Tad Clarke, executive editor of DM News since September 1998, has been promoted to the position of editor in chief of DM News and related titles.
Before his affiliation with DM News, Clarke served a 10-year stint with the Gannett newspaper chain, where he rose to the position of newsfeatures editor of Gannett Suburban Newspapers in White Plains, NY. Clarke graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in journalism.
In announcing the promotion, DM News president Adrian Courtenay indicated the appointment was in recognition of Clarke's outstanding performance in building the largest and most accomplished journalistic staff in the field.
“The world of direct marketing is changing, and the pace of change is accelerating,” Courtenay said. “Under Tad Clarke's direction, the DM News organization has reinforced its position as the most progressive and innovative news organization in the field and the direct marketer's indispensable partner in keeping up with changing markets, media and technology.”
During Clarke's tenure with DM News, first as managing editor and later as executive editor, the company launched two new supplements, DRTV News and TeleServices News, along with a rapidly growing new Internet publication, iMarketing News, which has a separate, dedicated circulation of 45,000 qualified subscribers. He also spearheaded the development of the DM News Web site, dmnews.com, and helped re-engineer the company's journalistic mission from a weekly to a daily news organization. Courtenay attributed Clarke's success in these endeavors to the quality of the journalists with which he surrounded himself.
“We have a depth and breadth of staff,” said Courtenay, “which has given us a unique ability to reflect the new markets and media and the changing DM environment. No business or marketer is exempt from these changes. To ignore them could be fatal.”
Among the many new developments facing direct marketers, Courtenay cited the trend toward globalization, the growth of DRTV, which has subsequently stalled in the face of competing technologies such as the Internet, and the evolution of telemarketing into teleservices as direct marketers become more customer-oriented. In each case, said Courtenay, the DM News organization has developed targeted news outlets and staffed them with outstanding journalists who provided unmatched, in-depth news reporting, feature coverage and commentary.
“Tom Weyr, the editor of DM News International, is acknowledged as the pre-eminent journalist in the field of global direct marketing,” Courtenay pointed out. “On DRTV News, Rob Williams and his staff regularly chronicle the ins and outs of interactive video marketing and the many challenges facing this segment of the market. Renée Wijnen similarly closely follows all new developments in telemarketing and teleservices from the users' and the marketers' point of view for TeleServices News, following in the footsteps of Nadine Kjellberg, who is now managing editor of DM News.”
Acknowledging that the Internet phenomenon is one of the most revolutionary developments in the history of business and commerce, DM News launched iMarketing News, naming veteran journalist Ken Magill as editor. Since its premiere issue in March, the publication has surpassed all expectations in acceptance by readers and advertisers.
“iMarketing News is one more example of the ability of the DM News organization to adapt to the changing marketplace and provide superb coverage of major trends,” Courtenay said. “This publication is clearly up to the task of providing the finest quality coverage of the marketing opportunities provided by the Internet, not only for direct marketers, but also for the many other businesses that are already involved or planning to get involved in e-commerce and e-business.”
Based on the highly favorable reception of iMarketing News by readers and advertisers to date, Courtenay indicated that the company would be making a major announcement regarding future plans for the publication.
