Diedrich RPM: Your Premier Agency Partner for Elevated Tourism & Passenger Vessel Marketing

With several decades of industry experience, Diedrich RPM (DRPM) is a leading tourism and passenger vessel marketing agency for reputable clients nationwide. We specialize in cruise ship advertising, using our proven process to understand your customers, enhance your online presence, and ultimately drive sales.

The DRPM Growth Advantage:

WHY CHOOSE US

Our Mission & Values

Our mission is to achieve growth through performance, innovation, and efficient client support.

TEAM FIRST

We are dedicated & loyal to the team and not just chasing our own pride.

OPEN & HONEST COMMUNICATION

We mean what we say and say what we mean.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Our team trusts us to own our work and to not let them down.

STRATEGIC & SMART

We are knowledgeable and good at what we do. Our expertise speaks for itself.

KINDNESS & RESPECT

We genuinely care about each other. Period.

EFFICIENT & ORGANIZED

We streamline our work and processes because time is money.

PERSISTENT & CONSISTENT

We are determined to pursue the best results and never give up.

These seven values represent the backbone of everything we do at DRPM. We can provide tourism and passenger vessel marketing that gets you noticed, enhances your brand, and improves your bottom line. These values are a part of our bottom line and are why you’ll enjoy working with us. At DRPM, we are committed to your success. Connect with us today to learn how we can help you thrive in a competitive marketplace.

OUR LEADERS

Eddie at Diedrich RPM

Eddie Price / President

Being a leader doesn’t come easy, but Eddie, he’s a natural. Leveraging decades of previous business management experience, he connects with our top executives to ensure streamlined operations. Eddie not only stands by our company values, but he’s also a thought leader when it comes to strategizing areas for growth. On top of that, he has a keen eye for overseeing our finances and recognizing new opportunities. Driven to excel, Eddie graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1988. A few years later, in 1991, he founded his first business called Carolina Insurance before eventually starting his current company called Jenesis Software, an industry-leading insurance agency management system. In 2022, Eddie and his wife Lisa acquired Diedrich RPM to continue his long-standing reputation of helping other organizations be successful. Reflecting on the past, he notes that customer and employee relationships are the richest sources of his knowledge and experience.

A fun thing to know about Eddie is that he is a hobby junkie. His hobbies include motorcycles, boats, airplanes, martial arts, weight lifting, guitar, bicycling, and who knows what’s next.

Liz at Diedrich RPM

Liz Diedrich / Founder & Brand Ambassador

As the founder of Diedrich RPM (DRPM), Liz embodies everything our company stands for. She’s a steadfast advocate for our business with a true passion for connecting with our clients. Liz started her first venture at age 20 when she invented and manufactured a product that she then sold to Tupperware. From there, she taught college-level drafting and engineering, as well as marketing classes in Germany for the US military at three different institutions. She returned to the States and became the director of sales and marketing for a cruise line and resort in Florida, where she grew their sales from $1.4 million to $17.5 million in just three years. Liz started DRPM in 1994 and has been an acclaimed innovator in combining research and marketing ever since. She also started a cruise business in Brainerd, Minnesota, on Gull Lake called Destiny Cruises, which was sold in 2018 to a large resort.

A fun thing to know about Liz is that her hobbies include riding her horses, painting, and enjoying her family and grandchildren.

Our Team

Colleen Lapel / VP of Operations

We don’t hand out awards at DRPM, but few would argue against Colleen being our MVP. Colleen helps facilitate research to understand our client’s needs and develops marketing plans to help them reach their goals. Macro: She develops meaningful relationships with clients. Micro: She creates marketing objectives, strategies, timelines, and budgets. She monitors and continually communicates the status of all marketing aspects to ensure they are aligned and on point. A marketing veteran on the DRPM staff, Colleen enjoys and excels at lending an ear and offering counsel to other client managers and staff.

A fun thing to know about Colleen is she has a passion for pet rescue. All of her dogs have come from rescue organizations.

Kris Schmidt / Director of Finance & HR

The great philosopher Seneca once said, “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind favorable.” A budget alone won’t mean you’ll reach port safely, but the proper strategic thinking behind it certainly increases the odds. Kris manages DRPM’s finances, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, business and employee insurances, financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning. Kris is also responsible for HR management and compliance. Kris says she has found the perfect work-life balance at Diedrich RPM which allows her to fulfill a vital role within our company and yet enjoy her family and volunteer opportunities as well.

A fun thing to know about Kris is she enjoys reading, time with friends, and serving within her church.

Sophia Montgomery / Business Development Representative

With the ultimate goal of helping our clients flourish, count on our Business Development Representative, Sophia, to be your first point of contact. Leveraging years of prior sales and digital marketing experience, she is responsible for generating leads and new opportunities for our organization.

Sophia is a University of Tennessee graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and electronic media. She is a digital marketing professional with a passion for innovative and data-driven strategies that promote online engagement and growth. Sophia is known for her creative mindset, analytical approach, and ability to adapt to the ever-evolving digital landscape. She understands that having a clear marketing strategy helps our clients reach their goals and allows them to allocate their time more efficiently and effectively. Without a plan, their marketing efforts may be scattered, and they can go in circles. Sophia is here to help guide you toward the ideal DRPM services to achieve new levels of success.

Sophia cheered in college during her first year when she went to Samford University. She grew up on a farm and has a passion for fashion. In her free time, she enjoys wakeboarding, reading, thrifting, and picnics.

Chris Heasley / Digital Marketing Manager

If you need a creative idea or a solution, Chris can help you out. From radio, billboards, tradeshows and now digital, Chris has a diverse experience in marketing and can always find a way to catch the consumer’s attention. Whether it be digital ads or social media, it’s all about standing out from the plethora of other advertising to make your brand synonymous with your product, and Chris can guide you in how to achieve those goals.

A fun thing to know about Chris is he was once a member of the US Bobsled Team which almost finished with Gold in the Winter Olympics until a freak accident occurred where a beaver ran on to the course sending the team and the sled flying 50 feet off the course and sustaining life-threatening injuries. Chris also enjoys telling elaborate made-up stories.

Carly Spicer / Account and Production Manager

Carly begins her professional career at Diedrich RPM after graduating from the University of St. Thomas with a degree in Marketing Management. While attending St. Thomas, Carly worked 40-50 hours a week between four different jobs, which certainly honed the multitasking abilities she brings to her position at DRPM. Carly keeps in constant communication with clients and with DRPM team members on strategizing how to achieve goals through marketing efforts.

A fun thing to know about Carly is that she enjoys doing calligraphy and hand lettering, and has used those skills for several weddings.

Carly Richter / Client Success Manager

It’s hard to know how to stand out from your competition in today’s ever-changing digital world. That’s where Carly stands out for DRPM customers—she’s an expert at helping companies craft both a brand identity and a voice that resonates with existing and potential customers. Carly excels at creating and sourcing content for customer profiles, building them a robust social presence, and creating and implementing digital campaigns to help brands reach specific goals through social media, email campaigns, or digital ads. Carly knows that digital and social media are constantly evolving, so she makes sure that all her clients are doing the same—she’s constantly looking for new and innovative ways to push their profiles and keep them ahead of their competition.

A fun thing to know about Carly is she started her professional career as a television news reporter in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Joni Beth Written / Director of Research

An organized and positive thinker, Joni is skilled at building strong and lasting relationships—both with clients and with colleagues. With over 10 years of communications and public relations experience, Joni joined DRPM’s research department in 2017 and quickly developed a knack for data visualization. As the Research Manager, she works with a wide variety of clients and customers—across many different fields and industries—to coordinate and oversee DRPM’s quantitative and qualitative research studies. Joni’s meticulous attention to detail and analytical thinking provide the perfect mix for producing high-quality results.

A fun thing to know about Joni is that she is a true ‘hockey mom’ that spends most of her free time at cold ice rinks and driving her three boys all around the state to play the sport they love—Hockey.

Misty Bayerl / Market Research Specialist

With a deep interest in story, Misty brings a decade of research experience to Diedrich RPM and a passion for bringing the customer experience to life.  She thrives on learning the ‘why’ behind what people do by making connections and developing relationships.  Using an empathetic ear, she collects the big picture idea and draws out significant details to create a meaningful narrative.

A fun thing to know about Misty is that she enjoys spending time with her husband and two children as well as gardening, playing guitar and listening to Christmas music nearly year round.

Katie Hardin / Social Media Specialist

Katie brings a decade of social media marketing experience to the DRPM team. With a wide breadth of experience from start-ups to well-established brands, she’s worked in various industries including auto mechanic services, jewelry, direct sales, fashion, and e-commerce. Katie enjoys the authenticity of being a part of the conversation between brands and their customers, and loves building awareness for not only what brands offer but also who they are and why they do what they do. Katie believes social provides a unique opportunity for brands to show their culture and “personality” in a way that more traditional marketing may not allow.

A fun thing to know about Katie is that she is a Shakespeare aficionado and has performed in a recreation of the Globe Theatre. (She does not, however, post in Early Modern English.)

Marina Nastepniak / Creative Manager

If it’s true that a picture is worth one thousand words, DRPM and all of our clients are in great hands with Marina. The role of the graphic artist is to create and combine images, symbols, and text to form visual representations of ideas and messages and Marina brings both an artistic flair and a clever eye to give all of our clients powerful and creative messaging that resonates with their customers. She is forward-thinking and is able to visualize and then bring to life unique and powerful messaging through both digital and print media.

A fun thing to know about Marina, she has a side hustle hobby for fitness with her own part-time, online training gig and has entered bodybuilding competitions!

Julie Luck / Graphic Designer

Alfred Hitchcock once said on the role of artists in the world, “Our primary function is to create an emotion, and our secondary function is to sustain those emotions.” As a graphic designer who’s been applying her trade for over 40 years, Julie is an expert at evoking emotion with her artistic talent. Julie’s working relationship with Liz Diedrich goes back 25 years and she prides herself on being detail focused.

Bill Hubbell / Content Manager

Bill spent over two decades in broadcast television, highlighted by winning a National Sports Emmy for his contributions to ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” Bill wore all sorts of hats in television, from on-air talent to writing and producing and then managing. A writer at heart, he sees the parallels between television news and advertising and marketing as pretty simple—you’re trying to tell a story in an entertaining fashion and you hope the audience buys in.

A fun thing to know about Bill is that he was a running back at the University of St. Thomas and his stepson a defensive end at St. John’s—the Tommie/Johnnie rivalry rages at their house!

Lareina Taing / Content Manager

Canadien poet and novelist Margaret Atwood once wrote that, “A word after a word after a word is power.” At DRPM, we believe in that power, and we are thrilled that Lareina wields her talent with the written word for us. As a copywriter, Lareina writes and edits copy for a myriad of marketing avenues from websites, blogs, and press releases to newsletters, emails, and advertisements. She’s a stickler for quality, consistency and clarity and is an expert at implementing SEO best practices into her messaging. Organized and detail-oriented, Lareina has an eagle eye for grammar and is quite skilled at putting word after word after word. It’s a power we’re delighted she brings to all of DRPM’s clients.

A fun thing to know about Lareina is she loves Halloween and being able to express her creativity through colorful or frightening theatrical makeup.

Mac Matza / Web Developer

As DRPM’s chief web developer, Mac is often the chef’s kiss to all of the hard work put in by researchers, artists, writers, and account managers when it comes to developing or adding to the web presence of our clients. (If all of their hard work never hits the internet, did it actually happen?) Mac builds websites (either through CMS or from the ground up), manages and makes updates on both the back- and front-end, create/setup hosting environments, (SSL, domains, redirects, etc.), and debugs web issues. Code is like a second language to Mac and he’s easily able to identify problematic situations and issues and come up with solutions to problems. Mac’s experience allows him to streamline processes and to provide a checklist of best practices from the start.

A fun thing to know about Mac is that he enjoys listening to heavy metal music and live streaming with PC gaming.