-DC Company Expands Its Advertising and Marketing Talent in Chicago-

WASHINGTON , DC – January 23, 2008 – RTC Relationship Marketing (RTCRM), a Washington, DC based direct marketing agency, is starting off the new year with continued growth with the addition of David Vukits, vice president of strategy and insights; and Courtney Thompson, vice president, creative director to its Chicago operations.

In his role as vice president of strategy and insights, Vukits will utilize qualitative and quantitative research in generating strategic business tactics for RTCRM clients. Previously Vukits was vice president of the insight and innovation practice for GreenHouse Communications in Chicago, where he developed new marketing models leveraging brain physiology, human psychology and principles of marketing. His expertise includes account planning, customer relationship management (CRM), customer insight, facilitation, loyalty, research and strategic planning.

“David brings a combination of skills and experience that will greatly enhance our ability to drive results for our clients – in particular his ability to apply consumer insights into mathematic models to predict behavior,” says RTCRM CEO Barry Kessel.

A 20-year veteran of strategic marketing solutions, Vukits has created and implemented tactical advertising campaigns for clients including Citigroup, United Airlines, Bank One, Bristol-Myers Squibb, UPS, Amoco and Hilton Hotels. His accounts at RTCRM will include leading companies within the technology, financial services and pharmaceuticals industries. Vukits holds an M.B.A. from the University of Illinois and a B.A. from Marquette University.

Also, RTCRM announced the hiring of Courtney Thompson as vice president, creative director in the Chicago office. A seasoned business-to-business (B2B) and relationship marketing professional, Thompson was a creative director at MDB Communications in Washington, DC, where she managed award-winning and results-producing creative for the DC Lottery, National Geographic, Fannie Mae and the National School Boards Association. Thompson now returns to RTCRM, where she previously managed agency clients GlaxoSmithKline, AARP and Road Runner High Speed Online. In addition, she has headed pro bono campaigns for both the Red Cross and The Women’s Center.

“ It’s nice to welcome Courtney back to the RTCRM family,” says Barry Kessel, RTCRM’s CEO. “She’s a gifted creative professional and will add to our ability to create powerful, insight-driven creative that builds our clients’ business.”

As vice president, creative director, Thompson is responsible for the overall development and execution of creative campaigns that deliver fresh, incisive and results-oriented communications for RTCRM clients. Thompson has extensive strategic and creative-development experience for integrated, multi-channel acquisition, retention and relationship-building campaigns for both B2B and consumer targets. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Rollins College in Winter Park, FL.

About RTCRM

RTC Relationship Marketing (RTCRM) is a full-service direct marketing and relationship marketing agency based in Washington, DC in the heart of Georgetown, with offices in New York City and Chicago. RTCRM boasts more than 40 years’ worth of innovative, targeted solutions that grow its clients’ brands and help them forge lasting, valuable relationships with their customers. What distinguishes RTCRM is its unique ability to analyze data and research on both a rational and emotional level. RTCRM’s clients include major brands in the telecom and technology, pharmaceuticals and other business sectors, such as AARP, GlaxoSmithKline, Road Runner High Speed Online and Time Warner Cable. RTCRM’s innovative campaigns have won multiple advertising and direct marketing awards. RTCRM is part of the Wunderman agency network, one of the world’s largest communications companies, which includes Y&R, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, JWT and Landor.

To learn more about RTCRM or to inquire about an exciting new position, visit www.rtcrm.com .

Contact:

Rebecca Johnson, 202-315-4554, rjohnson@rtcrm.com

Since January 1, I have been on a really strict diet and believe it or not have lost 12 pounds in three weeks! I feel great! I have always been kind of a health nut, I am a marathon runner and a cyclist and even though I still work out and do yoga on the weekends, the pounds were starting to creep up and I didn’t like it one bit. Sad to say, in this joint, you gain a pound and everyone notices. I hate to admit that I’m an “aging mediocre athlete,” but I am. Excess weight undermines my fitness and deteriorates my joints and mobility. I feel it. I’m convinced that the weight throws my body alignment off balance, causing back and neck pain. So I came up with this diet and it’s not from any books nor does it involve any pills or anything like that, I just came up with it on my own.

Basically all I did was fast for two days with just vegetable juice to give myself a kick start, and cut out all alcohol and animal by-products of any kind. I went from being a lifelong vegetarian to being a vegan! While I used to say I don’t eat anything with eyeballs, now my only exception is honey. No processed foods, no sugar, no “white” food. I also do not eat anything at all after 7:00 PM every night. That was the really hard part. My weakness is late-night snacks. I also used to go to the gym and then come home and gorge, so kicking that habit has helped a lot. As for wine, that was tough… I love it. I truly believe wine is good for you, so as soon as I calibrate my weight and fitness, I will reintroduce it back into my life. That will be glorious!

I have to admit, being a vegan is a little bit boring. I mean, I used to love cheeses, and even though they have vegan cheese, it’s not the same thing, and I miss it a lot. This diet is a lot of hard work. I bring my food into the office and feel people are snickering at me behind my back. I have always been a very disciplined and regimented person, so it’s probably a little bit easier for me than it would be for most people. I think it’s also easier to go from being a vegetarian to a vegan than it is to go from being a meat eater to a vegan. Essentially what that means is that I won’t be cashing in on the multi-million-dollar bestselling-diet-book fad – no early retirement for me.

So, if anyone knows of any good vegan restaurants in DC or has some great recipes, I am all ears. February 1 will be my first full month of being a vegan. Will I ever go back to being a vegetarian? Never say never, but doubtful. It just seems so odd to me that while our culture is so obsessed with fat… it’s unattractive and bad for your health. So, why would you eat it?

I’ve spent much of my professional life trying to figure out how digital media can enhance relationship marketing programs - backed by the evolving conventional wisdom that “digital changes everything ” (for the better…presumably).

So it’s not without a smirk that I often see the best relationship marketing principles at work in completely offline situations, from unlikely sources:

On Christmas Day our mailman delivered a package from a relative - and, responding to my rather surprised stammer “you guys are working today?” he replied “yeah, today we try to deliver all the packages with hand-written addresses that we couldn’t deliver before; the printed labels we do afterwards.”

A hand-written address means personal , and, to the US Mail , personal means “priority.” If it sounds simple, that’s because it is simple. Take the trouble to understand your customers, identify opportunities to reward their involvement, and execute simply and consistently - this communicates “you’re a priority” - and engenders goodwill (and, inevitably, repeat purchase) arguably the holy grail of relationship marketing.

So I guess that digital doesn’t change everything - the fundamentals of relationship marketing are the game changers…

This project began as a way for the innovation team to articulate ideas, capture experiences, and provide a source of both innovation and insight throughout our network and, as well, to the outside world. Your contribution will bring that idea to life.

This post acts as both a call to our invited contributors and a compass for this experiment.

It’s easy to get started. Take away the minefield of “no’s” that often surrounds corporate communication and replace them with these four content guidelines:

1. 70/30/0 . 70% of your content should be directly related to your discipline, while 30% of it can be interesting stuff you feel is relevant in a general sense. 0% client business.
2. The medium is the message . Blogging is best when it is clear, thorough, and succinct.
3. Always, always check yourself for spelling and grammatical errors . That may mean posting a day later than you had hoped.
4. Remember, you’re writing under the company name . Keep your personal life private and always respect the privacy of our clients.

Our contributors’ individual entries are not screened, so professional discretion is a must.

Looking at the blog as a whole, we’ve decided to put some guidelines in place

Overall, there are three ideas we must all keep in mind to ensure that our blog maintains a higher degree of credibility:

1. Be honest . Posts written under your name should be yours.
2. Stay on topic . If we start espousing political beliefs or going otherwise awry, then we may as well shut down.
3. Keep it coming . Posts should be maintain a regular schedule.

Essentially, that’s it. Keep the above principles in mind and we should all be able to turn this into a positive and fluid project for both the company and the greater marketing community.

It should go without saying, but perhaps it warrants being said anyway: Thank you, and have fun.