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Direct Marketing Association names Robert Allen interim president/CEO

Less than a month after the sudden resignation of John A. Greco Jr. as president/CEO, the Direct Marketing Association named Robert ?Bob? Allen as his interim successor.

Mr. Allen is the former president/CEO of the Vermont Country Store, a multichannel retailer of hard-to-find products. He will assume the title of interim president/CEO effective today, based in the DMA's New York headquarters.

A seasoned direct marketing executive, Mr. Allen is a veteran of the Vermont Country Store where he began in 1982 as assistant to the president. He advanced to president in 1994, earning the distinction of being the first non-family president of the business.

Mr. Allen currently serves as a director for six for-profit companies in New England: Gardeners Supply, Cuddledown, Susan Sargent Designs, JK Adams, Danforth Pewterers and Kalow Technologies.

Mr. Allen is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island.

Direct marketing
The Direct Marketing Association is a global trade association of businesses and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques.

Founded in 1917, DMA today represents more than 3,100 companies from dozens of vertical industries in the United States and 48 other nations, including nearly half of the Fortune 100 companies, as well as nonprofit organizations.

In 2009, marketers?both commercial and nonprofit?spent $149.3 billion on direct marketing, which accounts for 54.3 percent of all ad expenditures nationwide.

Measured against total U.S. sales, these advertising expenditures will generate approximately $1.783 trillion in incremental sales.

In 2009, direct marketing accounted for 8.3 percent of total U.S. gross domestic product.

Also in 2009, there were 1.4 million direct marketing employees nationwide. Their collective sales efforts directly support 8.4 million other jobs, accounting for a total of 9.9 million U.S. jobs.