Merkle (www.merkle.com), a leading technology-enabled, data-driven customer relationship marketing (CRM) firm and the nation’s largest privately held agency, announces the appointment of Paul Schottmiller to senior vice president of strategy for Merkle’s Retail and Consumer Goods practice. In this role, Schottmiller will focus on developing Merkle’s strategic vision and innovative solutions for delivering the unique Connected CRM (cCRM)® services to companies across the retail and consumer goods value chain.

“Merkle’s rapid growth trajectory, as well as its unique and innovative approach for creating next generation CRM, set it apart from its competitors,” said Schottmiller. “I am excited to join the Merkle team, delivering customer-centric solutions that create competitive advantage for our retail and consumer goods clients along with value for today’s omnichannel consumer.”

Schottmiller is a seasoned executive with more than 20 years of experience working directly with leading retail and consumer goods companies to drive growth and profitability. Prior to joining Merkle, he spent more than nine years with Cisco Systems, a worldwide leader in IT, most recently as the managing director of the Global Retail and Consumer Goods consulting practice.  Additionally Schottmiller led consulting engagements for Walmart and was the chief insights officer/founder of Cisco’s FastRetail big data analytics platform. Prior to Cisco Systems, he spent over 15 years at Kurt Salmon Associates (KSA) where he was the senior principal in the Retail and Technology Innovation practice.

“Paul’s extensive knowledge of the retail and CRM industries, as well as his background in professional services, make him a perfect fit to further develop strategic and successful relationships with our clients,” said Mike Mojica, SVP and GM for Merkle’s Retail and Consumer Goods practice. “Paul will be an asset to Merkle as we continue to enable retailers to drive growth by making smarter business decisions and using customer insights more effectively.”