The largest independent marketing services network in North America.

Zain Raj, Chief Executive Officer

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Zain is Chief Executive Officer of Hyper Marketing, the largest independent marketing-services network in North America. Hyper Marketing was formed by SolutionSet MediaWhiz Partnership's January 2012 merger with D.L. Ryan Cos., the largest independent promotion and shopper marketing firm in the U.S.

The newly formed company has 1,300 employees in 24 offices across the country, and delivers digital, direct, data, local, promotion and shopper marketing programs to some of the world's best-known brands. Ad Age recently defined Hyper Marketing as a "transaction-driven" network far different from the holding companies' business approach, which has been to tack on digital and sales-oriented capabilities to their traditional suite of services. At Hyper Marketing, everything revolves around changing consumer behavior and driving transactions.

Zain has counseled marketers and executed campaigns across a wide range of industries for the last two decades. His strategic approach and progressive solutions have resulted in dramatic top- and bottom-line growth for many companies in multiple categories.

Before Hyper Marketing, Zain was the President and CEO of SolutionSet MediaWhiz Partnership which he joined in mid-2010, helping energize the business and move it from a top-ten company to the second-largest independent agency in the marketing services space. Prior to joining SolutionSet, Zain was North American CEO of Euro RSCG Discovery, the digital, CRM, data and analytics arm of Euro RSCG Worldwide as well as Global Practice Leader for Euro RSCG's Retail Brands. Before Euro, he was President and CEO of BrandXp, a digital marketing and strategy firm that developed digitally-led innovations for Fortune 100 brands. He has also held global leadership positions at Bayer Bess Vanderwarker, J. Walter Thompson, Foote Cone & Belding and Wunderman Cato Johnson (now Wunderman). He began his career at Grey Advertising in India.

Zain is author of Brand Rituals: How Successful Brands Bond with Customers for Life, a new approach to building brands in today's digitally-led environment. He is a sought-after speaker on the changing marketing landscape, espousing the view that marketing needs to change people's behavior, not just attitudes, and that brands need to build bonded relationships with their core customers. He is a frequent contributor and featured in several publications including the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Fast Company.

Zain is a member of the Executive's Club of Chicago and a Charter Member of TiE Midwest. He formerly sat on the Board of Directors of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association. His views on business can be found on his website, Brand Rituals.

Outside of work, Zain reaches out to the business community as a board member of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and Junior Achievement. Zain is married with two teenage children and loves time on the golf course, when possible.

Paul Kramer, President

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Paul Kramer became President of Hyper Marketing in January 2012 after the merger of digital marketing company SolutionSet MediaWhiz Partnership and D.L. Ryan Cos., the largest independent promotion and shopper marketing firm in the U.S.—of which he was President and COO. At Hyper Marketing, now the largest independent marketing services network in the U.S., Paul works closely with the CEO, and guides all aspects of business strategy and development, mergers and acquisitions, human resources, finance and client relations.

Paul has established a long track record of building high performance sales and marketing programs and communication organizations. His expertise is a unique blend of creativity and technical marketing analysis complemented by a wide range of skills: strategic planning, global marketing, national brand and account management, marketing communications, licensing, intellectual property and business development.

Paul built a strong foundation in brand positioning and advertising, spending the first 10 years of his career in posts at Grey, Bates, and Saatchi & Saatchi before joining D.L. Ryan Cos in 1990. At D.L. Ryan, Paul created the agency's shopper marketing group, and honed his promotional marketing skills. In 2005, Paul founded Catapult Marketing, a new shopper and promotions agency under D.L. Ryan, growing the company from $12 Million in net revenue to $40 Million in five years. Under Paul's leadership, Promo Magazine ranked Catapult Marketing, within two years of being founded, the 13th most strategic company in the industry. In 2010, Chief Marketer Magazine named Catapult Marketing "Promotional Marketing Agency of the Year." Paul founded Etailing Solutions under D.L. Ryan in 2011, creating the first full-service agency dedicated to helping manufacturers sell direct-to-consumer through online channels. Etailing Solutions has generated over $1 million in net revenue in its first 12 months.

Paul's career achievements have been recognized with a Promotional Marketing Association Reggie for Global Marketing on behalf of PEDIGREE® Brand Food for Dogs. A prolific writer, he has been published in numerous publications including Promo/Chief Marketer Magazine, Shopper Marketing Magazine and The HUB, and has appeared on CBS Radio Wall Street Journal CEO Report.

When not working, Paul enjoys spending time with his family, horseback riding, hunting, and motorcycle riding.

Christopher Averill

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Christopher brings to Hyper Marketing a wealth of experience gained over more than 30 years in financial and operations accounting, treasury and cash management, financial analysis, and business management. Since 2009, he has served as a director at Lake Capital, an investor in Hyper Marketing. Prior to that, Christopher was chief financial officer of SourceLink, a leading direct marketing agency. From 1986 to 2004, he held various financial executive positions with Rexam and American National Can Company in their U.S. and European divisions.

A certified public accountant, Christopher began his career in public accounting at Oppenheim Appel Dixon and Harry F. Shea, where he spent six years providing audit and tax services. He holds a BA in Accounting from Indiana University and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Thomas Lanzetta, Chief Operating Officer

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As COO of Hyper Marketing, Tom Lanzetta brings over 20 years of financial and operational experience to the role. Tom works with the executive team to set strategic goals for the business and ensure the business is efficiently operating on a path toward achieving those goals while leading the integration and collaboration of the multiple Hyper offices focused on driving efficiency and enhanced client delivery. Previously, Tom also served as COO/CFO of MediaWhiz and was responsible for Strategy Implementation, Financial Operations, Investor Relations and Accounting functions.

Prior to joining MediaWhiz in December 2006, Tom spent nearly a decade at Agency.com (formerly Nasdaq: ACOM), a full service interactive agency. At Agency.com Tom was aggressively promoted, spending his final years with the company as the Chief Operating Officer. As COO, Tom was charged with overseeing operations for Agency.com's six worldwide offices and 500 employees. He also led a turnaround strategy that saw Agency.com bounce back from the Dot-Com crash of 2001, evidenced by the company regaining profitability and industry recognition. Prior to Agency.com, Tom was CFO of Spiral Media, a startup boutique/interactive shop in NYC.

Tom holds a BBA in Accounting from Baruch College. Tom began his career in public accounting and earned his CPA certification in 1991.

Michael Miller, Chief Marketing Officer

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Michael Miller brings nearly two decades of experience in marketing communications and business development to Hyper Marketing Inc., the largest independent marketing-services network in North America.

He works with the executive leadership team to integrate HMI's agencies and services to support the company's mission: help client CMO's develop integrated programs that drive profitable results.

Most recently, Michael was chief growth officer at MRM Worldwide, a McCann Worldgroup agency, where he led global new business development for the agency as well as its go-to-market strategy for both MRM and McCann Worldgroup. Among the domestic and global business won under his leadership were BlueCross BlueShield, Century 21, Diageo (Crown Royal, Captain Morgan, and a global SEM/SEO initiative), GM, Intel, iShares, JP Morgan Chase, Mattel, The Home Depot, U.S. Army, Verizon, Walmart and Wells Fargo.

Before joining MRM, Michael led business development at G2, a unit of Grey Global Group, where he managed the integration of network capabilities, delivery of sales, marketing strategies and creative solutions for clients and prospects. He positioned the agency to win assignments with Cache, Corcoran, Crown Imports, Dubai Properties, Lennar Home Builders, Pernod Ricard, Pizza Hut, Tishman Speyer and Wyndham Worldwide.

Prior to G2, Michael worked for Starpoint Solutions, a technology-consulting and communications firm, where he was co-founder and director of business development for the creative-services group, forging relationships with BMG, Citibank, Condé Nast, Diageo, Goldman Sachs, Lifetime Entertainment, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Wiley and Unilever.

Michael began his ad career at Grey in New York, where he managed holistic marketing programs for accounts such as Hasbro, Mars Masterfood and Procter & Gamble. He also worked at Grey Advertising's London and Prague offices.

Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in international business from the University of Maryland. He is a 4A's New Business Committee Member and regular speaker at industry events.