 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Management
Jim KabakowPresident & CEO
Jim joined Media Horizons in 1988, the same year the company was founded. Soon after, historic tales were born with adventurous clients such as McGraw-Hill and The Wall Street Journal, who is still a client today. Jim became SVP/Account Management in 1999, overseeing a roster of accounts including Nestle Waters North America, BMG Music and The Bradford Exchange. He was named President in 2004 and CEO in March of 2007. During his career at MHI his mission has been to partner with blue-chip direct marketing companies to cost effectively generate new customers and maximize their lifetime value by developing innovative strategy, efficient media plans and winning creative across all media channels.
Prior to MHI, Jim worked in the financial industry at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette. He quickly realized Wall Street was not fast paced enough for him and became a direct marketer. Jim holds a degree in Economics from Tufts University. He has taught Direct Marketing at Western Connecticut State University, led numerous industry Seminars, and participates in worthwhile industry organizations, including The CEO Roundtable, and The Direct Marketing Idea Exchange (DMIX). He currently lives in Westport, CT with his wife and two sons.
Back to top
Alan KraftPresident, Media Horizons Management
Alan founded Media Horizons, Inc. in 1988. Alan’s thorough understanding and extensive knowledge of the direct marketing industry, combined with his keen insight and dedicated and superior staff enabled Media Horizons to expand from a staff of two to over forty direct marketing professionals. Alan now heads Media Horizons Management which represents the insert media programs of such blue chip direct marketers as Barnes&Noble.com, Arizona Mail Order, Redcats USA and Rodale.
Alan began his career with Dependable Lists, Inc. (now Specialists Marketing Services, Inc.) in 1976 as an account executive, where he remained until 1983. He then joined Supermarket Communications systems as the Director of New Business Development. There, he developed and managed accounts such as AARP, Bantam Books, GEICO and Times Mirror Magazines.
Alan is a well-respected and popular speaker on the subject of direct marketing and has spoken at various industry events which include the Annual DMA Conference, Direct Marketing Day in New York and Chicago, and the DMA Catalog Conference. He has participated in various panels; most recently the DMA’s 2004 List Vision Conference and the DMA’s 2004 Insert Media Day. In 2009, Alan was named the annual individual honoree by the DMA Insert Media Council. Alan resides in Wilton, Connecticut with his wife Sheryl and has two sons, Jonathan and Jeremy.
Back to top
Bruce J. NathanChief Financial Officer
Bruce has over 30 years experience in accounting and finance. Prior to joining MHI, Bruce served as Chief Financial Officer for Weave Corporation, a high end designer and manufacturer of custom textiles. Prior to that, Bruce served as the Chief Financial Officer for the Media Group, a direct response firm located in Stamford, Connecticut. In addition, Bruce has served in executive positions in retail, leasing and brokerage firms. Bruce is a CPA and has a Masters in Corporate Finance from Pace University. Bruce’s interests include golf, baseball, and live fire cooking. Bruce lives in Chappaqua, New York with his wife Elise, two daughters Jessica and Nikki, and German Shepherd, Bandit.
Back to top
Thomas ReynoldsSenior Vice President / Partner
Tom joined Media Horizons in 1998. Extensive client-side experience spanning the full spectrum of direct response disciplines makes Tom a well-rounded marketing professional who is able to assist his clients with any and all of their marketing challenges. His specific areas of expertise include, but are not limited to: strategic planning and budgeting, customer acquisition and customer retention marketing, fulfillment and database management. Tom works closely with clients to understand their goals and objectives, and constructs media plans across a variety of channels: inserts, mass media, print, direct mail, broadcast and online.
Tom has over nineteen years in direct marketing and has worked with some of the most prominent companies in the business. In crossing over from the “client” side to the “service” side of the industry, Tom is in the unique position of providing his clients with a knowledgeable and thorough understanding of their needs. Prior to joining MHI, Tom worked for American Express Publishing, where he held positions as Director of Continuity Products and Services and Director of New Product Development. He has also held key marketing positions at Bantam Doubleday Dell (now Random House), Newfield Publications and International Masters Publishing.
Tom attended the University of Vermont, where he graduated with a BA in English.
Back to top
Scott KellermanSenior Vice President / Partner
Scott began his career with Media Horizons in 1994 as an Assistant Account Executive. After 12 years of hard work, Scott earned the position of Senior Vice President and Partner in 2006. Scott's tireless work ethic, vast industry expertise and interpersonal skills serve him well in managing the multichannel media campaigns of several leading national advertisers. In addition to his account management role, Scott also oversees the entire MHI Account Services Team, a group of highly skilled and motivated industry experts. His clients include Oreck and Bose, for which MHI are involved in acquiring and retaining customers via print media, insert media, direct mail and online. Scott also works with these clients on their print production and database work, and oversees all facets of campaign planning, negotiation, execution and analysis for all of his clients. Scott is a seasoned and respected industry veteran, and is passionate about delivering only the highest quality work to his clients. Scott attended Bryant University, where he played varsity soccer and graduated with a BS in Marketing. He lives in Newtown, CT with his wife Crissy, twin boys Luke and Daniel and Yellow Labrador, Buddy.
Back to top
Peter BurgessExecutive Vice President
Pete’s diversified and exhaustive experience in the direct marketing industry, which spans over 30 years, enables him to provide his clients with an in-depth understanding of the latest trends and issues facing marketers today.
Pete, a highly respected and valued expert in his field, is responsible for new business development and account management at MHI. He specializes in developing strategic marketing partnerships and oversees management of key accounts. His clients include JC Penney (dot.com division), Synapse and Antares Investment Partners . Prior to joining MHI, Pete served as Executive Vice President of Partnership Marketing for Priceline WebHouse and Priceline Gasoline Clubs. He has also served as President and CEO of Conversion Marketing (a division of Walker Digital). Pete has also held several senior management positions at Cox Enterprises, where he worked for ten years, initially as Senior Vice President of National Sales and Marketing for Val-Pak Direct Marketing Systems and later as president of Cox Direct (parent of Carol Wright and the Cox Sampling Group). Prior to that, Pete was Vice President of Sales for Metromail.
Back to top
Joyce BeggsVice President / Account Director
Joyce has 26 years of experience in the direct marketing field and has been a vital part of the MHI team for more than 9 years.
Prior to joining MHI, Joyce served as Vice President in the brokerage division of Mokrynski & Associates. There, she put her customer acquisition skills to work for a prestigious list of catalog industry clients such as Victoria’s Secret, J. Crew, Bloomingdales, Lillian Vernon and J. Jill. Joyce has also served as Vice President of Marketing and Advertising at Royal Silk Ltd., where she profitably grew the cataloger’s customer base 2,000% over a six-year period, using a fine-tuned balance of list acquisition and aggressive print media campaigns.
Joyce’s clients regard her as an integral extension of their marketing team and rely on her and her team to successfully plan, develop and execute their multi-channel customer acquisition campaigns.
Back to top
Walter ChistoniVice President, Business Development
Walter joined the MHI team in March of 2003 as Director of New Business Development. He has successfully introduced blue-chip clients such as Daimler-Chrysler, Dell, eBay, State Farm and Pfizer to the benefits of non-traditional media.
Walter’s career in direct response media sales spans over 12 years. He began at News America Marketing (a division of News Corporation) selling FSI advertising and went on to earn the title of Captain of Non-Traditional Advertiser Sales, due to his talent for developing new business. In a two-year period, Walter contributed over $10 million in new business revenue by introducing accounts such as Citibank, First USA and Gateway to the FSIs.
Walter went on to serve as the Director of New Business Development for American Media Inc (National Enquirer and Star). There, he introduced new advertisers such as Garden State Life Insurance, Matrix Direct and Chase, opening up the insurance and financial services advertising categories for the tabloids. Walter succeeded in developing of $5 million in new business revenue during his two-year tenure at AMI.
Walter was promoted to Vice President of Media Horizons Management in May 2004. In a 3 year span, he increased the portfolio of MHM exclusively managed properties to 110 different media programs, representing 48 different brands.
Walter received his BS in Marketing from Fordham University. He lives in Trumbull, CT with his wife and two children.
Back to top
Liz RussellVice President, Operations
Liz joined MHI in 2000, and began working on marketing initiatives with clients such as Bradford Exchange, BMG and The Wall Street Journal. In 2003, Liz brought her 15 years of insert management experience to Media Horizons Management, where she helps clients including Rodale, Redcats USA, Barnes&Noble.com and Arizona Mail Order maximize their insert media revenue. Liz’s primary responsibilities include auditing and streamlining of all reports for MHI. She also oversees the operations end of all MHM’s managed properties, including lettershop, fulfillment and reporting. Liz’s experience spans over 20 years of insert management and brokerage. Formerly with The Kaplan Agency, she handled accounts such as BMG, Newport News, Checks In The Mail, Time Life and York Photo.
Back to top
Joe PageCreative Director
As an agency and marcom Creative Director for over 20 years Joe has developed award-winning integrated marketing campaigns for dozens of Fortune 500 companies. He joined Media Horizons in 2009 after several years as the Creative Director for the direct-to-home division of Scholastic, the global leader in children’s publications. His recent agency work includes a two-year stint as Creative Director at Digitas, a leading global interactive agency. Among his clients there were American Express, AARP. AOL, The New York Times and Pfizer.
Prior to Digitas, Joe held the Executive Creative Director post at Brann Worldwide in Wilton, formerly Barry Blau & Partners. At Brann, Joe more than quadrupled the size of the agency’s Creative Department to a peak of 60+ art directors and writers in order to continue to fuel the explosive growth of what was the world’s largest inderpendent direct marketing agency. Acquisition, branding and CRM campaigns for blue chip clients like Bell Atlantic, British Telecom, Fleet Bank, Gartner Group, The Hartford, IBM, Merck and UPS earned Joe and his teams numerous Caples, Echos and Marcom awards for creative excellence.
Joe lives in Weston, CT with his wife Liza, a children’s book designer, and son Eli, a high schooler. A daughter, Zoe, attends McGill University in Montreal.
Back to top
Steve TurkDesign Director
Award-winning writer and designer, Steve Turk is the Design Director for Media Horizons. Steve has led the creative team in developing several successful direct response campaigns. Prior to joining MHI, he held a Creative Director position at the Taunton Press in Newtown, Connecticut where he built an in-house agency responsible for the creation of all print advertising, direct response and promotion of six different magazines as well as the book publishing division.
Prior to moving to New England, Steve and his family resided in the Twin Cities where he was Creative Director for West Publishing Company, the world’s largest legal publisher. His career began in his hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin where he was a partner and creative director at Duerre, Turk and Associates after serving in the military during the Vietnam war.
Steve attended the University of Wisconsin on an art scholarship as well as the University of California. He is married and fathered two children; Nathan and Sarah.
His numerous awards include several Echo and Caples Awards for both writing and design, as well as regional advertising awards.
Back to top
Rick ChildDirector Data & Analytics
Rick joined Media Horizons in 2006.
12 years of client-side experience in all disciplines of direct marketing make Rick an excellent strategist and problem solver for his clients. In crossing over from the client side to the service side of the industry, Rick has a thorough understanding and appreciation of client needs.
During his career, Rick has developed marketing campaigns in all major media, managed creative development, overseen print production and designed inventory management strategies. He is especially strong in analysis, where he applies his scientific training as a Meteorologist to the discipline of direct marketing. Rick is also an expert in the application of statistical modeling to both acquisition and database marketing.
Rick has redesigned customer contact strategies involving direct mail, telemarketing and email media for two major multi-million dollar companies. Both initiatives resulted in significant ROI improvement.
Prior to joining MHI, Rick worked for Scholastic-at-Home, where he held positions as Brand Director of Housefile Products, Director of Acquisitions and Senior Product Manager of Disney Licensed Products. He has also held marketing positions at the Danbury Mint and Rodale.
Rick has received an MBA in Marketing and a BS with Distinction in Meteorology from Cornell University.
Back to top
