Shelly Lazarus DMA 2009 Hall of Fame Inductee

Ceremony Set for October 20 During DMA09 in San Diego

New York, NY, July 20, 2009 — The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) today announced that Shelly Lazarus, chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, will be the 2009 DMA Hall of Fame recipient.

“Shelly Lazarus, with a long and impressive roster of domestic and international clients, continues to make her mark on the world,” said John Greco, DMA’s president and chief executive officer. “She is a legendary direct marketing ad-agency powerhouse who consistently delivers winning campaigns and customer experiences that propel brands and loyalty. At the forefront of creating integrated, multimedia advertising campaigns for some of the most iconic brands in the world, Lazarus has single-handedly raised the stature of marketing and whole-heartedly deserves to be a DMA Hall of Famer, one our most prestigious honors.”

Lazarus will be inducted into DMA’s Hall of Fame during a luncheon sponsored by American Airlines on Tuesday, October 20, during the DMA09 Conference & Exhibition, the Global Event for Integrated Marketing, taking place October 17-22 in San Diego, California.

Established in 1978, the DMA Hall of Fame honors direct marketing professionals whose outstanding career contributions have led to the practice, growth, and stature of the direct marketing community. Each year, individuals are chosen to receive this prestigious honor for their accomplishments in marketing to customers, donors, and/or prospects, and for breaking new ground with creative, response techniques, and/or analytic measurement capabilities. A committee of judges reviews each nominee and gives recommendations to the DMA Board of Directors.

Shelly Lazarus

Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

Shelly Lazarus currently serves as chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. Lazarus started at Ogilvy when its legendary founder, David Ogilvy, walked the halls and preached that the purpose of advertising was to build great brands. Working for more than three decades in the business she loves — almost all that time at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide — Lazarus has taken many leadership roles in order to ensure that that essential mission remain the centerpiece of the company’s philosophy, extending across regions and marketing disciplines, and attracting some of the world’s largest and most respected brands.

Rising through the ranks of account service, Lazarus has held positions of increasing responsibility in the management of the company, including president of O&M Direct North America, Ogilvy & Mather New York, Ogilvy North America, chief operating officer, and chief executive officer of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide.

Lazarus’ impressive and distinguished career has won her numerous accolades including being the first woman to receive Columbia Business School’s Distinguished Leader in Business Award. Advertising Women of New York honored her as its Woman of the Year in 2004, she received the Women in Communications Matrix Award in 1995, was named Business Woman of the Year by the New York City Partnership in 1996, as well as Woman of the Year in 2002 by DMA.

Lazarus has appeared in Fortune magazine’s annual ranking of America’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business for ten years since the list’s inception in 1998. She serves on the board of several corporate, philanthropic, and academic institutions such as: General Electric; Merck; New York Presbyterian Hospital; American Museum of Natural History; Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy; World Wildlife Fund; and the Board of Overseers of Columbia Business School, where she received her MBA. She also served five years as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Smith College, her alma mater, and was previously chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies.

Lazarus is currently a member of the Advertising Women of New York; The Committee of 200; Council on Foreign Relations; The Business Council; Women’s Forum, Inc.; and Deloitte & Touche Council for the Advancement of Women.

For photos or further information on Shelly Lazarus or past DMA Hall of Fame inductees, please contact Carmela Uzzi at cuzzi@the-dma.org.

About DMA09 Conference & Exhibition

The DMA09 Annual Conference & Exhibition, the Global Event for Integrated Marketing, is the world’s largest gathering of multichannel marketing professionals. DMA09, which will be held October 17-22 in San Diego, will feature keynote presentations, educational sessions, roundtables, case studies, white papers, and research reports. DMA09’s exhibit hall will feature hundreds of exhibiting companies. For additional information, or to register for the six-day multichannel marketing event of the year, please visit www.dma09.org.

For information about DMA09 exhibition and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Donna LoPorto at 212.790.1468 or dloporto@the-dma.org.

DMA provides complimentary registrations for editorial staff of media outlets covering multichannel direct marketing. To request press registration, please email DMA at pressregistration@the-dma.org. For information about DMA’s requirements for press credentials, please click here.

About the DMA Hall of Fame

DMA’s Hall of Fame honors those who have made outstanding contributions to the practice, growth, and stature of direct marketing. Since it was established in 1978, DMA has honored 96 men and women whose vision and leadership have helped shape today’s data driven, multichannel marketing profession. For more information, including a full list of 1978-2007 honorees, visit www.the-dma.org/awards/hof.

About Direct Marketing Association (DMA)

The Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org) is the leading global trade association of businesses and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques. DMA advocates standards for responsible marketing, promotes relevance as the key to reaching consumers with desirable offers, and provides cutting-edge research, education, and networking opportunities to improve results throughout the end-to-end direct marketing process. Founded in 1917, DMA today represents more than 3,400 companies from dozens of vertical industries in the US and 48 other nations, including half of the Fortune 100 companies, as well as nonprofit organizations.

In 2008, marketers — commercial and nonprofit — spent $176.9 billion on direct marketing, which accounted for 52.1 percent of all ad expenditures in the United States. Measured against total US sales, these advertising expenditures generated approximately $2.057 trillion in incremental sales. Last year, direct marketing accounted for approximately 10 percent of total US gross domestic product. Also, there are today 1.6 million direct marketing employees in the US. Their collective sales efforts directly support 9.3 million other jobs, accounting for a total of 10.9 million US jobs.

The Power of Direct: Relevance. Responsibility. Results.

# # #

RSS Subscription