Howard Draft Wins CADM Award While DraftWorldwide Fattens Roster
Howard Draft, chairman/CEO of DraftWorldwide, Chicago, has been named Charles S. Downs Chicago Direct Marketer of the Year by the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing (CADM).
Draft, the youngest-ever winner of the award, was judged on his innovative thinking as well as his commitment to the development of DM professionals’ careers and to charitable works.
With billings of more than $1.8 billion, DraftWorldwide is the third-largest direct response-based agency in the world. The agency pioneered direct-to-consumer healthcare marketing and the use of research to build winning campaigns. Draft is active in the Direct Marketing Association and in philanthropic works that help pediatric AIDS patients among others. DraftWorldwide’s ongoing training programs are designed to help staff develop skills to advance in their careers.
The award, CADM’s most prestigious honor, will be presented to Draft on Feb. 12 at the association’s annual conference.
Meanwhile, the agency itself has acquired three integrated marketing agencies in Europe and one in Canada. Each agency will retain its local identify, while providing management expertise and operational support to the DraftWorldwide network.
The Canadian acquisition of Gingko Group Ltd., is Draft’s first presence in Canada and increases the agency’s base to include 26 countries. Gingko, a fully integrated, marketing communications agency, specializes in general advertising, direct and healthcare marketing.
Marketing Principles, an Oxford, England-based agency, will help bolster Draft’s presence in the UK. The Karamba Group, a Belgian company added, along with 1988 acquisition Feedback, will position Draft as the largest integrated marketing company in that country. Finally, the addition of Paris-based Synthese Marketing, a leading provider of database marketing, design, operations, analysis and modeling, brings the number of Draft agencies in France to six.
With the acquisition of the new agencies, DraftWorldwide, a unit of The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc., now operates from 44 locations around the world.
