Crossmark

Not to be confused with X mark or CrossMark.

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]

Crossmark

Industry	Consumer goods
Founded	1905; 120 years ago (1905), in Fort Smith, Arkansas
Founder	Willis Johnson E. Leslie Hunt
Headquarters	Plano, Texas
Area served	North America, Australia
Key people	Chris Moye (CEO) Rudy Gonzalez (CFO) [1]
Services	Sales and marketing
Revenue	$1b
Owner	Acosta Group (2024–present)
Number of employees	40,000
Website	www.crossmark.com

History

The company was founded in 1906 as Johnson and Hunt Merchandise Brokers in Fort Smith, Arkansas.^[9] In 1914, the company was renamed as Willis Johnson & Company and operations moved to Little Rock, Arkansas.^{[citation needed]}

In 1943, President Roosevelt named Willis Johnson Sr. to the National Office of Price and Administration, a two-year assignment.^{[citation needed]}

In 1944, the W.L. Gordon Company formed in Dallas, Texas. In 1953 the Phillips Brokerage Company was created in Birmingham, Alabama.^{[citation needed]}

In 1977, the Willis Johnson Company called on Sam Walton. In 1981, Willis Johnson Company changes its name to SalesMark.^{[citation needed]}

In 1995, the three companies and alpha one merges.^{[citation needed]}

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 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]

In October 2013, Mike Graen joined CROSSMARK as Vice President/Managing Director for CROSSMARK's Center for Collaboration in Bentonville, Arkansas, which opened in July 2014.^[13][14]

In May 2024, Acosta Group agreed to acquire Crossmark from WIS International. The transaction was finalized two months later.^[15]

Sales and acquisitions

Crossmark's services include headquarter sales, retail merchandising, in-store data collection, event marketing, retail technology, and retail analytics.^[16]

On August 6, 2013, Crossmark agreed to buy Marketing Werks. The Marketing Werks deal will contribute to its total annual revenue of nearly $1 billion.^[10][17] Based in Chicago, Marketing Werks provides experiential marketing campaigns for companies in several consumer industries.

In November 2013, Crossmark acquired the assets of PromoWorks.^[18]

Recognition

In 2010^[19] and 2011,^[20] InformationWeek ranked Crossmark on its list of most-innovative users of business technology.