STW has bolstered its shopper marketing and path to purchase capability with the acquisition of retail marketing material solutions company Active Display Group.
Active Display Group is Australia’s largest POS display and signage organisation, with design and manufacturing facilities unique to Australia.
The investment sees STW acquire 100% of the organisation, which is the largest of its type in the region. More than 390 staff work across Active Display Group offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Hong Kong.
Active Display Group provides a range of specialist marketing collateral services including full service retail marketing material solutions, research and development, production and sourcing, storage, logistics, kitting, fulfilment and installation, shopper-focussed display design, large format printing, in-store brand and category management, temporary and permanent promotional displays (including counter, window, digital and interactive), in-store promotions and activations, store fit outs, signage and VM. Through its subsidiary AFI Branding, the group also provides corporate and event branding and exhibition services.
STW’s CEO Michael Connaghan said the investment was a ‘perfect fit’ with STW’s strategy of evolving quickly to meet changing client needs, and enhanced STW’s ability to service clients’ entire budgets.
“I explained at our AGM how more and more client budgets are being spent in what’s called the Place sector of the customer journey. The more marketing becomes data driven and digital, the more critical than ever is the consumer experience in store and at point of purchase. STW already has extensive, leading capability in key areas of shopper, point-of-purchase, experiential, activation, shopper insights and logistics management, and the addition of Active Display Group fills out our offering perfectly. It will enable us to have a much broader relationship with clients, who more and more are looking for a more holistic solution.
“Active Display Group is a leader in the field of providing marketing material solutions to the Australasian market, with some of the country’s most outstanding clients on its roster. It also has a strong, experienced and motivated senior leadership team ready to move the business into its next phase of expansion.
ADG is incredibly impressive. The Group have built a business of scale, superior creativity and are at the forefront of helping their clients manage crucial investment in building entertainment and value add in to the retail experience.
“We anticipate it will provide significant benefits to our clients operating within the ‘Path to Purchase’ and retail fields, given its ability to provide an end-to-end service to meet all marketing collateral needs. It fits well within the group and has already executed a number of successful projects with other STW agencies. We’re excited to have them join the STW family, ” Mr Connaghan said. “We will provide the market with more details of our shopper strategy and capabilities at the Half Year Results in August. We’re excited and confident about our ability to make this sector of our business a key growth platform for the future.”
Founded in 1985, Active Display Group has experienced strong growth year on year, constantly expanding its service offering in response to market demand and opportunity. It is now the largest organisation of its type in the region, and is widely viewed as being at the top of the Australian Point-of-Purchase display industry.
Active Display Group’s CEO David Gittus said the move to join STW Group would enable the business to move into its next phase of growth, while accessing a broad range of services to benefit existing clients.
“To ensure we maximise our growth potential both locally and in Asia, it was important we found the right partner to move with us through our next phase of expansion. Our two organisations are closely aligned, with a focus on digital, a firm eye on growth in the broader region while having a strong presence right here in Australia.
“Working with the STW Group we’ll be able to access a broader range of shopper and retail services while providing our end-to-end collateral solutions to a wider market. On that basis alone, STW Group is an excellent fit for the business. In addition, we believe we’ve found a long term home for sustainable growth given the focus of both groups on looking out for ‘what’s next’ in the world of marketing at retail.”
Active Diesplay Group
www.activeisplay.com.au
