Tim Hawthorne, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Hawthorne Direct, is considered by many to be the "Father of the Modern Infomercial". His intensive experience in broadcast television as a producer, director, writer, and editor has given him a vision of what DRTV can be. His thought leadership prompted Rapp and Collins to dub him "King of the Infomercial" in their marketing book, The Great Marketing Turn Around. In September 2006, Tim was awarded the ERA's Lifetime Achievement Award. Hawthorne Direct employs 75 professionals in Research, Creative, Production, Media Buying/Analysis, Internet Marketing, Back-End and Integrated Marketing Management. Tim and his team bill over $150 million annually and have won over 400 creative awards. Past and current clients include Time-Life, Apple, Nissan, Discover Card, U.S. Navy, Nikon, Braun, Orange Glo and Oreck among many others.
Mark Ratner, Senior Vice President - Marketing Services/Account Management, is a pioneer in direct response marketing and an expert in using offer development/testing to boost campaign performance and profitability. He oversaw the development of TimeTrack™, the first and most sophisticated software for analyzing direct response media and providing clients with online, real-time media information. Mark has led the account teams of some of the most successful DRTV campaigns in history. His clients include Nissan, Discover Card, Apple, Aero Products, U.S. Navy, Oreck, One World Live, Telebrands, Bose, and Jenny Craig.
Bob Moore, Vice President - Marketing Services/Account Management, is a 24-year veteran of the DRTV industry. Having worked at Hawthorne Direct since its inception as Hawthorne Communications in 1986, he has held a variety of positions, including Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and VP-Integrated Marketing. Bob is behind numerous successful marketing strategies and campaigns for clients that include Time-Life, Wagner, Rowenta, Applica, Black & Decker, Lawn-Boy, Evinrude, Johnson Outdoors, Fantom and Wahl. Prior to joining Hawthorne Direct, Bob held financial and general management positions at General Electric, Mid-South Concerts, and Fairfield Television Enterprises, where he and Tim Hawthorne managed the generation of $50 million in sales with "The Millionaire Maker" infomercial campaign.
As Vice President - Marketing Services/Account Management, Gene Silverman ensures that each Hawthorne Direct client campaign is impeccably managed. A recognized leader in the direct response industry since 1989, he has been quoted in Time, frequently speaks at DRTV industry conferences, and is a regular contributor to Electronic Retailer. Gene was President of Hawthorne Direct before stepping out on his own as a DRTV consultant for Time Life and QVC. He has worked on highly successful DRTV campaigns such as Fantom Vacuum, Braun Handblender, Thermoscan Ear Thermometer, Jet-Stream Oven, and numerous Time-Life music and video products.
Karla Crawford Kerr, Director of Business Development, evaluates products for DRTV viability, handles public relations, assists with trade show and event planning, and performs other marketing and sales duties for prospective and existing clients. Her clients include Applica, Kaz Honeywell, Nikon, U.S. Navy, Clorox, Procter & Gamble, RotoZip Tool Corporation, Braun, Oreck, and Aero. Karla serves on the Direct Marketing Association Broadcast Council Operating Board and was a member of the DMA Broadcast Council Operating Committee and co-chair of its programming for two years. She was named the Volunteer of the Year in 2004 by the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA), chaired its Education Committee for four years, and has served as an ERA Awards judge since 2005. She is a regular anchor on the Hawthorne Videoactive Report™.
Senior Vice President of Media/Account Management George Leon has worked in every aspect of the DRTV industry for the past 18 years. He has strong experience in agency account management, media analysis, and effective team management, and in creating strong media relationships, particularly in the Los Angeles and New York media outlets. Launching his career at Williams Television Time in Los Angeles, George worked on account analysis for clients such as Kent & Spiegel, Phillips Electronics, DirecTV, and M&M Mars. Later, he was media director of National Media, Inc. In 2000, George co-founded Gold Mountain Media, Inc., a successful DR media agency whose clients included T-Fal Cookware, Body by Jake, Sylmark, Product Partners, Magic Bullet and Alchemy's Six Week Body Makeover. In 2008, George launched CIELO Media Management, Inc., focusing on a hybrid of English and Spanish Long and Short Form media campaigns.
Mary Papp, Vice President of Media Account Management, oversees the development and execution of all client media strategies. She also manages teleservices, fulfillment, and web integration, and leads the media account management team. Her clients include Bose, 3M, Clorox, HAAN, KAZ Honeywell, Oreck, Time-Life, Wagner and OWL. Mary has held numerous positions at Hawthorne Direct since 1996, including new business development, Manager of Media Operations, assistant to the Vice President of Media, Media Account Manager, Senior Media Account Manager, and then Director. She previously was a marketing product manager for a manufacturing company.
Paul Allen, Vice President - Creative Director, oversees the entire creative process on both DRTV and Videoactive projects. He has won numerous awards, including those from the Electronic Retailing Association, Jordan Whitney Monitoring Services, Infomercial Monitoring Services (IMS), Joey Awards, Telly Awards, and New York Festivals. He likely has had more shows ranked in the top 50 of the IMS report than any other single person. His expertise at crafting successful Long and Short Form campaigns has put him in high demand with clients that include AOL, Clorox, Microsoft, NutriSystem, Orange Glo, Oreck, and P & G. Prior to his career in direct response, Paul worked in both traditional spot production and independent film.
John Pucci, Creative Director in Hawthorne Direct's Los Angeles office, is an award-winning creative director with a wealth of talent and experience working on major brands from both agency and client perspectives. Most recently, Pucci led a team of writers, art directors and motion graphic artists, creating Direct Response Television Long Form and Short Form at Euro RSCG Edge, where his clients included The Humane Society, LifeLock, Quicken Loans and ProFlowers. As former Executive Creative Director for both RAPP and Publicis, Pucci led strategy, creative concepting and execution for AAA, Bank of America, DIRECTV, Neutrogena, Toyota and Nestlé, among other clients. John honed his agency skills at DDB, TracyLocke and Saatchi & Saatchi while building his in-house experience with brands such as E! Networks, Mattel and Disney.
Aaron Raymond, Director of Digital and Interactive, joined Hawthorne Direct in 2009. He previously was VP, Director of Online Marketing and VP, Director of Strategic Operations at Euro RSCG Edge; he also has been Senior Implementation Consultant and Interactive Strategy Director at Omniture and McCann Erickson. Aaron has worked with a range of clients that includes Adobe Systems, Visa.com, Barclays Global Investors, Intel.com, Red Lobster, American Express, MasterCard, Plantronics, McAfee Security, Enzyte, Neutrogena SkinID and Kodak.com.
As Media Account Manager, Jori Steck specializes in both Long and Short Form direct response television and integrated marketing services. Her creative and strategic ideas help clients extend the life and increase the profitability of DRTV campaigns. Previously she worked at GSD&M Idea City in Austin, Texas where she directed broadcast, print and digital planning and production for national advertising for Frito Lay. Jori has also worked with McGarrah Jessee Advertising, a full service national agency, and Alliance Abroad Group, where she oversaw communication efforts to support its various programs working with more than 500 small business and corporate clients, 75 international partner agencies, and 10,000 international students.
Jennifer Echternach, Media Account Manager, recently joined the Hawthorne Direct media team working in its Portland, Oregon office. She previously was Media Account Executive with R2C for almost five years, leading clients through each step of planning, executing and analyzing their campaigns. Jennifer has also worked for Koopman Ostbo and Bradshaw Advertising, where she assisted Account Managers with project management, production coordination and client relations. She also coordinated the trafficking and media relations of client ads, and supported the Public Relations department. Her accounts have included Humana, Humana One, Philips, Electrolux, Corinthian Colleges, Kroger and Chase.
