Repositioning a Legacy Brand with a Transformational CMO

The
Client

IWCO Direct, a nationwide leader in direct mail marketing

IWCO Direct is one of the largest and most integrated direct mail marketing firms in the United States, employing roughly 1,000 people and generating approximately $200 million in annual revenue. With a rich 60-year history of growth, IWCO has deeply rooted partnerships with large enterprises.

In 2022, they were acquired by Cerberus Capital, one of the country’s leading investment management firms, with $60 billion in assets under management.

The Challenge

Translating operational transformation into market impact and scalable growth

After acquiring IWCO, Cerberus invested $50 million into the complete transformation of their production environment, including innovative digital printing capabilities. Their capacity increased by 200%, enabling a more modern client service approach and advancing their goal of doubling in size over the next few years.

Their new CEO, Gary Masse, a seasoned Cerberus-appointed leader, now needed to align the company’s marketing with their expanded capacity and drive “productization,” reshaping the company’s offerings into attractive, standardized solutions.

He contacted us to help him find a Chief Marketing Officer who could create clarity in the marketplace and drive more scalability into the firm’s growth strategy.

The Solution

Hiring a Chief Marketing Officer with proven product marketing and product management expertise

Recognizing the high level of marketing expertise needed, we expanded our search beyond direct mail/direct response organizations to adjacent markets, eventually uncovering 140 candidate prospects through our PrecisonPath™ process.

Knowing IWCO’s need for “productization” of their newly acquired printing and direct-marketing capabilities, we prioritized candidate prospects with product marketing and product management skills and experience.

Our rigorous approach focused on solving IWCO’s challenges, not just filling a role, ensuring we found a leader who could reposition the brand and drive long-term business growth.

The Outcome

An accomplished, results-driven marketing executive with extensive organizational leadership experience

"Cultura’s recruitment experience was thorough and purposeful, yet conversational and surprisingly enjoyable from end-to-end. Moreover, their approach to candidate assessment for placement was comprehensive and clearly intended to achieve an optimal and truly mutual client/candidate fit. A refreshingly positive experience."

After a rigorous evaluation, IWCO hired a candidate who had held key roles across the printing, plastics, and packaging industries, including marketing, sales, general management, and operations.

Adept at driving transformative change, he is known as an authentic, trusted leader who can quickly assess strategic priorities, align teams, and deliver commercial results.

He has a proven track record of consistently delivering turnaround (often record-setting) operating profit/EBITDA results.

His core competencies reflected exactly what IWCO needed: the ability to bring structure and clarity to their product portfolio while simultaneously enhancing the company’s brand positioning to fuel their next season of growth.

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