THE DMA INDUCTS HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS AND FREDERICK J. SIMON INTO HALL OF FAME

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ORLANDO, OCTOBER 14, 2003 – The Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) Board of Directors today inducted two industry leaders -- Herschell Gordon Lewis (Fort Lauderdale, FL) and Frederick J. Simon (Omaha, NE) -- into The DMA Hall of Fame, the highest professional honor in direct and interactive marketing. Both were formally inducted during a special luncheon at The DMA’s 86^thAnnual Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, FL.

Established in 1978, The DMA Hall of Fame honors direct and interactive marketing professionals’ outstanding career contributions to the practice, growth and stature of the direct and interactive marketing discipline, and now includes 83 honorees.

"These men are true leaders in the direct marketing industry," said H. Robert Wientzen, president & CEO, The DMA. "Their contributions to the theory and practice of direct and interactive marketing have had a profound impact on the industry worldwide."

HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS

A leading authority on direct response copywriting, Herschell Gordon Lewis provided numerous marketers with the rules, formulas, and techniques for writing effective direct marketing copy for traditional and online media.

Lewis is the principal of Lewis Enterprises, a direct response consulting company headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Prior to that he served for 25 years as chairman of the full-service international direct marketing agency Communicomp, a division of True North Diversified Companies.

He began his career in direct marketing after an early career in the movie business where he directed 37 films and produced 22 movies. In the early 1970s, Lewis left the movie business and became a direct-mail consultant. He has since written and marketed more than 20 books on the topic, including copywriting, direct and interactive marketing strategies, selling to the mature market, and public relations. Over the past 17 years he has written columns for numerous industry publications worldwide, including the monthly feature, "Creative Strategies" in 200 consecutive issues of DIRECT. He currently writes "Curmudgeon-at-Large" for DIRECT, "Better Letters" for Selling, and is the copy columnist for Catalog Age. His features regularly appear in such international publications as the U.K.'s Direct Marketing International and Catalogue & Mail Order Business, as well as the Australian magazine Marketing. Together with Ian Kennedy and Jerry Reitman, Lewis also produced the video "100 Greatest Direct Response Television Commercials."

Lewis has actively supported and motivated tomorrow's direct and interactive marketing leaders over the past 22 years by teaching graduate students in the Mass Communications program at Roosevelt University. He frequently speaks at industry events both in the U.S. -- including DMA events -- and abroad, including Brazil, Denmark, England, France, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K. Lewis has also led numerous copywriting workshops and seminars in many countries, including Australia, Belgium, Dubai, Germany, Holland, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mexico, and Switzerland.

FREDERICK J. SIMON

Fred Simon began his career at Omaha Steaks 44 years ago. Under his direction, the company became the nation's largest direct response marketer of gourmet steaks and frozen foods and a leader in all facets of direct marketing, including direct mail, catalogs, telephone marketing, and e-commerce.

Simon began his career at Omaha Steaks in 1959 in the plant, where he learned the various cuts of meat. He worked his way up to become the vice president of sales in 1965, and later led the company's direct marketing division. He currently serves as executive vice president and is a member of the Board of Directors of the combined group of Omaha Steaks companies.

Throughout his career, Simon stressed the importance of the customer. It was his belief that Omaha Steaks should treat its customers like family. He was the innovator of the company's customer service system, including the opening of the inbound call center in 1975 and the installation of a dedicated inbound toll-free customer service line in 1979. He developed Omaha Steaks' "You Must Be Thrilled" policy, which states that if for any reason a customer is not thrilled with products received that the company will refund their money or replace the product without exceptions. This policy helped to establish the credibility of direct marketing by instilling a confidence in the company. In 1976 he opened the first Omaha Steaks retail store. Today the company has more than 70 stores in 14 states.

His pioneering spirit led the way for frozen-food mail-order marketers by developing a polystyrene container that provided shipments with an eight-day in-transit life. He also persuaded United Parcel Service to deliver packages in spite of their perishability.

Simon has shared a wealth of direct marketing knowledge and expertise by frequently speaking at industry conferences and writing for numerous trade journals. He has authored four books -- The Steak Lover's Companion (co-authored with John Harrison), Beef for All Seasons, Let's Grill, and Meat. Simon serves as a mentor to his staff and is an active supporter of the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF), which helps train tomorrow's direct and interactive marketing leaders.

He served as a member of The DMA Board of Directors from 1972 to 1978 and as a Trustee of the DMEF.

Simon is also the recipient of the Edward C. Jones Community Service Award given by the American Meat Institute.

About The DMA Hall of Fame

Each year, The DMA Board of Directors may elect as many as four leaders to The DMA Hall of Fame. The DMA Hall of Fame Committee of Judges makes its selections based on nominations received through the annual Call for Nominations to DMA member companies and the industry at large. This year’s committee of judges was chaired by Richard C. Wolter, former chairman & CEO of The Columbia House Company.

Joining Wolter on the 2003 committee were: Dr. Holger Albers, general manager, DDV-Deutscher Direkmarketing Verband e.v.; Jock Bickert, CEO, Looking Glass, Inc.; Lee Epstein, chairman, Direct Marketing Days Foundation; David Florence, chairman & CEO, Direct Media, Inc.; Alan M. Glazer, president, Alan Glazer Associates LLC; Jim Kobs, president, Kobs Strategic Consulting; Katie Muldoon, president, Muldoon & Baer, Inc.; Jerome W. Pickholz, former principal, Pickholz Tweedy & Company; Stan Rapp, chairman, MMR Partners Worldwide; Jules Silbert, consultant, The Silbert Group; Emily F. Soell, vice chairman, chief creative officer, Draft Worldwide; and John F. Temple, president & CEO, Guideposts. Ex-officio members included Gordon R. Cooke, president & CEO, The J. Jill Group, Inc. and DMA Board Chairman; and H. Robert Wientzen, president & CEO, The DMA.

The DMA is the leading trade association for businesses interested in interactive and database marketing, with nearly 4,700 member companies from the United States and 53 other nations. Founded in 1917, its members include direct marketers from every business segment as well as the nonprofit and electronic marketing sectors. Included are catalogers, Internet retailers and service providers, financial services providers, book and magazine publishers, book and music clubs, retail stores, industrial manufacturers and a host of other vertical segments, including the service industries that support them. According to a DMA-commissioned study, direct and interactive marketing sales in the United States are projected to have surpassed $2 trillion in 2002, including $126 billion in catalog sales and $34 billion in sales generated by the Internet. The DMA's Web site is www.the-dma.org, and its consumer Web site is www.shopthenet.org.

###

RSS Subscription