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Founded in 1917 by Harry Fellowes as a supplier of inexpensive corrugated boxes for storing bank records, Fellowes of Itasca, Il., is now a $500 million company that has approximately 1,500 employees and seven subsidiaries in Australia, Germany, Benelux, Japan, Canada, the U.K. and France.
The company continues to be privately held and is now run by Harry's grandsons, James Fellowes, chairman/ CEO, and Peter Fellowes, president/COO, along with their father John Fellowes, vice chairman. Joe Koch is the executive VP/CFO, and Bob Compagno, a 21-year Fellowes veteran, has recently been named president of Fellowes U.S.
In this exclusive interview with TWICE, chairman/CEO James Fellowes outlined the company's plans for continued growth and expansion.
The 81-year-old company is striking out in new directions as it moves toward the new century, he said. These efforts are designed to give Fellowes, which currently offers about 4,000 SKUs, a more singular, cohesive image around the world.
For example, it is launching a new branding campaign to solidify all of its products under the Fellowes brand with a new logo and similar packaging as well as a major consumer advertising campaign, while also continuing to add new products and new categories.
The worldwide branding effort and consumer advertising campaign represents a new direction for the company.
"Over the past 20 years we have concentrated on our products," said Fellowes. "We have become a company of great products and have not poured resources into our brand. Last year, we decided we want to be more than a company with great products. We also want to be a company that has a great brand."
To build its brand, the company has invested in a number of elements. "One of the principal ways we have built our brand is through retail exposure. Today we have products in over 20,000 retail outlets. We might have as many as 100 to 200 SKUs in a store," Fellowes said.
The company has redesigned its logo and packaging so that all of its approximately 4,000 SKUs will have a similar appearance, as well as the same brand. "We have worked to create a common corporate...