Talk:Quad (company)

Requested move 10 July 2019

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: Moved to "Quad (Company) as per secondary consensus Mewilkes (talk) 14:58, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

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• Quad/Graphics → Quad
• Quad → Quad (disambiguation)

– The company formerly known as "Quad/Graphics" has chosen to rename to "Quad", following a press release in February of 2019. The page "Quad" currently exists, and functions as a disambiguation page for all potential meanings of the word. Proposing a renaming of the current "Quad" article to "Quad_(Disambiguation)", and the renaming of "Quad/Graphics" to "Quad". Mewilkes (talk) 19:24, 10 July 2019 (UTC)

• Oppose Proposer has not given any argument at all for this being the WP:PRIMARYTOPIC, which it would need to be in order for this move to be appropriate, and I highly doubt that any will be forthcoming. -- Fyrael (talk) 21:38, 10 July 2019 (UTC)

Here are some page view counts for those interested. They very much do not support the move. A much better option would be something like Quad (company) or Quad (printing company) if you want to be very unambiguous. -- Fyrael (talk) 21:47, 10 July 2019 (UTC)

• Strong oppose 2nd per views, even Quad (figure skating) gets nearly double the views of the company, no comment on moving to Quad (company) or similar. The other meanings are also clearly primary by PT#2. Crouch, Swale (talk) 07:06, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
• Oppose. Definitely not the primary topic. Rreagan007 (talk) 03:11, 12 July 2019 (UTC)
• Oppose. The company is not the primary topic. I would support a move of Quad/Graphics to Quad (company). Shhhnotsoloud (talk) 14:43, 13 July 2019 (UTC)
• Oppose the main proposal; not the primary topic. But I guess it should be changed to something like Quad (company). W. P. Uzer (talk) 20:40, 14 July 2019 (UTC)

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The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Edit requests to Infobox and Intro paragraph

Hi, my name is Tina and I work for Quad. I would like to request the following edits:

• Beginning with the Infobox:

1. Please remove the name "Irwin Purtell" from the "Founder" parameter. Purtell was one of 11 co-founders of the company, while Harry V. Quadracci was the only "founder."
2. Please change the "Products" parameter to "Services" and change the list of services to the following, which is a more up-to-date reflection of what the company now engages in:
   • Brand and creative strategy
   • Consumer insights & analytics
   • Content production
   • In-store signage
   • Media services
   • Packaging
   • Printing
3. Update the "Revenue" parameter to: $2.9 billion USD (2020)
4. Update the "Number of employees" parameter to: 15,800 and change the year from 2017 to 2020

• In the introductory paragraph,

1. In the second sentence please add "as a printing company" so the sentence will read: "It was founded as a printing company on July 13, 1971 by Harry and Elizabeth Quadracci."
2. Directly after the above sentence please add the following new sentence with a new source: "Since 2014 the company has expanded its marketing services."
3. Update the third sentence so it reads: "The company has 50 printing facilities in 14 countries, including in Europe, Canada, India, and Latin America, with the majority in the United States."

References

Thank you, Tina at Quad (talk) 12:17, 7 June 2021 (UTC)

I'll take a look at it. jp×g 11:11, 11 June 2021 (UTC)

Okay, there is one founder now (with a citation). I did some other miscellaneous copyediting.

I put most of those things in the "services" section of the infobox, but I don't know what "brand strategy" or "customer insights" or "media services" are. Well, that's not true: I know what these phrases mean, but I don't see an encyclopedic interest in putting them in (unless you can pill me on why "insights and analytics" is usefully distinct from "analytics").

The other stuff has gone in. Let me know if there is anything else. jp×g 21:20, 15 June 2021 (UTC)

Hi JPxG, Thank you so much for helping out with my edit requests. (I'm sorry that I didn't see your message right away. I don't do a good job of keeping up with my personal email inbox. I've changed my email preference now to my work email.) I completely understand your hesitation about putting in my descriptions of our company's services and I totally accept your shorter and more to-the-point descriptions for the infobox. There are two small requests above that I believe you must have inadvertently left out of your edits, so I am asking again here. At the end of my list of "Services" are two requests to update the infobox in the 'Revenue' and 'Number of employees' parameters. I hope you don’t mind going back and updating the infobox with the above information, which also includes sources. For clarity, those are requests 3 and 4 above. Once again, I am appreciative of the work you did for the page, and I hope you will be able to continue helping out here, and don’t mind if I ping you for future edits. Kindly, Tina at Quad (talk) 16:26, 18 June 2021 (UTC)

I closed this edit request because JPxG indicated above that they added the information. If something is missing from this request that you would like added into the article, please open a new request at the bottom of this talk page. Z1720 (talk) 18:05, 19 November 2021 (UTC)

Request to create a more robust History section

Happy almost Fourth of July and a warm thank you to JPxG for the edits I requested last time. I have some new edit requests to create a more robust History section. The following is my proposed expanded History section. The current content in the History section should become a subsection of History called "Acquisitions and IPO (2010-2013)" with a few minor changes, while the rest is new content. The following begins right under the History heading:

Early years: printing magazines and catalogs (1973-1982)

The company was founded in 1971 by Harry V. Quadracci. Quad/Graphics established itself as a printer of magazines and catalogues, receiving contracts for Wisconsin-based Investor magazine, Fishing Facts magazine, catalogs and others. By 1979 the company grew to 300 workers and six presses, from 100 workers and three presses in 1976, and 20 workers and one press in 1972. At the end of the 1970s Quad/Graphics won its first major national contract with Newsweek. After that, contracts with Harper's, Time, and US News & World Report followed.

Move to publishing (1983-2009)

In 1983 Quad/Graphics purchased Milwaukee Magazine and made Betty Quadracci, the wife of Harry V. Quadracci, the president and publisher. By the mid-1990s the company was printing such well-known magazines as People, Sports Illustrated, Playboy, National Geographic, and catalogs for LL Bean and Lands' End, and had almost 9,000 employees.

In 1993 Quad began to partner with Condé Nast when it started to print the publisher's Architectural Digest. By 2006 Quad was a major print vendor for Condé Nast. In January 2019 Quad was printing all of the publisher's magazines, including Vogue, Brides, and The New Yorker.

In 2002 Tom Quadracci took over as company president after the death of his brother Harry. Harry's son, Joel Quadracci took over in 2006 as president.

Acquisitions and IPO (2010-2013)

In July 2010, Quad acquired competitor World Color Press and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as a result of the closing of the deal."

In November 2010, Quad acquired the HGI Company, a commercial and specialty products printer.

In July 2011, Quad announced an asset swap with Transcontinental Inc in which Quad would acquire Transcontinental's Mexican assets along with its black and white book printing business for U.S. export in exchange for seven of Quad's Canadian facilities.The former Quebecor World plant in Aurora, Ontario is now a TC Transcontinental facility.

On January 16, 2013, Quad announced that it completed its acquisition of Vertis Holdings, Inc., a printer of retail inserts, direct mail and in-store marketing materials.

Expansion to marketing and business services (2014- present)

Beginning in 2014 Quad/Graphics began evolving its printing focus to include marketing. In early 2015 BlueSoho was established by Quad as an independent brand to help it succeed through the transition.

In September 2017, Quad won a $450 million contract to print all of Bluestem Brand's catalogs.

In February 2018 Quad acquired Ivie & Associates LLC, a Dallas-based provider of business services for retailers.

In March 2018, the company increased its equity in the digital marketing agency Rise Interactive for $8.7 million resulting in a majority ownership stake. Quad had owned a non-controlling interest in the media, analytics, and web design company since July 2016.

In November 2018 Quad agreed to purchase Minneapolis-based advertising firm Periscope, Inc., for $132 million. The deal closed in January 2019. In January 2020, Periscope CEO Elizabeth Ross left and was replaced by an interim CEO from Quad. In June 2020, Periscope announced Cari Bucci-Hulings would join Periscope as its new president, effective July 6, 2020.

In 2019 the company updated its brand from Quad/Graphics to Quad.

References

Thanks so much for all your help; it is much appreciated. Tina at Quad (talk) 15:01, 1 July 2021 (UTC)

@Tina at Quad: I did a partial review. My main concern discovered so far is Wikipedia:Close paraphrasing from the first source. The wording is almost direct. For example: (original source) "...obtaining contracts for the Wisconsin-based Investor magazine, the national Fishing Facts magazine..." became "...receiving contracts for Wisconsin-based Investor magazine, Fishing Facts magazine..." I need to put more scrutiny time in yet. Royalbroil 13:49, 7 August 2021 (UTC)

I'm about to get to a computer where I can sit down and open all of these references. I'll take a look at all the stuff (including what Royalbroil's brought up). jp×g 04:30, 8 August 2021 (UTC)

Hi Royalbroil and JPxG I really appreciate the feedback and assistance you've provided here and would love to move these edits forward to flesh out the history section. Of course, if I need to work on some rewording or other feedback, I'm happy to do so with your direction. Please let me know if we can work together on moving these requests forward and thank you so much for your time. Tina at Quad (talk) 16:12, 3 September 2021 (UTC)

@Tina at Quad: I've added the content you provided here, and done some copyediting to condense it; let me know if I accidentally taken out something important. Most of the existing history section was redundant with what you provided in this talk page section, but some of it (primarily the content relating to plant shutdowns and labor issues) existed only in the article, so I did my best to incorporate all of the information into a cohesive whole. Frankly, I don't understand why nobody else got around to doing this in the space of two months, since this was by no means an unreasonable request, but I suppose I am fine with "being the change" -- let me know if there is anything else. jp×g 07:12, 5 September 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, JPxG - your assistance was worth the wait! (It's great that you are the change!) I do have some more edits to propose, so I will put those in a new thread and hopefully you can evaluate the new proposal as well. I do think the History section works better and is more readable when divided into chronological subsections, as I suggested in my first request, so please consider that when you look at my next request. Thanks again, Tina at Quad (talk) 06:19, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

I am closing this request because JPxG indicated above that they added the information. If there is anything missing, please open a new request at the bottom of the page. Z1720 (talk) 18:06, 19 November 2021 (UTC)

Further proposed edits

As promised to JPxG, I am proposing another series of edits, as follows:

1. As I said above, consider dividing the History section into chronological subsections. I suggested Early years: printing magazines and catalogs (1973-1982); Move to publishing (1983-2009); Acquisitions and IPO (2010-2013); and Expansion to marketing and business services (2014- present) - but I'm open to other divisions.
2. Move the sentence on LSC Communication into a new paragraph and expand as follows: Shareholders of both companies approved the merger in February 2019. In June 2019 the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division sued to block the acquisition. A trial date was set that meant the earliest the company could expect a decision would have been in 2020, a costly delay which caused the company to call off of the deal. Quad paid LSC a reverse termination fee of $45 million, as required by the merger agreement.
3. In the final paragraph of the History section, add the following to expand the information about the printing plant consolidation: Since 2010 the company has closed 47 printing facilities in response to changing media and advertising trends. As of January 2021, Quad had 50 printing plants around the world, including 41 in the US, with three to be closed during 2021.
4. The "Periscope" section should be merged into the History section, as it refers to an incident in the company's history, not a unique encyclopedic aspect of the company, and it is undue weight for "Periscope" to be its own section.
5. In the paragraph that begins "On July 1, 2020..." please delete the following sentence, which does not add anything to the understanding of the subject being discussed and creates undue weight in this section: The walk-out was led by a group strategy director at Periscope who, weeks earlier, had started a movement to address the "systemic racism that is afflicting our industry."
6. Add the following paragraph to the end of the History section: In February 2021, Quad and the Quadracci family's Windhover Foundation committed $1 million to a three-year partnership with The BrandLab, a non-profit organization that supports young people from diverse backgrounds to advance in the marketing industry.

References

Thanks, I truly appreciate the help. Tina at Quad (talk) 06:23, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

 Question: 1. Printing magazines and catalogs (1973-1982) where? Company was founded in 1971, how do you want the first paragraph to be split up? Implemented the rest of 1.

2, 3, 4 all implemented. 5. not implemented. The strategy director and what he did was extensively covered in the Star Tribune source. 6 Implemented. Best, 15 (talk) 01:54, 10 November 2021 (UTC)

Thanks so much 15 for implementing the majority of my request. You asked where I would like to see the heading "Printing magazines and catalogs". I believe that should be placed directly above the first paragraph, right beneath the main heading "History". You've been a great help in getting this article to where it should be. I really appreciate it. Tina at Quad (talk) 17:23, 10 November 2021 (UTC)

 Done (Implemented the quoted heading in your most recent comment, not the original suggestion with years, as years don't make sense when it was founded in 1971) 15 (talk) 00:15, 12 November 2021 (UTC)

Thank you 15 I think the page looks solid now. I really appreciate your help. Tina at Quad (talk) 17:44, 16 November 2021 (UTC)