Crossmark acquires marketing-solutions firm PromoWorks

PLANO, Texas — Crossmark on Monday announced the acquisition of the assets of PromoWorks, an insights-driven shopper marketing solutions firm. PromoWorks will be led by industry veteran Julie Beck. Prior to joining PromoWorks in 2011, Beck held a variety of leadership positions at Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft and the Partnering Group.

"PromoWorks offers unique strategies that enhance the retail experience through customized shopper engagement and product sampling/demonstration events," stated Joe Crafton, Crossmark CEO. "The transaction will result in Crossmark being the preferred product sampling and demonstration agency for 10 of the top 20 food retailers in the United States and the exclusive event marketing planning agency for many of the top consumer brands."

PromoWorks will be Crossmark's go-to-market brand that will be the foundation for growth in grocery shopper engagement.  Crossmark will roll its NCiM grocery events business under the leadership of the PromoWorks management team.

This is Crossmark's second recent acquisition of a marketing firm.  In August, Crossmark acquired Marketing Werks — one of the largest independent consumer-engagement companies in the United States.

"As traditional advertising continues to lose relevance in many categories, we are experiencing an explosion in utilizing people as media to engage with consumers on-the-go," Crafton noted. "According to our research, experiential marketing is expected to see robust growth over the next decade."