David Williams

David Williams is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Merkle Inc. He acquired Merkle in 1988 and became its 24th employee. Today, Merkle has more than 9,000 employees in locations in the U.S., Europe and Asia and is one of the largest marketing services companies in the world. In September 2016, Merkle joined the Dentsu Aegis Network, which acquired a majority stake in the agency. Williams now sits on its Global Executive Committee and is Chairman of its Americas business.

Under Williams’ leadership, Merkle has sustained double-digit annual growth over the last 30 years and is the only agency that has been recognized by Forrester Research across every aspect of the customer journey: customer engagement strategy, marketing and database operations, search marketing and loyalty solutions. In 2019, Advertising Age ranked Merkle as the 12th largest agency in the U.S., the 4th largest CRM/direct marketing agency globally, and the 12th largest U.S. digital agency. Williams was recognized by Winning Workplaces and Fortune Magazine as one of America’s Best Bosses of 2006 and was the 2007 Maryland Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Williams is the author of the book Connected CRM: Implementing a Data-Driven, Customer-Centric Business Strategy, which was published in 2014 by Wiley Publishing. In the book, he shares his knowledge and experience, with the intent of helping world-class brands build stronger, more profitable relationships with their customers. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and has written numerous articles and white papers about topics such as customer relationship marketing, database marketing and analytics, digital media and marketing technology.