Merkle (www.merkle.com), a leading technology-enabled, data-driven performance marketing agency, announced it has received five Stevie® Awards from the 2015 American Business Awards, in a ceremony that took place Monday, June 22, 2015 in Chicago. The American Business Awards is the nation’s premier business awards program and honors organizations of all types and sizes for outstanding performance in the workplace worldwide. Most notably, this is the third consecutive Stevie win for the agency, which also took home awards in 2013 and 2014 for its annual Marketing Imperatives campaign.

Merkle took top honors in the following categories:

• Gold Stevie Award for Best Internal Recognition/Motivational Event: Merkle’s Dream Grant Program
• Silver Stevie Award for Best Internal Recognition/Motivational Event: Merkle’s Annual Awards Program
• Silver Stevie Award for Best Brand Experience Event: Merkle’s 11^th Annual CRM Executive Summit
• Bronze Stevie Award for Marketing Campaign of the Year- Branded Content Campaign of the Year: Merkle’s Connected CRM Book Campaign
• Bronze Stevie Award for Marketing Campaign of the Year – Corporate Reputation/Professional Services: Merkle’s 2014 Marketing Imperatives Campaign

Merkle’s emphasis on the success of its clients is the number one driver of the agency’s thought leadership initiative. The company is determined to share its forward-looking and innovative performance marketing approaches through its own marketing programs.  In 2014, Merkle Chairman & CEO authored the book, Connected CRM: Building a Data-Driven, Customer-Centric Business Strategy, published by Wiley, which represents a blueprint for creating long-lasting, highly profitable customer relationships on a massive, measurable scale.  Also released in 2014 was the third in Merkle’s annual Marketing Imperatives series, which focused on the rise of the Platform Marketer and the new competencies required to be competitive in the age of addressability at scale. It also held its eleventh annual CRM Executive Summit at The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay in California, which focused on the evolution of Connected CRM®, specifically, The Rise of the Platform Marketer: Connected CRM in a Digital World. The sold-out event equipped attendees with the knowledge, tools and strategic approach to build a truly customer-centric business strategy that will result in competitive advantage.

Merkle’s Dream Grant program is open to all employees to chase whatever kind of experiences they desire – fun, adventurous, philanthropic, introspective, athletic, whatever they can dream up. The program includes grants for individuals and teams, and can even include clients. The quarterly Dream Grant program fosters inspiration and ideas from our employees and thrives on the joy and excitement that the grants generate. Recipients experience new adventures, develop bonds with colleagues, both inside and outside the company, and give back to their communities in ways they may not have been able to on their own. The Merkle Annual Awards were designed 14 years ago to recognize and celebrate the amazing talent at Merkle. More than two dozen award categories range from Rookie of the Year, celebrating a great first year at Merkle, to the Chairman’s Award, which earns the recipient a two-year lease on a BMW. The two-day awards celebration is focused on the employees nominated by their colleagues based on a specific achievement or overall excellence over the past year. Each honoree’s spouse or significant other is also invited to join in the festivities. 

 “We are thrilled to receive this industry recognition for our thought leadership programs and events, as well as our company culture,” said Jeaneen Andrews-Feldman, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Merkle. “We take pride in fostering an environment that is not only rewarding to work in, but that produces cutting-edge thought leadership, putting Merkle in a position to guide top brands through their development of addressable customer experiences.”