Merkle Rewards Top Employee with New BMW Convertible

LANHAM, Md.--June 20, 2006--Merkle (www.merklenet.com), one of the nation's largest database marketing agencies, named Steve Rudman the winner of the 2005 Chairman's Award, Merkle's highest level of employee recognition. The award is given to the employee who made the greatest contribution to Merkle's continued success and growth throughout the year, as decided jointly by the company's CEO and top executives. In recognition of his achievements working with Merkle's national non-profit clients, Rudman received a two-year lease on a new, fully-loaded 2006 BMW Z4 Series convertible.

Rudman is Director of Strategic Services at Merkle|Domain, Merkle's full-service fundraising agency that exclusively serves national non-profit organizations. Rudman received this year's Chairman's Award to acknowledge his performance in consulting with Merkle's national non-profit clients, including the American Cancer Society and the Christian Appalachian Project. In his position, Rudman leads strategy and analysis for Merkle|Domain.

"The purpose of the Chairman's Award is to recognize the employee who best exemplifies commitment to Merkle's vision of being the number one database marketing agency in the country," said Merkle President and CEO, David Williams, who established the award in 1999. "Steve has demonstrated excellence, team leadership and dedication, in addition to providing first-rate consulting support to some of our largest non-profit clients. His achievements and contributions in 2005 made him the ideal recipient of this year's award."

"Almost every employee thinks about winning the Chairman's Award at some point in their career with Merkle, and I'm surprised and elated that I was chosen as this year's winner," said Steve Rudman. "I'm proud to contribute to Merkle's overall success and growth, and consider this award to be a reflection of my team. I could not have earned the award without the support, enthusiasm, and great work of the entire team."

Rudman joined Merkle in 2001. He resides in Brookeville, Maryland.

About Merkle

Merkle is one of the nation's largest providers of data-driven marketing solutions that enable large national organizations to maximize the results from their marketing investment. Merkle provides customer strategy, business intelligence and analytics, data sourcing, media targeting and measurement, and marketing technology solutions to Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations. With over 800 employees, the privately held corporation is headquartered near Washington, D.C. in Lanham, Maryland with additional locations in Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-MERKLE or visit www.merklenet.com.