 Marketing Imperatives, along with a three-part webinar series, led by Merkle thought leaders, which studied best practices around Creating Your Customer Currencies; Building Your cCRM Technology Platform; and Demonstrating the Business Impact of cCRM

Merkle’s sound performance and strong leadership position builds a great foundation for delivering significant growth through the second half of 2013.

“I am a firm believer in the idea that momentum breeds momentum. It’s not in Merkle’s DNA to view times of strong growth as a chance to sit back, relax and bask in our success,” said Merkle chairman and CEO, David Williams. “On the contrary; we see it as a chance to seize the moment and propagate the positive movement we are creating with our growing team of market-leading talent serving world-class brands. Sustained focus will be placed on developing Connected CRM solutions that meet the increasing demand for our consulting, technology, analytics and digital media that create competitive advantage for our clients.”