Kate Kestnbaum, a veteran direct marketer and executive vice president at Kestnbaum & Co., Chicago, has been named the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing's 2001 Charles S. Downs Direct Marketer of the Year. Kestnbaum is the first woman to receive the award.
Kestnbaum, who has been with Kestnbaum & Co., a unit of Impiric/Y&R, for 27 years, will receive the award at the Chicago Hilton and Towers on Feb. 7 during a luncheon on the second day of the 47th annual Chicago DM Days and Expo sponsored by CADM.
Kestnbaum joined Kestnbaum & Co. in 1974 and by 1977 was a certified management consultant. She developed an affinity for the catalog business there and subsequently was involved in the development of new methods for the analysis of catalog merchandising developed in the 1970s; in survey projection techniques developed in the 1980s; and in statistical planning tools based on catalog history developed in the 1990s.
Kestnbaum also had an active role in other aspects of the firm's business, including its development of in-depth customer tracking research, financial planning modules and strategic planning for the integration of database marketing into corporate marketing structures.
Kestnbaum’s husband, Bob, who founded Kestnbaum & Co. in 1967, won the Downs award 13 years ago.
