What Sets Us
Apart
Imagine advertising that reaches and motivates your target audience to act. Advertising that is a profit center, not a business expense. Advertising that effectively and efficiently sells products, services, and ideas — builds brands, raises corporate awareness, and drives retail sales — all while making advertising make money.
This goal is what drives the entire Lockard & Wechsler Direct team, and ultimately what sets us apart from all other direct and performance marketing professionals. Our comprehensive industry experience, unparalleled negotiation prowess, and proprietary technology and analytics have helped us become a nationally acclaimed performance marketing agency with a wide range of satisfied clients whose well-invested media dollars are propelling their businesses’ growth.
Over the past 30+ years, we’ve written and revised the Rules for Performance Marketing & DRTV Success
Leadership
Our leadership team has well over a century of performance marketing experience spanning everything from CPG to D2C, Healthcare, e-Commerce, and Housewares. We’re proud of our history of helping small companies grow and large companies grow larger.
Dick Wechsler
Dick has spent more than a quarter century in senior marketing and Direct Response. He is widely recognized as one of the foremost thought leaders in DR and is a sought-after speaker at major industry conferences. He has authored more than 30 articles in leading publications.
Asieya Pine
s the President of LWD, Asieya oversees the agency’s daily operations while spearheading the client strategy and account services groups, optimizing media strategies for over 80 clients. Under Asieya’s guidance, LWD has emerged as an analytics powerhouse, offering clients unparalleled transparency and insights necessary for building their businesses and brands. Her commitment to excellence and innovation ensures that LWD remains at the forefront of the industry, delivering exceptional results for its clients. Asieya’s expertise spans various disciplines, including advertising for consumer products, lead generation, eCommerce brands, and brand awareness. She has been instrumental in pioneering innovative strategies that drive client success and her visionary leadership over the last 25 years has continually transformed the agency, enhancing its capacity to serve clients across diverse industry sectors.
Benjamin Speight
Ben is a seasoned direct marketer with over 15 years’ experience in true direct response acquisition, as well as corporate brand response. His experience spans nearly all categories (pharma, telecom, fitness, packaged goods, food service, travel). Ben leads business development efforts for the agency, as well as strategy for a number of clients. His approach is anchored in the understanding that no media channel works alone, and each has a specific influence on one another. While TV is his specialty, Ben is media agnostic when it comes to delivering results!
Carolyn Sura
Carolyn oversees the media buying operations at LWD. She has been a force in guiding the agency’s growth from three employees to nearly a hundred with over $450 million in annual media billings. Prior to LWD, Carolyn was a VP at Ogilvy, where she worked with clients such as AT&T and Wells Fargo.
Cristina Ferruggiari
Cristina brings a wide array of experience to LWD, joining the team from Havas Media Group where she rose through the ranks over the last twelve years, primarily working with clients to build omni-channel media strategies. Cristina’s experience spans various product categories including quick service restaurants, consumer packaged goods, retail and luxury products. Prior to her move to LWD, Cristina served as SVP Group Director, Video Investments, a post she had held since 2018, where she was responsible for developing and leading Havas’ Advanced TV offerings as well as national and upfront media investments.
Kurt Pisani
Kurt joined LWD in 2001 as a Media Specialist. He has overseen hundreds of accounts, many of them from inception. Understanding media and response trends are his key strengths. Currently Kurt works with some of the industry’s top marketers, including traditional and service oriented campaigns.
Ilene Melnyk
Ilene is an established Direct Marketing professional with 35+ years’ experience with a wide range of knowledge of Linear TV as well as some Digital Advertising background. Throughout her career, Ilene has worked on a wide variety of Direct Response Clients ranging from Traditional to Hybrid Brands. She is involved in Analyzing Data and purchasing all varieties of Short Form TV. She started at Grey Direct Advertising in NYC, worked at SCP Direct and has been at Lockard & Wechsler Direct since May 2000.
Megan Kennedy
As a senior member of the LWD account management team, Megan is the day-to-day practitioner and keeper of the company strategic philosophy. She directs the strategic leadership of her clients’ businesses and assigned account teams. Over the past 14 years, she has delivered a consistently high quality of work, with many successes, for some of our key clients – including esurance, Credible, DSE Healthcare, Vonage and others.
Lucia Elliott
Lucia is responsible for all print-related media planning and buying at LWD. Her disciplines in direct marketing also include direct mail, digital, OOH and both long- and short-form DRTV. Prior to joining LWD, she worked on over 20 pharmaceutical brands within GlaxoSmithKline, and coordinated the Nicorette Graffiti Campaign that was nominated for three Cannes Lion awards.
Erik Fitzgerald
With over 15 years experience in direct marketing, Erik is an integral part of LWD’s account and planning teams. He possesses a methodical, proven approach to media planning, optimization, and overall campaign stewardship. He quickly identifies trends and capitalizes on opportunities for his clients. His efforts have resulted in better business outcomes and improved ROI for his clients.
Rachel Wilders
During her 15+ years at LWD, Rachel has executed launches and managed the growth of campaigns spanning industries from CPG, Pharmaceutical, DTC, Health Insurance, Education, and Hospitality. She oversees day-to-day operations of the planning team while leading client strategy and communications. Rachel’s years of account experience includes Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Neurocrine Biosciences, Qunol, Sears Holdings Corporation, Blue Cross Blue Shield, EmblemHealth, University of Maryland Global Campus, and Choice Hotels.
Bryanne Marrone
Bryanne is an accomplished and versatile account lead. With 10 years experience across both traditional direct and e-commerce marketing, she is very well versed in multichannel web attribution, and understands how to measure and interpret the data to deliver improved ROI. Bryanne has successfully launched and scaled several of LWDs Direct and Retail Campaigns.
Brian Uhl
Brian brings strategic thinking and superior plan development skills to the table every day. With 15+ years of multi-channel experience, across traditional and emerging platforms, his clients trust him and he consistently delivers for them. He knows how to develop campaigns that will meet objective, and most importantly, maximize the media investment for optimal return.
Taber Harris
Taber has been with LWD since 2011 and has quickly become a key member of our account services team. Prior to LWD, Taber began her career working at Integrated Media Solutions, in the broadcast department. Taber’s knowledge of the marketplace, coupled with her ability to manage lead generation and e-commerce campaigns, allows her to work across all categories. She is integral part of LWD’s data management, reporting and attribution analysis for clients throughout the agency. Taber has excellent attention to detail and a deep understanding of the consumer response which allows her to identify opportunities and scale campaigns quickly.
Marci Leary
Marci joined the LWD team in 2017 and serves as Vice President, Planning. She brings 11 years of media experience working with some of the industry’s top direct response campaigns. Prior to LWD, Marci worked as a Senior Media Buyer at a well-known DRTV agency and was responsible for negotiating media and campaign planning. Currently, she is responsible for managing a wide-range of campaigns from traditional DRTV to retail campaign services for industry leaders. With a comprehensive understanding of marketplace trends, Marci’s custom approach to campaign development, based on each client’s specific demographics and targets, has provided consistent and positive ROI results.
Susan Rosado
Susan began her career working directly for FOX and CBS Television Networks before moving to Media Buying. She created the Per Inquiry discipline at her previous agency, growing it to a multi-million-dollar revenue generator. She also created that department at LWD. Susan has both Direct Response and General buying experience across multiple categories ranging from Pharma to Edu.
Hilary Weinstein
Hilary began her career with LWD in 2003 as a planning assistant. In 2007 she transitioned over to the buying team. In her time with the agency, she has managed high profile As Seen On TV clients as well as purchased media from the largest cable networks and broadcast markets. As a Vice President with more than 19 years of experience, she oversees the day-to-day activities of the team, while also negotiating the best rates possible for the agency client list. Hilary’s close attention to detail and strong understanding of the media landscape make her a strong asset to the LWD team.
Daniel Fabé
Daniel has been with LWD since 2007. Daniel is a savvy negotiator who will tirelessly work to deliver the best inventory at optimal pricing across the board, for all clients. Given his vast understanding of inventory trends and pricing thresholds, the planning teams rely heavily on Daniel to deliver efficient opportunities that will not only reach, but also engage prospects Daniel manages all sports related media opportunities for the agency and has deep understanding of all sports audience viewership like no other.
Martha Voyer
Working across national cable, syndication and local markets, Martha is a seasoned direct marketer with over 35 years’ experience in both acquisition and brand efficiency campaigns. Her extensive experience spans a broad sector of clients, including CPG, pharma, insurance, travel, telecom, and traditional direct response campaigns. Martha’s background includes oversight of both media investment and media management at holding companies and smaller shops, bringing that experience and perspective to her current focus of media investment for short form TV/video.
Kaitlin Sumner
Kaitlin has been with LWD since 2012. Her ability to quickly identify trends and derive meaningful insights within complex data has made her a tremendous asset to the agency. Kaitlin and her team are responsible for interpreting and dissecting research, which becomes the foundation of our strategic planning process. Her always approachable, team-oriented mindset allows her to work-across the agency seamlessly, adding value to all phases of plan development. Apart from her role within the research department, she does an outstanding job supporting the executive team in all aspects of our new business process.
Cathryn McCann
Cathryn joined LWD as a Media Specialist in November 2011. Since then Cathryn has grown to be a vital member of the planning team through daily strategizing, data analytics and client communication. Her diverse category experience includes warranty services, traditional As Seen On TV campaigns and E-Commerce driven businesses. Her strong work ethic, positive demeanor and account management skills have helped to on-board and efficiently grow a wide range of clients.
Stephanie Sfaelos
Stephanie joined the Lockard & Wechsler team in 2012 as a Media Specialist. Since then she has strategized, executed and managed various types of accounts. Stephanie has worked on a full range of campaigns from Traditional DRTV to retail support and E-Commerce campaigns for clients such as Emson, Navage, Recovery Centers of America, Luminess Air, Ontel and Cyclone Rake. Her comprehensive approach to media planning and optimization, along with her attention to detail and organization, allows her to continuously meet all client needs and expand all campaigns to their full potential.
Michael Carlson
Michael started with LWD in 2007 as an IT Specialist. As Manager of Infrastructure, Michael’s role includes planning/overseeing hardware migrations, ensuring all software/hardware is operating properly, supervising application & helpdesk support and ensuring all IT related questions are promptly addressed. His experience spans over 20 years within the IT field.
Jeannette Weinstein
Jeannette is a DRTV industry veteran with over 20 years of experience managing business operations for small, medium and large corporations. Having joined LWD in 2016, Jeannette and her team are responsible for overseeing media operations, including back-end client support, data validation and process automation. Previously, Jeannette was the CFO and Senior Operations Executive for a direct marketing company. Prior to that, she was a senior accountant at Fine Host Corporation where she managed auditing, accounting and financial reporting for numerous sport stadiums, arenas, and theaters.
Catherina Somai
Catherina joined the LWD team in 2009 as a Media Specialist. Over the years, she has been instrumental in building both response-driven campaigns and awareness-based executions across Linear and Digital media. Her insight and ability to analyze results, along with her broad range of expertise has enabled her to consistently deliver on client goals and objectives. She has provided her strategic planning skills on various accounts, some of which include Esurance, JG Wentworth, Keepsake, Listen Lively, Choice Hotels, Idea Village, Birddogs to name a few.
Jessica Davis
Jessica joined the agency in August of 2011 as a Planning Assistant and has since progressed to Media Supervisor. During her time at LWD, she’s worked on several campaigns that spread across the category spectrum, including: Insurance (Esurance), Pharma/Drugs (Avanir & Quten Research), Heathcare (BrightStar & EmblemHealth), Financial (Fidelity Investments), Travel (Choice Hotels), and Home Improvement (Sears). Her knowledge and ability to analyze results allow her to execute media plans and deliver on client campaign goals.
Caitlin Leuschner
Caitlin joined the Lockard & Wechsler team in 2015 as a Media Specialist. Since then, she has strategized, executed, and managed various types of accounts. Caitlin has worked on a full range of campaigns from Traditional DRTV to retail support and E-Commerce brands. Her comprehensive approach to media planning and optimization, along with her attention to detail and organization, allows her to continuously meet all client goals and expand all campaigns to their full potential.
Scott Lisk
With more than a decade of experience in the media industry, Scott joined LWD in 2021 to manage and grow LWD’s burgeoning Advanced TV footprint. Scott’s history in Linear TV/Radio helps him leverage a true understanding of the overall media landscape to provide clients with informed guidance across a variety of consumer categories, including apparel, insurance, financial services, and more.
Kiley Edgley
Kiley is our people person. She leads our recruiting and shapes much of the overall employee experience at Lockard & Wechsler Direct by managing our HR policies, employee relations, performance reviews, benefits administration, and all things people operations. Kiley is a Society of Human Resources Managers Certified Professional with extensive experience in the legal and media industries. She’s worked in the HR realm for 10+ years, and she joined the agency in 2021.
Alex Constantinescu
Alex is a Software Development Manager with experience in integrating clients’ 1st party data to provide a comprehensive view of their media performance and optimization opportunities. His focus on data accuracy and client data integration has been a key factor in his ability to deliver effective and efficient software solutions to his clients. As a Software Development Manager, Alex is responsible for leading a team of software developers and ensuring that they deliver high-quality software on time and within budget. He also manages client relationships and works closely with them to understand their needs and develop software solutions that meet those needs.
Auston Longfield
Auston joined LWD as a planning assistant in 2013. He has climbed the agency ranks in the decade since, managing and leading countless DRTV accounts across a variety of categories. An ultimate team player who leads by example, Auston ensures that his clients are delivered accurate and effective plans, and works daily to galvanize his teams to do the same.
Alec Schwartz
Alec has a diverse background in media planning, buying, and strategy, with a particular focus on response-based DRTV. Alec’s expertise in media buying allows him to make informed, strategic decisions that are always aligned with his clients' goals. He has experience working with and leading a variety of accounts, including traditional DRTV, e-commerce, and lead generation services.
Salvatore Celzo
Joining LWD as an assistant media planner in 2018, Sal has since developed into one of the team’s most reliable resources. Sal’s experience spans the category spectrum, managing major accounts like Tranzact, Generac and HealthyWage. Always striving to help grow his clients’ businesses, Sal works closely with his teams to ensure that clients achieve and surpass YoY goals and KPI objectives.
Better planning & measurement start here. Let’s get to work!