Connect Direct Adds Embarcadero, IDG Executive Forums, Qiva; Redwood City Firm Also Reports Increase in Q1 Billings.

Business Editors

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2001

Connect Direct, a full-service agency specializing in direct marketing for high-technology companies, announced three recent additions to its client roster:

Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. in San Francisco, California has selected Connect Direct to create a series of print and online lead generation programs. Embarcadero's software products enable organizations to build, optimize and manage databases and applications supporting today's critical enterprise systems.

IDG Executive Forums in San Mateo, California, has chosen Connect Direct to develop a comprehensive program of print and online campaigns in support of the company's high-profile conferences: VORTEX, AGENDA, and DEMOmobile. Targeting a select group of executives in a range of key technology and related industries, the campaigns include direct mail, broadcast e-mail, e-mail newsletter sponsorships, and branding.

Qiva, a software company based in San Francisco, California, has asked Connect Direct to produce a series of online campaigns designed to raise awareness of the company's end-to-end logistics management solutions that enable customers to predict, manage, and control their supply chains in real time. Qiva has a 12-year history of delivering products and services to logistics service providers, manufacturers, and retailers around the world.

In a related announcement, the company also reported an increase in Q1 billings from a year ago, despite the recent financial slowdown in its primary market. Compared to the same period in 2000, Connect Direct reported that gross revenues increased by 9 percent, even though the agency works primarily with clients in the software and Internet industries, a sector that's taken the brunt of the recent economic downturn.

"We're not immune," says Howard J. Sewell, the firm's president. "We've had a number of clients go out of business, and others are cutting budgets significantly. But several factors have worked in our favor. Starting two years ago, we moved very aggressively into online marketing, which now represents close to 70 percent of our total business. Secondly, our remaining clients are abandoning traditional advertising in favor of lead generation and direct marketing, which is our core strength. And finally, technology companies in general are looking for smaller, specialized agencies who can deliver a better return for their marketing dollar."

Connect Direct was founded in 1990 by Sewell, a former marketing manager at Oracle Corporation. In September of 2000, the firm was named No. 12 amongst the "Top 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies in Silicon Valley" by the San Jose Business Journal.