Talk:Maritz, LLC

Edit requests

I'm requesting these edits additions to the gray information box in the top right hard corner of the Wikipedia page to improve the accuracy of the key people section, as there have been changes in company structure and to provide additional information about size and financial status. Key people are edits to existing individuals, revenues and number of employees worldwide are additions, and number of employees in the United States is a move from another spot on the page.

• key people: Steve Maritz (Chairman and CEO, Maritz Holdings, Inc.), Dennis Hummel (President, Maritz Holdings, Inc.)
• revenues for fiscal year 2014: $1.2 billion
• number of employees worldwide: 4,300
• number of employees in the United States: 3,063 (this is not new information to the page, but it is being moved from the facts section, as it is a better fit for the info box)

I'm also requesting edits to the first paragraph of the Wikipedia page, as there have been changes in company structure and offerings. These changes will improve accuracy. In the updated paragraph below, I've added a line about the company's new technology platform and a line about the company selling it's Canadian loyalty firm.

• Maritz is a sales and marketing services company that designs and operates employee recognition and reward programs, sales channel incentive programs, (including incentive travel rewards) and customer loyalty programs. It also plans corporate trade shows, meetings and events, and offers a customer experience technology platform. Subsidiaries and segments include Maritz Motivation Solutions, MaritzCX2, the Maritz Institute, and Maritz Travel. The company sold its Canadian loyalty firm, Bond Brand Loyalty (formerly Maritz Canada and Maritz Loyalty Marketing) in 2015.

MadisonfromStanding (talk) 17:22, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

I took a few minutes to update the article. There are a few differences between your request. I kept the number of US employees alongside the other stats. I added the line about selling Bond Brand where it's mentioned in the article proper (instead of the introduction). I seemed more appropriate there, but other editors may disagree.

I am not affiliated with Maritz, or any of its subsidiaries, however, I do live and work in the same town (Fenton), hence my interest in editing this article. Ckoerner (talk) 15:51, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

I'm requesting the below additions to the history section of the Maritz LLC Wikipedia page. (Current text is not in bold font, proposed additions are in bold font.)

• In 1894, Edward Maritz started the E. Maritz Jewelry Manufacturing Company, a wholesaler and manufacturer of fine jewelry and engraved watches.[3] By the 1920s, the company was concentrating on wholesaling imported watches and became one of the first in the nation to sell wristwatches.[3] When the stock market crashed in 1929, the company nearly failed. The crisis forced Maritz to look for a new direction, and it began to sell watches, jewelry and merchandise to large corporations as sales incentives and service awards for employees.[3]

• Over the next three decades, the sales incentive business flourished. Each year, Maritz produced an increasingly elaborate merchandise awards catalog and added services to promote and administer sales incentive programs.[3] With the purchase of a small Detroit travel company in the 1950s, Maritz branched out again, adding group travel as an incentive award.[3] As the 1960s ended, Maritz began to diversify with new divisions that laid the groundwork for ventures in communications, marketing research, training and meeting production.[3]

• The company further diversified in the 1970s. Maritz built communications and marketing research businesses, established a presence in Europe and opened a travel office in Mexico City.[3]

• Through acquisitions starting in 1981, Maritz became a major supplier of corporate travel services.[citation needed]

• In the 1990s Maritz invested in automotive marketing research. They formed Maritz Canada and added offices throughout Western Europe.[3] During the late 1990s and into the new millennium, Maritz continued to grow in loyalty reward and incentive travel through strategic partnerships with companies such as American Express.[3]

• Maritz launched The Maritz Institute in 2009 which is part of the company’s science-based approach to motivation.
• The Maritz Institute studies research around neuroscience. This research informs the design of RewardSphere, Maritz’ e-commerce rewards platform. In September 2015, Maritz appointed Charlotte Blank, a former General Motors manager, to Executive Director of The Maritz Institute.

• In May 2014, Maritz Canada rebranded to form North America's first brand loyalty agency, Bond Brand Loyalty.[4] The focus of the new agency was to help clients manage customer-brand relationships. Bond clients included Ford of Canada, BlackBerry and IBM. The company sold Bond Brand Loyalty in 2015.[5] Maritz continues to provide consumer loyalty services through its St. Louis-based division Maritz Motivation Solutions.

• In November 2014, Maritz merged its Research division with Allegiance Software, a voice of the customer and enterprise feedback technology platform provider. The two companies formed MaritzCX, and offer customer experience software, data and research science technology solutions.

• Currently, Maritz claims to be the largest source of integrated performance improvement, travel and market research services globally.[3]

I am also requesting a few additions to the awards section to bring this section up to date. The two additions are listed below.

• Maritz Travel Company named to “CMI 25” list by Corporate Meetings and Incentives Magazine in 2014
• Maritz Travel Company named to “CMI 25” by Corporate Meetings and Incentives Magazine in 2015

MadisonfromStanding (talk) 19:57, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

Hi Madison. I'm going to decline this edit request. From the warning tags on the article, other editors already feel that there is an excess of awards and promotional content on the article. Furthermore, the wording of your proposed edit is slightly promotional. Phrases like "a voice of the customer" and "science-based approach to motivation" are vaguely positive but don't actually describe what the firm does. Thanks, Altamel (talk) 19:38, 5 August 2016 (UTC)

@Altamel: Thank you for your feedback. I will return soon with several clearer requests for improving this article, of course taking into account your feedback. MadisonfromStanding (talk) 15:36, 12 August 2016 (UTC)

References

Request to update the infobox

Maritz, LLC

Company type	Private
Industrie	Incentives Forschung Tourismus
Gegründet	1894 (1894)
Gründer	Edward Maritz
Hauptsitz	Fenton, Missouri, Vereinigte Staaten
Key people	Steve Maritz (Chairman and CEO, Maritz Holdings, Inc.), Dennis Hummel (President, Martiz Holdings, Inc.)
Revenue	$1.2 billion (2014)
Number of employees	4,300 (2014)
Website	www.maritz.com

As I mentioned, I've returned with a clearer, more specific edit request for this article, specifically the infobox. My proposed infobox appears in the top right corner of this section. My explanation and markup for this infobox are provided below, which can be copied and pasted into the article as appropriate:

• According to the guidance for the "Infobox company" template, the "industry" parameter "should list the primary industry or industries in which the company operates, listed alphabetically". In the below markup, the text has been changed to "Incentives, Research, Travel" to better reflect Maritz's industry
• The "founded" parameter should only display the date and location (if known). In the below markup, I've removed "by Edward Maritz - began as a jewelry company" and added "Edward Maritz" to the "founder" parameter
• Currently, the infobox does not display the company's revenue. In the below markup, I've updated the infobox with "$1.2 billion (2014)" per this source
• Similarly, the current infobox does not display the number of employees. In the below markup, I've updated the infobox with 4,300 (2014) per the same source

Proposed infobox markup

{{Infobox company | name = Maritz, LLC | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | logo_padding = | image = | image_size = | image_alt = | image_caption = | trading_name = | native_name = | native_name_lang = <!-- Use ISO 639-1 code, e.g. "fr" for French. For multiple names in different languages, use {{lang|[code]|[name]}}. --> | romanized_name = | former_name = | type = Private | traded_as = | ISIN = | industry = {{ublist|Incentives|Research|Travel}} | genre = | fate = | predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = --> | successor = <!-- or: | successors = --> | founded = {{start date and age| 1894}} | founder = Edward Maritz | defunct = <!-- {{end date|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | hq_location = [[Fenton, Missouri]] | hq_location_city = | hq_location_country = United States | coordinates = | num_locations = | num_locations_year = <!-- Year of num_locations data (when known) --> | area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = --> | key_people = Steve Maritz (Chairman and CEO, Maritz Holdings, Inc.), Dennis Hummel (President, Martiz Holdings, Inc.) | products = | brands = | production = | production_year = <!-- Year of production data (when known) --> | services = | revenue = $1.2 billion<ref name="Top150">{{cite journal|title=Top 150 Privately Held Companies: Top 150 2015: 21-30|journal=[[St. Louis Business Journal]]|date=March 27, 2015|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/print-edition/2015/03/27/top-150-2105-21-30.html|accessdate=August 19, 2016}}</ref> | revenue_year = 2014 | operating_income = | income_year = <!-- Year of operating_income data (when known) --> | net_income = <!-- or: | profit = --> | net_income_year = <!-- or: | profit_year = --><!-- Year of net_income/profit data (when known) --> | aum = <!-- Only for financial-service companies --> | assets = | assets_year = <!-- Year of assets data (when known) --> | equity = | equity_year = <!-- Year of equity data (when known) --> | owner = <!-- or: | owners = --> | members = | members_year = <!-- Year of members data (when known) --> | num_employees = 4,300<ref name="Top150"/> | num_employees_year = 2014 | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | slogan = <!-- or: | slogans = --> | module = <!-- Used to embed other templates --> | ratio = <!-- Basel III ratio, for BANKS ONLY --> | rating = <!-- credit rating, for BANKS ONLY --> | footnotes = | intl = <!-- Set positively ("true"/"yes"/etc) if company is international, otherwise omit --> | website = {{url|http://www.maritz.com}} }}

Is there someone who is willing to update the infobox with the provided markup? I'd prefer not to edit the article directly, given my conflict of interest. The infobox is missing the company's logo, which I hope can be added once the infobox is updated. Thank you. MadisonfromStanding (talk) 14:35, 11 October 2016 (UTC)