Quad (NYSE: QUAD) is an American publicly traded marketing experience (MX) company headquartered in Sussex, Wisconsin. Founded in 1971 by Harry V. Quadracci, the company originally built its reputation as a large-scale commercial printing business under the name Quad/Graphics. It has since transformed into an integrated marketing company combining creative, media, production, intelligence, technology, packaging and print services.

Quad is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker QUAD. As of 2026, the company says it serves approximately 2,100 clients, employs approximately 10,000 people, and operates in 10 countries. 2

Current figures are based primarily on Quad’s 2026 investor-relations information and its 2025 Form 10-K.

1971: Founding

Quad’s history begins in 1971, when Harry V. Quadracci founded the company in Wisconsin. The original business was focused on commercial printing and was known as Quad/Graphics.

Quadracci’s approach was strongly technology-oriented. Rather than operating simply as a conventional printer, the company invested heavily in manufacturing technology, production efficiency and integrated distribution. This helped Quad/Graphics grow into one of North America’s major commercial printing companies. 3

Expansion of printing operations

During the following decades, Quad expanded its manufacturing and distribution capabilities and became particularly prominent in areas such as:

• Magazine printing
• Catalogs
• Direct mail
• Retail materials
• Packaging
• Books and publications
• Commercial marketing materials

The company’s scale made it an important production partner for major publishers and consumer brands.

Transformation into a marketing company

A major strategic shift began around 2018. Quad started investing much more aggressively in marketing services, technology, talent and digital capabilities.

The goal was to move beyond being the company that prints marketing materials and become a company that could help clients plan, create, produce, distribute and measure marketing campaigns.

This transformation included acquisitions and investments in areas such as digital marketing, creative services and marketing production.

2019: Quad/Graphics becomes Quad

In 2019, the company changed its public-facing brand from Quad/Graphics to Quad.

The name change reflected its transformation from a predominantly printing company into a broader marketing-services organization. The legal corporate name remains Quad/Graphics, Inc.

The easiest way to understand Quad is:

Quad helps large brands plan, create, produce and distribute marketing across physical and digital channels.

Its current strategy is organized around what it calls Marketing Experience, or MX.

Quad argues that marketers often have to coordinate many separate agencies, production companies, media companies, printers, technology platforms and suppliers. Its proposition is to connect more of those functions through one integrated platform.

Its current MX Solutions Suite includes five major areas:

1. Intelligence

Quad uses data and analytics to help marketers understand consumers and make decisions about targeting, campaign performance and marketing investment.

The company says its data capabilities include more than 3 billion household data points.

2. Creative

Quad provides creative services including:

The goal was to move beyond being the company that prints marketing materials and become a company that could help clients plan, create, produce, distribute and measure marketing campaigns.

• Brand strategy
• Brand design
• Campaign ideation
• Content creation
• Packaging design
• Adaptive design
• Digital content
• Creative production

The company’s positioning is interesting because it combines agency-style creative work with its large-scale production infrastructure.

3. Production

Production remains one of Quad’s major competitive advantages because of its historical roots in printing.

Services include:

• Commercial printing
• Packaging
• Direct mail
• Catalogs
• In-store marketing materials
• Retail displays
• Production outsourcing
• Postal logistics
• Marketing operations

This means Quad can take creative concepts and actually manufacture and distribute many of the resulting materials itself. 4

4. Media

Quad has expanded significantly into media planning, buying and activation.

Its media capabilities include:

• Omnichannel media
• Digital advertising
• Programmatic media
• Addressable media
• Retail media
• Audience targeting
• Campaign measurement

This represents an important part of Quad’s evolution from a printing company into a broader marketing partner.

5. Technology

Technology connects the different parts of the marketing process.

Quad uses technology and automation to connect areas such as:

strategy → data → creative → production → media → distribution → measurement

The objective is to reduce the complexity and inefficiency that can occur when marketers work with many disconnected suppliers.

Quad works primarily with large organizations and brands rather than functioning as a conventional consumer-facing brand.

Its major markets include:

• Retail
• Consumer packaged goods (CPG)
• Financial services
• Healthcare
• Publishing
• Direct-to-consumer businesses

Quad says it focuses particularly on commerce-related industries, including retail, CPG and direct-to-consumer marketing.

Quad works with numerous major international brands. Its own company history identifies clients including:

• Adidas
• Chevrolet
• CVS
• GEICO
• General Mills
• Humana
• L.L.Bean
• New York Life
• Rubbermaid
• Toyota

The company serves thousands of brands over its history, although its current client count is approximately 2,100. 1

Quad’s unusual characteristic is that it sits between several traditionally separate industries.

A conventional marketing campaign might involve:

Brand → advertising agency → media agency → creative production company → printer → packaging supplier → logistics provider → retailer

Quad’s model attempts to connect many of those functions.

For example, a consumer-goods company could use Quad for:

Consumer data → campaign strategy → creative → packaging → retail displays → media → print → distribution

That integration is central to Quad’s Marketing Experience (MX) proposition.

Quad’s transformation can be summarized like this:

1971–2010s

Commercial printing and manufacturing

↓

2018 onward

Acquisitions + investment in creative, digital, data and technology

↓

2019

Quad/Graphics → Quad

↓

Today

Integrated Marketing Experience company

This is arguably the most important part of Quad’s corporate story. It is not simply a printer anymore. Printing and physical production remain important, but they form part of a much broader marketing ecosystem.

Quad operates alongside several related businesses and brands. Its broader family includes Quad, Betty, Rise and QuadMed. 5

Among these, Quad itself is the central marketing and production business, while other organizations provide complementary capabilities.

Quad’s corporate philosophy emphasizes three values:

• Believe in people
• Do the right thing
• Urgently innovate

The company describes its culture around continuous improvement, innovation, collaboration and finding more efficient ways to solve client problems.

The company’s founder, Harry V. Quadracci, also left a strong cultural legacy emphasizing teamwork and innovation.

Sustainability is another component of Quad’s corporate positioning. Because the company operates substantial manufacturing and printing infrastructure, environmental issues around materials, production, recycling and supply chains are particularly relevant.

Quad says sustainability is incorporated into its operations, designs, materials and client partnerships.

Quad has continued expanding beyond traditional printing.

For example, in 2025, it entered the branded solutions/merchandise market, offering products such as trade-show giveaways, corporate gifts, employee uniforms, incentive programs and event merchandise.

This is consistent with its broader strategy of controlling more parts of the marketing-production process.

As of 2026, Quad positions itself as a Marketing Experience company, rather than primarily as a printing company.

Its current proposition can be summarized as:

Intelligence + Creative + Production + Media + Technology

The company combines these capabilities to help major brands create consumer connections across households, physical stores and online channels.

Its current footprint covers approximately 10 countries, with around 10,000 employees and 2,100 clients. Its 2025 SEC filing reports 33 manufacturing and distribution facilities and 71 total global facilities. 1

If you encounter Quad for the first time, the simplest description is:

Quad is a large American B2B marketing company that grew out of a commercial-printing business. It now combines advertising/creative services, data, media, technology, packaging, printing and physical marketing production to help large brands execute campaigns from strategy through delivery.

Its biggest differentiator is the combination of agency capabilities with large-scale physical production—something relatively unusual in the modern advertising and marketing industry.

1. quad-20251231
2. Investor relations | Quad marketing solutions
3. Official Quad website
4. quad-20241231
5. Our family of brands | BeQuad