Crossmark

Crossmark, Inc., stylized as CROSSMARK, is a sales and marketing services company that operates within the consumer goods industry. 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. Crossmark contributes research and data to the Food Marketing Institute. The company serves grocery, mass, club, drug, convenience store, and home improvement channels.

History
The company was founded in 1906 as Johnson and Hunt Merchandise Brokers in Fort Smith, Arkansas. In 1914, the company was renamed as Willis Johnson & Company and operations moved to Little Rock, Arkansas.

In 1943, President Roosevelt named Willis Johnson Sr. to the National Office of Price and Administration, a two-year assignment.

In 1944, the W.L. Gordon Company formed in Dallas, Texas. In 1953 the Phillips Brokerage Company was created in Birmingham, Alabama.

In 1977, the Willis Johnson Company called on Sam Walton. In 1981, Willis Johnson Company changes its name to SalesMark.

In 1995, the 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. 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. In December 2012, a majority of the company was sold to the private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

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.

In May 2024, Acosta Group agreed to acquire Crossmark from WIS International.

Sales and acquisitions
Crossmark's services include headquarter sales, retail merchandising, in-store data collection, event marketing, retail technology, and retail analytics.

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. Based in Chicago, Marketing Werks provides experiential marketing campaigns for companies in several consumer industries.

In November 2013, Crossmark acquired the assets of PromoWorks.

Recognition
In 2010 and 2011, InformationWeek ranked Crossmark on its list of most-innovative users of business technology.