Larry Kimmel has resigned as CEO of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA)
to join multichannel marketing agency hawkeye,
said DMA chairman of the board Matt Blumberg. Kimmel’s transitioning out begins
immediately. Linda Woolley, DMA’s EVP of Washington operations, will become
acting CEO.
Whether Woolley’s
appointment will be permanent or not is still under consideration, Blumberg
said. “The board of directors felt determining the ongoing management of the
organization following Larry’s sudden resignation would be hasty,” he said. “The board and Linda will be working together closely to determine the best
long-term strategy for the organization, its employees and its members.” Kimmel
will continue to serve the DMA as president emeritus and in a senior advisory
capacity, Blumberg added.
Despite Kimmel’s sudden
departure, Blumberg insisted the DMA’s direction won’t change “other than the
fact that the DMA’s direction has been evolving for several years now.” Blumberg
noted the agency’s advocacy, market education for both interactive and
traditional advertising and the establishment of best practices as key areas
the DMA pursued under Kimmel and will continue to pursue under Woolley.
Blumberg also noted the DMA will continue to concentrate on issues surrounding data
security, consumer privacy and postal reform.
“Additionally, we have
strengthened the organization’s relevancy to interactive marketers through
strategic board appointments of executives from Google, Facebook, eBay and IBM,”
said Blumberg. “We expect all this and more to continue under Linda [Woolley’s]
leadership.”
Kimmel had been CEO of the DMA since summer
2010. He will now work on hawkeye’s strategic growth, the marketing agency
said in a statement.
