Harte Hanks Replaces Philpott with Puckett

US-based direct marketing and targeting giant Harte Hanks has appointed Karen Puckett as its President and Chief Executive Officer, replacing former Synovate CEO Robert Philpott who left in July to 'pursue other interests'.

Harte Hanks offers a complete range of customer journey mapping services, from creative and content development, analytics and data management, to execution and support across a variety of digital and traditional channels. Puckett (pictured) has been a Director of the firm since 2009, and will remain in this role, but will no longer serve on its Compensation Committee. Prior to Harte Hanks she was President - Global Markets of communications services company CenturyLink, where she worked for the past fifteen years and earlier served as COO, overseeing no fewer than fifteen company acquisitions. Before this, she held senior roles at Contel Corporation, GTE Wireless, and BroadStream Communications.

She takes over from Philpott who joined Harte Hanks four years ago, after fifteen years at Synovate, and previous roles at Asia Market Intelligence, MRC Ireland (now Ipsos MORI Ireland), and Belfast-based Irish Marketing Surveys (now Millward Brown Ireland). Since Philpott left in the summer, the role of President and CEO has been carried out on an interim basis by the firm's CFO Doug Shepard.

Commenting on Puckett's appointment, Chris Harte, Chairman of the Board, said: 'Karen has a proven track record of successfully growing an enterprise both organically and through acquisitions, and in navigating a business through shifts in industry dynamics. The Board unanimously agrees Karen's extensive business building experience and knowledge of the tech sector will help us build an integrated, interactive and digital approach over the long-term that will best position Harte Hanks for sustained profitable growth and further our efforts toward becoming a leader in smarter customer interactions'.

Web site: www.hartehanks.com .