Crossmark
 | |
| Industry | Consumer goods |
|---|---|
| Founded | Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1905 |
| Founder | Willis Johnson and E. Leslie Hunt |
| Headquarters | Plano, Texas |
Area served | North America, Australia, New Zealand |
Key people | Steve Schuckenbrock, CEO, and Brent Smith, CFO [1] |
| Services | Sales and marketing |
| Revenue | $1b |
| Owner | Warburg Pincus |
Number of employees | 40,000 |
| Website |
www |
Crossmark, Inc., stylized as CROSSMARK, is a sales and marketing services company that operates within the consumer goods industry.[2][3][4] The company was established in 1905 by Willis Johnson and E. Leslie Hunt in Fort Smith, Arkansas as a provision supply point for groups traveling to the Oklahoma Territory.[2][5][6] Crossmark contributes research and data to the Food Marketing Institute.[7] The company serves grocery, mass, club, drug, convenience store, and home improvement channels.[8]
History
- 1906 - Company founded as Johnson and Hunt Merchandise Brokers in Fort Smith, Arkansas [9]
- 1914 - Company renamed Willis Johnson & Company, operations moved to Little Rock, Arkansas
- 1943 - President Roosevelt names Willis Johnson Sr. to the national office of price and administration (two-year assignment)
- 1944 - W.L. Gordon Company formed in Dallas, Texas
- 1953 - Phillips Brokerage Company created in Birmingham, Alabama
- 1960s and 70s - These three companies grew and prospered
- 1977 - Willis Johnson Company calls on Sam Walton in 1977
- 1981 - Willis Johnson Company changes its name to SalesMark
- 1995 - Three companies and alpha one merges
In 1997, Crossmark was one of three companies that collectively controlled 75 percent of the sales and marketing services industry.[5] In 2012, The Dallas Morning News reported that the Plano, Texas-based Crossmark had 34,000 employees and has an estimated annual revenue of $1 billion.[10][2][5] In December 2012, a majority of the company was sold to the private equity firm Warburg Pincus.[11][12]November, 2013, Crossmark acquired the assets of PromoWorks[13]
Products and services
Crossmark's services include headquarter sales, retail merchandising, in-store data collection, event marketing, retail technology, and retail analytics.[3]
On August 6, 2013, Crossmark agreed to buy Marketing Werks in Chicago. The Marketing Werks deal will contribute to its total annual revenue of nearly $1 billion.[10][14] Marketing Werks, based in Chicago, provides experiential marketing campaigns for companies in several consumer industries. It will become part of Crossmark Marketing Services, which offers in-store events, experiential marketing, shopper marketing, consumer engagement and field intelligence. Mike Graen has joined CROSSMARK as Vice President/Managing Director for CROSSMARK’s Center for Collaboration in Bentonville, Arkansas, which opened in July 2014.[15]
Recognition
In 2010[9] and 2011,[16] InformationWeek ranked Crossmark on its list of most-innovative users of business technology.
References
- ↑ http://www.crossmark.com/about/leadership
- 1 2 3 "Crossmark Named a Top Technology Innovator". CSPNet. September 27, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
- 1 2 "CROSSMARK, MARS Advg. Launch Shopper Marketing Venture". Progressive Grocer. December 12, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
- ↑ "Crossmark to Acquire NCiM". Proressive Grocer. December 1, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
- 1 2 3 "Crossmark quietly makes its mark for big-name brands" (PDF). Dallas Morning News. August 26, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
- ↑ "Crossmark History". Crossmark.
- ↑ "Retailers Face a Customer-Centric Universe: FMI". Supermarket News. April 30, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
- ↑ "Bloomberg Businessweek Company Profile". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
- 1 2 "CROSSMARK 100-Year Anniversary Video". CROSSMARK. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
- 1 2 "Plano-based Crossmark to buy Chicago consumer marketing firm". Retrieved August 6, 2013.
- ↑ Halkias, Maria. "Plano-based Crossmark sold to private equity firm Warburg Pincus". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ↑ "Investor Buys Majority Stake in Crossmark". Supermarket News. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ↑ "Crossmark Acquires Shopper Engagement Firm PromoWorks". Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ↑ "Crossmark to Buy Marketing Werks". Retrieved August 6, 2013.
- ↑ "Mike Graen to Lead CROSSMARK's Center for Collaboration". Reuters. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
- ↑ "Crossmark Named a Top Technology Innovator". CSPnet.com. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
16.^MILLENNIAL SPRING,(2014).(EDs) Grace, M.,and Graen, G., Charlotte, NC:Info Age Pub.