PLANO, Texas & SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- Crossmark, a leading sales and marketing services company in the consumer goods industry, and shopper marketing agency Mars Advertising, have formed a new venture named Twin Oaks. Jointly operated, Twin Oaks will be managed as a separate company and will deliver integrated shopper marketing solutions for Crossmark consumer goods and retailer clients, positioned to become a strategic and fully integrated sales and marketing resource for the industry.
Services will address all phases of the shopper marketing discipline, including planning, concept development, retailer sell-in, execution and measurement and evaluation.
Steve Devore, former vice president and account leader at Saatchi & Saatchi X where he led account teams for Frito-Lay North America and Procter & Gamble, has been hired as managing director of Twin Oaks.
"We have collaborated with Crossmark for many years," said Ken Barnett, CEO for Southfield, Mich.-based Mars. "We are excited about leveraging our years of experience and knowledge in building this new entity with the team at Crossmark. Twins Oaks will dramatically enhance Crossmark's already powerful offering to its existing and new clients."
According to Crossmark president Joe Crafton, "Crossmark has been actively involved in shopper marketing as early as the first [Grocery Manufacturers Association] study in 2003. We have made significant investments in analytics, data collection, brand activation and shopper events. By creating Twin Oaks with Mars, the market leader in shopper marketing, we will be able to meet all of the shopper marketing needs of our retailer and supplier partners."
Crafton was recently appointed chairperson of the GMA Shopper Marketing Steering Committee.
Crafton added that Crossmark's strength retailer headquarters-level along relationships combined with providing manufacturers and retailers with in-store solutions and retail execution. Plano, Texas-based Crossmark's expertise encompasses the areas of headquarter sales, retail merchandising, retailer solutions, event marketing, in-store data collection, retail analytics and retail technology solutions. Mars has expertise in interpreting shopper motivation and insights and in developing solutions to reach today's "ever-so-elusive and media-saturated consumer."
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