The Corporate Presence
The Corporate Presence is a New York City-based design and marketing firm specializing in “deal toys”, “Lucites”, or “tombstones” for financial firms globally. The Corporate Presence is best known for designing the commemoratives for many high-profile transactions, such as those marking the initial public offerings of Twitter and Facebook.
History
Growth and Expansion
The Corporate Presence was founded in New York in 1981 with an initial focus on traditional corporate gifts such as clocks and stock crystal pieces. The company immediately recognized an untapped opportunity in deal gifts, and soon focused its efforts on the investment banking community.
As the company’s reputation spread, especially within the larger “bulge-bracket” investment banking firms, its business expanded beyond New York City, to different regions of the U.S., as well as internationally. European-based business grew sufficiently that by 1998 The Corporate Presence opened an office in London, its first outside New York.
Further expansion occurred through the company’s acquisition in 1999 of the deal toy operations of Doremus, a division of the Omnicom Group. On the heels of this acquisition, the company opened an office in San Francisco and increased its marketing efforts in Europe, Asia, and Australia.
In 2001, The Corporate Presence purchased Acrylic Le-Bo, a leading manufacturer of Lucite commemoratives based in Quebec. With the addition of the production facility, the company became the industry’s first vertically integrated firm.
With the increased capacity and efficiencies of its own factory, The Corporate Presence took additional growth steps. A Chicago office was opened in 2001, followed by an office in Hong Kong office in 2005, and one in Sydney in 2006.
The Financial Crisis and the Collapse of Lehman Brothers
2008 was an especially challenging year for The Corporate Presence, and for the “deal toy” industry as a whole, with some estimating a decline in business of as much as 50%. The collapse of the financial markets beginning in March 2008 brought with it the demise of several longstanding clients of The Corporate Presence. Most prominent among these were Bear Stearns, and, in September, Lehman Brothers.
The loss of Lehman Brothers was a particular blow to the company. Lehman Brothers had used The Corporate Presence for a significant number of the deals it chose to commemorate, which often ran to 80 every month, each involving as many as 50 pieces ordered, with individual pieces ranging in price from $30 to $100. In February 2013 alone, 5 deals worth in excess of $10 billion were announced.
History
Growth and Expansion
The Corporate Presence was founded in New York in 1981 with an initial focus on traditional corporate gifts such as clocks and stock crystal pieces. The company immediately recognized an untapped opportunity in deal gifts, and soon focused its efforts on the investment banking community.
As the company’s reputation spread, especially within the larger “bulge-bracket” investment banking firms, its business expanded beyond New York City, to different regions of the U.S., as well as internationally. European-based business grew sufficiently that by 1998 The Corporate Presence opened an office in London, its first outside New York.
Further expansion occurred through the company’s acquisition in 1999 of the deal toy operations of Doremus, a division of the Omnicom Group. On the heels of this acquisition, the company opened an office in San Francisco and increased its marketing efforts in Europe, Asia, and Australia.
In 2001, The Corporate Presence purchased Acrylic Le-Bo, a leading manufacturer of Lucite commemoratives based in Quebec. With the addition of the production facility, the company became the industry’s first vertically integrated firm.
With the increased capacity and efficiencies of its own factory, The Corporate Presence took additional growth steps. A Chicago office was opened in 2001, followed by an office in Hong Kong office in 2005, and one in Sydney in 2006.
The Financial Crisis and the Collapse of Lehman Brothers
2008 was an especially challenging year for The Corporate Presence, and for the “deal toy” industry as a whole, with some estimating a decline in business of as much as 50%. The collapse of the financial markets beginning in March 2008 brought with it the demise of several longstanding clients of The Corporate Presence. Most prominent among these were Bear Stearns, and, in September, Lehman Brothers.
The loss of Lehman Brothers was a particular blow to the company. Lehman Brothers had used The Corporate Presence for a significant number of the deals it chose to commemorate, which often ran to 80 every month, each involving as many as 50 pieces ordered, with individual pieces ranging in price from $30 to $100. In February 2013 alone, 5 deals worth in excess of $10 billion were announced.
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