Press Release
United Marketing Group

United Marketing Group Acquires Brand Affinity Marketing
Bolsters Its Membership and Loyalty Programs

Schaumburg, IL. (April 20, 2007).  United Marketing Group, a leading direct marketing company in continuity lifestyle membership programs and direct to consumer syndicated merchandising, today announced the successful completion of its acquisition of Brand Affinity Marketing, a privately held branded membership business. 

“The acquisition of Brand Affinity Marketing helps us to bring a broader and more unique array of membership programs to the marketplace.  It’s another means for us to generate additional risk free commission income for our clients and better differentiate our product offerings in an increasingly competitive marketplace.” said Alan Portelli, President and Chief Executive Officer of United Marketing Group.  “The expertise of Brand Affinity Marketing in branded membership products and Internet marketing expands our offerings, and enhances our ability to deliver products and services that are the right fit for our clients and their customers.”

David Ziller, President of Brand Affinity Marketing, added, “We’re excited about joining the United Marketing Group organization.   With their knowledge and resources, we are well positioned to continue our growth and emphasis on generating additional value for our clients and customers.”

About United Marketing Group:
United Marketing Group is a full service direct marketing company in the lifestyle membership and syndicated merchandise space.  Membership programs offered by United Marketing Group provide consumers with real, easy to use savings in all major lifestyle spending categories, as well as piece of mind in key areas of consumer concerns.  Unlike many other organizations, United Marketing Group specializes in utilizing all direct marketing media -- inbound calls, outbound calls, direct mail and e-commerce tools -- to maximize client revenue.
The company has been in business for more than 30 years and enjoys relationships with numerous Fortune 500 clients.

About Brand Affinity Marketing:
Brand Affinity Marketing helps clients promote products and services to their customers through unique, branded membership products.  The company has two branded products available:  Budget Travel Rewards Club from Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel Magazine (travel category) and Healthy Rewards with Prevention Magazine (health and fitness category).  More branded product programs are in development.   Brand Affinity Marketing is located in Fairfield, Connecticut, led by David Ziller, President.  Previously, Ziller held senior level positions at CUC International, now called Affinion, and was responsible for many of CUC’s successful membership programs.  More recently, Ziller was a principal of Brand Direct where he helped launch twelve unique, branded membership products that had over three million members.

CONTACT: 
Alan Portelli, 847-240-2005, x5200
David Ziller, 203-243-1397
SOURCE:
United Marketing Group


United Marketing Group
FACT SHEET

  • Leader in marketing fee based subscription programs and innovative solutions for Fortune 500 companies in major business categories, including banks, catalog, retail, oil and gas and utility companies.
  • Utilizes all direct marketing media -- inbound calls, outbound calls, direct mail and the Internet -- to create significant, incremental revenue at no risk.
  • User-friendly benefit structures and ease-of-use programs encourage customer participation and involvement; industry standard “breakage” model turned upside down.
  • Provides proprietary state-of-the art CRM, membership and call center systems, including ECHO -- a complete digital recording and real time monitoring/evaluation platform.
  • Customer service group is 100 percent internally owned and operated in the United States.
  • Outstanding expertise in statistical modeling and segmentation. 
  • Leader in Merchandise Promotions in credit card billing statements.  Mails more than 600 million offers annually.  Tests more than 200 offers annually to ensure satisfied clients and customers.