DVC Worldwide shook up its top management with the late-January departures of President-COO Sue Furlong and DVCx President John Palumbo.
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| Sue Furlong |
Mike Zeman has been named chairman of DVC Worldwide. Zeman is an executive with DVC owner Lake Capital, and a member of DVC’s corporate management group. He has 25 years experience in marketing agency operations, including stints at Omnicom Group and U.S. Communications.
Furlong and Palumbo left to pursue other opportunities. “We wish them the best,” Zeman said.
No other executives have left DVC. “We’re very happy with our day-to-day management teams and department heads,” Zeman said. DVCx will report to Zeman, as does DVC’s co-marketing division.
DVC is shopping for acquisitions, especially in the U.S., to add capabilities and scale. “We’re quite bullish on growth,” Zeman told PROMO.
Morristown, NJ-based DVC sold its U.K. division, DVC Sales, in fourth-quarter 2004. That division was formed through the 2001 acquisition of field-marketing service Aspen.
Still, DVC faces uncertainty with two key clients, AT&T (being bought by SBC) and Gillette (being bought by Procter & Gamble). With the future of AT&T and Gillette’s marketing plans in flux, it’s unclear where DVC might land with each.
DVC ranked No. 13 in the 2004 PROMO 100 with estimated U.S. net revenues of $49.5 million for 2003. Its net revenues worldwide were $99 million, up 7.8% from 2001. DVC was PROMO’s Agency of the Year in 2003.
Chicago-based Lake Capital bought DVC in 2000, erasing DVC’s onerous debt from the expensive acquisitions of two Internet companies and funding expansion by building out homegrown departments, including pharmaceuticals and account-specific marketing. DVC has offices in Minneapolis, Chicago and Dallas and may add more locations via acquisition.
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