DMA Financial Services Council to Honor Wes Protheroe and Wells Fargo Consumer Credit Group

March 20, 2007 — The Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Financial Services Council will honor Wesley D. Protheroe, president & CEO of Gerber Life Insurance Company, and Wells Fargo Consumer Credit Group with its “Direct Marketer of the Year Award” and “Company of the Year Award,” respectively. The two awards will be presented at the DMA Financial Services Conference taking place March 25 – 27 at the Don CeSar Beach Resort in St. Petersburg, FL.

The 2007 DMA Financial Services Direct Marketer of the Year Award

Wesley D. Protheroe, President & CEO, Gerber Life Insurance Company

Wes Protheroe is president & CEO of Gerber Life Insurance Company, an affiliate of Gerber Baby Foods and subsidiary of Novartis Corporation. Gerber Life, the world’s largest juvenile life insurance company, and a leading insurance direct marketer, has enjoyed a growth rate of 60 percent in the five years Protheroe has been at the helm.

Under Protheroe’s leadership, Gerber Life is undergoing a transition from juvenile life specialist to family insurance provider. This repositioning has included new DRTV, direct mail, insert, and Internet advertising, as well as improved adult life insurance products; a loyalty/retention marketing program, and new affinity partnerships and distribution channels. In 2005, the DMA Financial Services Council recognized Gerber Life as its “Company of the Year.”

Protheroe has served as SVP and chief marketing officer at Great American Insurance, a multi-channel auto and home insurance carrier, and subsidiary of American Financial Group. He has also held positions as vice president of Marketing at ADVO, where he led the successful launch of ADVO’s first consumer marketing program. He was director of new products at Pizza Hut, where he launched Veggie Lover’s and Cheese Lover’s specialty pizzas, and has also served as brand manager for Procter & Gamble, where he led a team to develop and launch P&G’s “Ultra” line of concentrated detergents.

Protheroe holds an MBA in marketing from Columbia University, where he was a Beta Gamma Sigma scholar, and graduated magna cum laude from Wesleyan University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. His professional distinctions include a Gold Effie Award, a US Package Design patent, and a Georgia State University Max Award for new product innovation. He also serves on the Gerber Products and Direct Marketing Association boards, as well as the LICONY Advisory Council.

The 2007 DMA Financial Services Direct Marketer of the Year Award

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo’s Consumer Credit Group, a leading provider of home equity, personal credit, and education finance, is a business division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is a part of Wells Fargo & Company, a diversified financial services company with $482 billion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer finance through more than 6,000 stores and the Internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and internationally. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. holds the highest credit rating from both Moody’s Investors Service, “Aaa,” and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, “AAA.”

For More Information

To register for the Financial Services Conference, or for more information, please visit http://www.the-dma.org/conferences/dmafscannual/registration.shtml.

For more information on DMA Special Interest Councils, please visit http://www.the-dma.org/councils

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