Jul 11, 2006 6:05 AM, PROMO Xtra

Aspen Marketing Services has acquired DVC Worldwide, Inc. and its subsidiaries. As of today, DVC will be known as Aspen Marketing Services.

    O'Rahilly

Patrick O'Rahilly, the CEO of Aspen, will head the combined entity. Jill Draper, executive VP at DVC, will continue to head the former DVC headquarters in Morristown, NJ, keeping the same title under Aspen.

DVC's clients, especially Georgia-Pacific and Kraft, appealed to Aspen, O'Rahilly said. "I really like the talent there, too. I'm more an acquirer of talent than expertise," he said. The agencies had similar cultures he added.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Aspen is still shopping, with more acquisitions expected in the coming months.

Some 50 DVC employees work in Morristown, with no layoffs expected. About 10 employees will relocate to a new office in New York City, where p.r. and experiential marketing services will be based. Tim Hanlon, executive VP at DVC, will head the New York office. DVC's Chicago office will close, with the fate of those five or so employees under discussion.

Michael Zeman, the chairman of DVC, will leave DVC to work with Lake Capital, the parent company of DVC.

Privately held Aspen Marketing Services ranked ninth in the 2006 PROMO 100. Based in Chicago, the firm offers integrated marketing services in such industries as automotive, consumer electronics, financial services, insurance, non-profit organization, pharmaceuticals, retail, technology, telecom, utilities and others. In March 2005, Aspen acquired SRI Analytics to put a focus on CRM, database marketing and analytics. SRI is an Atlanta-based data analytics firm specializing in customer lifestyle management and statistical modeling with focus on the telecommunications sector.

DVC specializes in promotion, experiential marketing, p.r. and advertising across all major industry segments. Its client roster includes electronics manufacturer JVC. In 2000, PROMO named DVC Agency of the Decade; in 2003, it was dubbed Agency of the Year by PROMO. The agency did not participate in the 2006 ranking.

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