DMA FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL HONORS AIG DIRECT MARKETING AND THOMAS KELLY

NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 2, 2004 – The Direct Marketing Association’s (The DMA) Financial Services Council will present AIG Direct Marketing and Thomas Kelly, formerly with New York Life Insurance Company/AARP Life Insurance Operation (Tampa, FL) with its “Co

NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 2, 2004 – The Direct Marketing Association’s (The DMA) Financial Services Council will present AIG Direct Marketing and Thomas Kelly, formerly with New York Life Insurance Company/AARP Life Insurance Operation (Tampa, FL) with its "Company of the Year" and "Executive of the Year" awards, respectively. The recipients will be honored during a luncheon at the Council's 28th Annual Conference, which will be held February 10 at the Don CeSar Beach Resort & Spa in St. Pete Beach, FL.

The 2004 FSC Company of the Year: AIG Direct Marketing

AIG Direct Marketing recruits a new customer every 4.2 seconds a day. Direct marketing plays an important part in its more than 50 operations throughout the world. AIG integrates direct response television, billboards, Internet, direct mail, and telephone with traditional agents and brokers in its largest operations located in the U.S., U.K., Japan, and Southeast Asia. It has one of the widest affinity partner networks in direct marketing, including banks, credit card companies, automobile clubs, teachers unions, professional groups, sports associations, airlines, and travel portals, as well as other insurance companies.

AIG Direct Marketing uses a wide variety of database marketing systems and structures for maximum flexibility and to provide scale platforms for large and small operations. The company segments its 45 million customers to target specific products and services for seniors, women, small businesses, middle market sectors, private clients, and consumers based on payment vehicle, age, and affinity brands, among others.

The DMA Financial Services Council’s (FSC) "Company of the Year Award" recognizes companies that have displayed competence and consistency in integrating "state-of-the-art" marketing techniques and have demonstrated a proven pattern of improved results through the use of direct marketing.

The 2004 FSC Executive of the Year: Thomas Kelly

Over the past 35 years, Thomas Kelly has significantly contributed to the advancement of financial services organizations excelling in the discipline of direct marketing.

Under Kelly's direction, New York Life Insurance Company, through its AARP operation, became the number one direct marketer of life insurance in the United States. The database marketing techniques employed at the Tampa Operation are among the best in the industry, new products have set a new standard in the direct marketing life insurance industry, and new technologies and approaches to the business have kept administrative areas at or below unit pricing targets each and every year. In his final year with New York Life, Kelly led the charge into niche and non-member markets, introducing new products and media channels that promise significant growth potential in 2004 and beyond.

As a result, the Tampa Operation ranks in the top 10 percent of insurance companies and has received The DMA Financial Services Council Company of the Year Award. In addition, the Tampa Operation’s contact center was awarded "Best in Class" status in its life insurance category as part of Purdue University’s Benchmark Portal study.

Kelly has also held senior management positions at Allstate Insurance Company, the Colonial Penn Group and the Dependable Insurance Group.

The FSC "Executive of the Year Award" recognizes individual achievements by practitioners who have made outstanding contributions to the insurance or financial services industry through the use of the direct marketing concept.

Nominations for The DMA FSC Awards are made by members of the FSC. Winners are selected by the council’s nominating committee. Nominees need not be members of The DMA or its FSC, but are expected to adhere to The DMA’s Code of Ethics.

The DMA Financial Service Council’s 28^th Annual Conference will focus exclusively on direct

marketing in the financial services and insurance industries. Keynote addresses will be given by Dawn Sweeney, president of AARP Services and DMA President & CEO Robert Wientzen. Case studies will be presented by Allstate on direct marketing to Hispanics, Wells Fargo on database marketing, and a joint presentation from The Horah Group and Yankelovich on optimizing ROI by targeting attitudes. The event will also include the Council's annual Executive Insurance Symposium, moderated by John Harrison of The Keystone Equities Group, that will focus on the future of e-mail, search engine, broadcast, and rich media direct marketing techniques.

For additional information on The DMA Financial Services Council, please contact Amy Maurer at amaurer@the-dma.org.

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 surpassed $1.7 trillion in 2003, including $133 billion in catalog sales and $41 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.

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