The Direct Marketing Association announced June 30 a consolidation of its organizational leadership and operating structure to better reflect and deliver on the goals of its strategic plan adopted in January 2005.
Part of the plan involved having the DMA be more outwardly focused.
In support of the plan, the DMA, New York, has established two new executive vice president positions reporting to DMA president/CEO John A. Greco Jr.
Effective immediately, Ramesh Lakshmi-Ratan, the DMA’s senior vice president of membership and market development, will assume the role of executive vice president and chief operating officer.
In this new role, Dr. Ratan will head the following DMA units: education and events, membership development, marketing and communications, international, member councils and customer service, the DMA’s Nonprofit Federation, research and market intelligence, interactive and emerging media, and the newly formed sales and business development unit.
In addition, the DMA is conducting an executive search for the newly created position of executive vice president of government and consumer affairs. This person will oversee the DMA’s work in legislative and regulatory affairs as well as ethics and consumer relations.
Jerry Cerasale is currently the senior vice president of government affairs in the DMA’s Washington office.
No one is getting laid off as a result of the reorganization, the DMA said.
“The new structure will further break down the silos in the organization and put more of an emphasis on membership services, rather than products and services,” said Laura Colona, a DMA spokeswoman.
“It will give Mr. Greco an opportunity to spend more time connecting one-on-one with the direct marketing community, as well as support DMA in its efforts to become a center of excellence across all of its business units,” she said.
The DMA on June 21 named Terri L. Bartlett, former executive director of the Toy Industry Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Toy Industry Association, as president of the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation. Ms. Bartlett starts on July 31.
