Hochauser Will Take Helm at Harte-Hanks
Harte-Hanks Inc., the Texas-based global marketing company that provides CRM and related solutions, announced that Richard M. Hochhauser will succeed Larry Franklin as chief executive officer, assuming the position April 1, 2002. Franklin, who has been with the company for 30 years, will remain Chairman of the Board.
Hochauser has also been with the company for quite some time, working in a variety of capacities. He joined Harte-Hanks in 1975 to create and operate a new market research firm, RMH Research in River Edge, N.J. and eventually became president and chief executive officer of Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing in 1987. He became a corporate vice president in 1980, senior vice president in 1991 and executive vice president in 1996. He was elected to the Harte-Hanks board in 1996 and was named chief operating officer in 1998. In 1999 he was named president and chief operating officer.
In addition to his duties within Harte-Hanks, Hochauser has served as chairman of the Direct Marketing Association. He is an author and lecturer on direct and interactive marketing and is a member of the Center for Direct and Interactive Marketing Board of Advisors of the New York University, School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Hochhauser is also a director of Modem Media Inc. A graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University, he holds an MBA from Columbia University.
Commenting on the transition, Franklin said, “A personal decision of this magnitude leaves me with mixed emotions after 30 years with the company, including seven as chief operating officer and the last ten as CEO. I make it having every confidence that under Richard's leadership, supported by his strong operating management team and an extremely capable corporate team, Harte-Hanks will achieve even greater success in the years ahead. I will support him in any way possible during the transition and afterwards. Richard and I have worked together for more than two decades. In a real sense we have been partners, working closely on virtually all of the company's key strategic and operating initiatives over the years. Richard is a talented business executive who shares the values and helped build the culture that makes Harte-Hanks a very special place. He has been instrumental in the enormous success Harte-Hanks has enjoyed over the years. One of the significant responsibilities of any CEO is to have a successor in place, and Richard is eminently qualified to lead Harte-Hanks.”
Harte-Hanks Inc. began as a West Texas newspaper company in the 1920s and has developed into a worldwide marketing company. Harte-Hanks uses technology to capture, analyze and disseminate customer and prospect data at all points of contact, while also providing best-of-breed services: direct agency capabilities to print on demand, Web page design to e-care, desktop database capabilities to systems integration, personalized direct mail to e-mail, software products to ASP solutions.
