Cendant Corp., New York, is gearing up to combine its membership club operations with its insurance/wholesale businesses to create a direct marketing division, and Michael P. Monaco, a Cendant vice chairman, is slated to become its chairman/CEO.
“There are efficiencies to be gained because there will be one management team instead of two,” said Elliot Bloom, senior vice president of corporate communications at Cendant.
“Some management at the top is reduced, and I think the two groups have some similarities,” said Michael Millman, an equity analyst at Solomon Smith Barney, New York. “I think the company would like to do more cross-selling between the two.”
Cendant markets its individual membership clubs directly to consumers and markets its insurance products directly to bank customers. Cendant’s FISI Madison Financial Corp. and Benefit Consultants Inc., part of the insurance/wholesale division, offer outsourced membership clubs and other marketing programs to financial institutions. The banks place their own brands on these programs and market them to their own customers.
Under the new alignment, Kenneth L. Keith, who is president/CEO at Madison FISI and chairman at Benefit Consultants Inc. and Long Term Preferred Care, will report to Monaco, as will Mark Maybrey, managing director of Cendant International Membership Services.
The businesses that are being combined in the direct marketing division are part of CUC International, the direct marketing company that merged with HFS Inc. in 1997 to form Cendant Corp.
