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Item 1. Business

2025-02-21 compared with 2024-02-22 · 236 added, 265 removed, 219 unchanged (70% of the section changed)

Quad is a global marketing experience (MX) company that helps brands make direct consumer connections, from household to in-store to online.

The Company is focused on providing a better marketing experience for its clients, so they can focus on delivering the best customer experience to theirs.

Quad does this with a suite of marketing solutions that is flexible, scalable and connected.

Supported by state-of-the-art technology and data-driven intelligence, these solutions are designed to streamline the complexities of marketing and remove friction from wherever it occurs in the marketing journey.

Quad tailors its solutions to its clients’ objectives, driving cost efficiencies, improving speed to market, strengthening marketing effectiveness, and delivering value on their investments.

Quad’s footprint spans 14 countries, including 43 manufacturing and distribution facilities and more than 70 client dedicated teams.

Quad is a marketing experience (MX) company that simplifies the complexities of marketing, removing friction from wherever it occurs along the marketing journey.

Its results-driven approach enables stronger marketing operations that lead to real, repeatable success for clients.

The Company does this through its MX Solutions Suite, which is flexible, scalable and connected.

Quad tailors its solutions to each client’s objectives, driving cost efficiencies, improving speed to market, strengthening marketing effectiveness and delivering value on investments.

Quad’s footprint spans 14 countries, with 86 global facilities inclusive of 38 manufacturing and distribution facilities.

The Company supports a diverse base of approximately 2,500 clients, including industry-leading blue-chip companies that serve both businesses and consumers across multiple industry verticals, with a particular focus on commerce, including retail, consumer packaged goods and direct-to-consumer;

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Beginning in 2018, the Company accelerated its transformation to an MX company through strategic investments in marketing services, talent and technology, and, in 2019, evolved its brand from Quad/Graphics to Quad.

Today, Quad is one of the nation’s largest marketing services providers, ranked as the 14 th largest agency company in the U.S.

by Ad Age (2023), and is the second-largest commercial printer in North America, according to Printing Impressions (2023).

Quad’s unique engagement model complements a brand’s way of working.

Whether as a full-service marketing partner, an outsourced extension of a marketing department or as executional support in conjunction with a brand’s agency, the Company’s connected capabilities, breadth of expertise and expansive reach enables Quad’s clients to:

• Target the right audience segments at the right time in the right channels based on insights from Quad’s large, proprietary data stack;

• Deliver and execute against a more streamlined end-to-end marketing process for greater speed and agility, better data utilization and improved customer engagement;

• Leverage Quad’s experience in offline, physical touchpoints to drive omnichannel effectiveness;

• Streamline complexity at scale across the marketing supply chain with proven production and logistics capabilities;

• Enable scalable, complex, cross-channel activation while offering real-time automation and optimization.

In 2023, the Company focused on delivering strong financial results while navigating multiple issues in the macroeconomic environment, including an uncertain economy, postage cost increases on print mailings, inflationary cost pressures and rising interest rates.

Today, Quad is one of the nation’s largest marketing services providers.

With the strength of its Rise media agency and its Betty creative agency, Quad ranks as one of the largest agency companies in the U.S.

according to Ad Age (2024).

Its robust manufacturing platform also ranks it as one of the largest commercial printers in North America, according to Printing Impressions (2024).

Quad’s unique engagement model complements brands’ way of working.

Whether as a full-service marketing partner, an outsourced extension of a marketing department, or executional support for an agency, Quad’s depth of expertise, breadth of integrated capabilities and expansive reach empower brands to:

• Unlock actionable audience insights to identify consumer passions, optimize marketing strategies and enhance campaign precision.

• Deliver creative quality at scale with cohesive, impactful brand experiences across all channels.

• Streamline production complexity across the marketing supply chain, reducing costs, boosting efficiency and accelerating speed-to-market.

• Drive omnichannel effectiveness with cross-channel activations that engage consumers at home, in-store and online.

• Maximize efficiency with cutting-edge technology , including artificial intelligence (AI), that automates workflows, enhances performance and personalizes customer experiences at scale across offline and online channels.

In 2024, the Company focused on delivering strong financial results while navigating multiple issues in the macroeconomic environment, including postage cost increases on print mailings and elevated interest rates.

Despite these challenges, Quad worked to mitigate impacts on its business while proactively managing client expectations.

The Company also continued its focus on three major growth drivers:

delivering integrated service excellence, accelerating market penetration and leveraging its culture as an MX company.

Quad believes it will be able to maintain a leading competitive position through its consistent long-term business

strategy, which is driven by dedicated, passionate and highly skilled employees, and by providing stability and innovative solutions for clients into the future.

Quad believes it will be able to maintain a leading competitive position through its consistent long-term business strategy, which is driven by dedicated, passionate and highly skilled employees, and by providing stability and innovative solutions for clients into the future.

More information regarding Quad is available on the Company’s website at quad.com .

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Principal Capabilities

The Company’s suite of flexible, scalable and connected solutions addresses the pain points brands and marketers experience most frequently when creating and deploying content and campaigns.

Quad’s intelligence capabilities comprise audience identification and segmentation, testing, media optimization and media mix modeling services that empower smarter decisions to maximize marketing effectiveness and generate quantifiable impact.

• Audience identification and segmentation services leverage the Company’s proprietary data stack, comprised of consumer data from more than 117 million households, to identify potential consumers, matching their demographic details, behaviors and interests with other factors such as a client’s desired marketing spend, location footprint and business objectives.

Equipped with these data-driven insights, clients can strategically target their marketing efforts to drive engagement and spur consumer action.

• Testing services , such as Quad’s proprietary Accelerated Marketing Insights platform, assist clients in identifying the most impactful marketing decisions by using a unique combination of high-level mathematics and social factors to predict the best combination of offer, messaging and imagery across channels – both offline and online.

• Media optimization services include Quad’s proprietary, award-winning media optimization platform, Connex, which offers cross-channel insights, proactive intelligence and automated optimization capabilities that enable clients to make data-backed decisions in real time to drive campaign performance.

The platform takes the guesswork out of media placement, unifying and normalizing client marketing data to uncover performance trends by audience, creative, product, location and more.

• Media mix modeling services help clients understand the revenue that can be attributed to marketing spend during a given timeframe.

By applying rigorous analytics to client data, Quad provides a detailed model that reflects the effectiveness of each channel in a campaign, detailing a client’s marketing return on investment and allowing them to make informed media placement decisions moving forward.

Quad’s creative services help clients increase engagement with their brands to accelerate business growth, supporting all channels through every step of the creative process, including strategy, brand design, campaign ideation, premedia, adaptive design and content creation.

Informed by a combination of proprietary, client and other third-party data, Quad’s in-depth research on customer trends helps clients best define, design and position their brands.

Applying this strategic brand work, the Company helps clients concept, direct and produce scalable creative content that attracts attention and elicits action.

Creative services are powered by the Company’s marketing, advertising and creative talent, which includes creative directors, art directors, strategists, videographers, photographers, copywriters, computer generated imagery (CGI) artists, graphic designers and animation experts, among others.

The Company’s network of 16 photography and video production studios execute content creation through in-studio and on-location services.

of these studios operate directly within or near client facilities, leading to improved creative collaboration and streamlined workflows.

Creative services are also backed by global production resources that provide around-the-clock service for quick-turn design and production support.

For clients with their own creative content operations, the Company offers strategic process design services to identify and address process gaps, helping increase production efficiency, ensure consistent brand assets, and avoid time-consuming and costly rework.

Quad offers a wide range of production capabilities for deploying content to offline and online channels.

These capabilities include digital as well as print – a major point of differentiation among the Company’s competitive set.

The Company’s print operations feature the latest in automation and technology complemented by skilled manufacturing professionals.

Quad’s MX Solutions Suite provides a comprehensive range of marketing and print services, seamlessly integrating creative, production and media solutions across online and offline channels.

Powered by advanced intelligence and technology, this suite empowers brands to connect with their target audiences across households, in-store and online.

Intelligence solutions unlock strategic insights for its clients to help them make smarter marketing decisions.

The Company’s audience analytics and segmentation services leverage Quad’s proprietary, household-based data stack — representative of more than 250 million consumers — to create models driven by behavior-based “passions” of current customers and optimize prospecting for new ones so clients can reach their ideal audiences.

The Company believes these passions to be a true differentiator among the industry as they are based on reliable, resilient data that is proprietary to Quad.

The Company offers a full suite of testing services, which can gauge the effectiveness of media across channels.

In-market media testing empowers clients to incrementally improve their media planning and placement strategy, and increase their return on investment.

Quad also provides pre-market creative research and testing services through its Accelerated Marketing Insights offering, which comprises a variety of virtual and experiential testing environments, including insights gleaned from neuroscience and expert panelists.

This comprehensive offering delivers reliable, data-driven intelligence in a fraction of the time traditional methods require, and at a lower cost, in support of packaging, in-store, direct marketing and related solution services.

Through this methodology, brands can optimize the messaging, creative treatment and design format for their marketing before it goes live to enhance audience engagement, improve product performance, and minimize costly market corrections.

Quad’s creative offering addresses every step of the creative process, from ideation to execution.

These services are powered by the Company’s strategists, creative and art directors, photographers, videographers, premedia specialists, graphic designers, animation experts and copywriters.

Quad’s brand strategy and design services include brand positioning, design strategy, naming and brand mark design, visual identity creation, retail environment support, packaging design and brand roll-out execution.

Through in-depth strategic brand research, the Company takes time to truly understand each client’s unique brand voice and positioning.

It then applies these findings to craft compelling creative campaigns that solve the brand’s real-time problems and lead to desired consumer actions.

Quad’s global platform and advanced technology support always-on premedia and adaptive design capabilities for creative and digital execution, image and color management, and prepress/premedia tasks.

The Company also has an international network of 17 studios to help brands create unique and ownable content through photography, motion, computer generated imagery (CGI), automated 3D scanning and audio recording for activation across every channel in the marketing mix.

This full-service offering is housed under Betty, Quad’s creative agency.

Quad offers a wide range of production capabilities for deploying content to offline (i.e., physical) and online channels – a major point of differentiation among the Company’s competitive set.

Quad’s print operations feature the latest in automation and technology complemented by skilled manufacturing professionals.

The Company can produce large-scale print products, such as magazines, retail inserts and directories, as well as targeted print products, such as catalogs, direct mail, in-store signage and displays, and high-end packaging.

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Quad complements its production capabilities through its Managed Services offering.

Leveraging its deep industry knowledge, expansive network and substantial purchasing power, Quad helps clients manage their operations the way it runs its own – with diligence, efficiency and cost-savings.

The Company streamlines the marketing process for clients through its network of in-house experts and capabilities for marketing and production outsourcing, sourcing and procurement of goods and services, and print and paper management.

As a result, Quad’s clients can focus on other critical aspects of their business.

Quad believes that every consumer touch point is a brand experience and that every experience has the potential to drive measurable business outcomes.

Quad’s media services activate this philosophy by providing strategic omnichannel media planning and placement for a variety of industry-leading clients, managing hundreds of millions of dollars of media billings annually.

All media solutions prioritize transparency and neutrality, so clients can feel confident that their media spend is supported by the best data, platform and partners for their unique needs to generate measurable impact.

Quad’s Connections Planning identifies the audiences, messaging and channel placement best suited to drive business results.

The service is rooted in a deep exploration of audience behavior, crafting an experience plan that helps clients choose the channels that will most effectively reach consumers with targeted messages in the moments they are most receptive and likely to engage.

Each media plan includes a measurement framework that specifies how brands can best identify each channel’s success.

Once a campaign is underway, Quad’s proprietary media optimization platform, Connex, provides real-time insights to further optimize media placement and increase marketing efficiency.

The Company’s client-facing technology solutions help brands connect marketing strategy, global content creation, analytics and personalized communications across offline and online channels.

These tailored solutions rely on a people-process-technology approach that first analyzes a client’s current-state workflow and performance, with a particular focus on increasing accuracy, reducing waste and improving efficiencies.

Once potential improvements have been identified, a dedicated team implements the tool(s) that will best streamline campaign cycle efforts and remove friction.

These solutions work together with Quad’s creative and media offerings so that clients’ marketing efforts are scalable and relevant, driving optimal return on marketing spend across an ever-growing number of media channels.

Applying its deep industry knowledge, expansive network and substantial purchasing power, Quad helps clients manage their operations the way it runs its own – with diligence, efficiency and highly competitive costs.

Quad provides data-led, strategic media planning and placement services that support all traditional and digital touchpoints to foster direct consumer connections in-home, in-store and online.

The Company activates on a complete suite of full-funnel brand and performance marketing solutions.

Quad leverages more than $3.0 billion in the marketplace, enabling the Company to provide cost-efficient and effective options across all channels.

Media services are supported by Quad’s proprietary, household-based data stack and Connections Planning, a comprehensive approach to connecting clients with consumers through deep exploration of audience behavior.

This generates an experiential plan to help clients identify channels for most effectively reaching consumers with targeted messages in the moments they are most receptive and likely to engage across paid, owned and earned touchpoints to drive business outcomes.

The Company’s offering includes advanced analytics and campaign measurement solutions like media mix and tactical media effectiveness models to gauge how all media across the marketing funnel are performing, providing data-backed guidance on how to incrementally optimize media spend.

This full-service offering is housed under Rise, Quad’s media agency.

The Company’s client-facing technology solutions help brands connect marketing strategy, global content creation, analytics and optimized media performance across offline and online channels.

Quad applies a people-process-technology approach that first analyzes a client’s current-state workflow and performance, then creates tailored solutions to centralize assets, optimize processes and accelerate speed to market.

For instance, the Company’s ContentX planning and content management platform empowers clients to strategize, plan and manage campaigns, and personalize at scale across any channel.

Quad’s Publishing Solutions platform optimizes magazine planning and streamlines print operations management by connecting sales, editorial and production departments for straightforward editions to complex regional and demographic versions.

The Company’s At-Home Connect solution automates direct mail personalization, printing, mail sorting and in-home delivery, which simplifies and expedites marketers’ ability to create deeper, more direct connections with consumers.

These automations can be triggered by activities and events such as loyalty anniversaries and lifestyle preferences, or opportunities such as winning back lapsed customers, converting abandoned shopping carts, or upselling or cross-selling items.

Through its In-Store Connect retail media solution, Quad elevates the shopping experience in physical stores by helping brands deliver engaging messages and targeted promotions right at the shelf – a critical moment in the purchasing decision.

Industry and Competition

Because of its one-of-a-kind integrated marketing platform, Quad competes in both the advertising and marketing services industry, and in the commercial printing industry.

The Company’s breadth of connected solutions and its ability to both strategically consult and execute results at scale, positions Quad in a unique space beyond that of just a manufacturer or traditional agency.

This positioning expands the Company’s competitive set to include large agency holding companies, independent agencies, marketing consultants, as well as print management firms and commercial printers.

With its one-of-a-kind integrated marketing platform, Quad competes in both the advertising and marketing services industry, and in the commercial printing industry.

The Company’s breadth of connected solutions and its ability to both strategically consult and execute at scale, positions Quad in a unique space beyond that of just a manufacturer or traditional agency.

This positioning expands the Company’s competitive set to include large agency holding companies, independent agencies and marketing consultants, as well as print management firms and commercial printers.

Advertising and Marketing Services

The advertising and marketing services industry is highly fragmented, and competition is based on adapting quickly to new advertising platforms and technology, developing comprehensive proposals to secure client contracts, creating unique and effective multichannel marketing campaigns, demonstrating spend effectiveness by monitoring and reporting on clients’ marketing campaign results, providing favorable pricing, accessing talent and offering superior customer service.

The advertising and marketing services industry is highly fragmented, with competition based on companies’ ability to adapt quickly to new advertising platforms and technology, including AI;

leverage data and analytics to deliver personalized advertising experiences;

develop comprehensive proposals to secure client contracts;

create unique and effective multichannel marketing campaigns;

demonstrate spend effectiveness by monitoring and reporting on clients’ marketing campaign results;

provide favorable pricing;

access talent;

and offer superior customer service.

Consumer media consumption habits are constantly evolving.

The ongoing emergence of new marketing channels — including social media platforms and connected TV advertising — has caused audiences to become increasingly segmented.

The ongoing emergence of new marketing channels has caused audiences to become increasingly segmented.

As a result, advertising and marketing services providers must expand their capabilities to create effective multichannel campaigns for their clients, and providers face increased client demand to offer integrated, end-to-end marketing services (i.e., from strategy and creative through execution).

These trends greatly influence Quad’s ongoing efforts to help brands reduce the complexities of working with multiple agency partners and vendors, increase marketing process efficiency and maximize marketing effectiveness.

Quad believes that its deeply connected solutions address modern marketers’ most pressing issues, positioning it to compete effectively in this highly competitive industry.

Commercial Printing

The commercial printing industry also remains highly fragmented, with competition based on pricing;

availability of materials, including paper (which may be more limited in the future as a number of mills reduce graphic paper production capacity in favor of other product lines, such as packaging);

distribution capabilities;

availability of materials, including paper (which may be more limited in the future as a number of mills reduce graphic paper production capacity in favor of other product lines, such as paperboard);

distribution capabilities, including the ability to reduce postage costs;

customer service;

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on-time production and delivery;

and ability to maintain and adopt state-of-the-art technology to meet a client’s business objectives.

The commercial printing industry has moved toward a demand for shorter print runs, faster product turnaround and increased production efficiencies of products with lower page counts and increased complexity.

ability to maintain and adopt state-of-the-art technology;

and ability to offer additional marketing services to meet a client’s business objectives.

The commercial printing industry has moved toward shorter, on-demand, personalized print runs;

faster product turnaround;

and increased production efficiencies of products with lower page counts and increased complexity.

This — combined with increases in postage and paper costs, as well as marketers’ increasing use of online marketing and communication channels — has led to excess manufacturing capacity.

This excess capacity has allowed certain larger competitors like Quad, with economies of scale, strong balance sheets and access to capital markets, the ability to invest in automation and more efficient equipment;

take advantage of consolidating acquisition opportunities to remove excess, inefficient and/or underutilized capacity;

and reduce overall costs.

Within its manufacturing operations, Quad benefits from managing several very large facilities (greater than one million square feet) that produce multiple product lines under one roof, which maximizes utilization of equipment and labor resources while also driving cost savings.

Additionally, the Company continually strengthens its manufacturing operations through leading-edge technologies such as digital presses that enhance targeted print products;

wide-web presses that maximize labor productivity;

and advanced equipment and automation, including automated guided vehicles and robotic palletizers that support high-quality, low-cost production.

Due to these factors, economies of scale, a strong balance sheet and access to capital markets, Quad has been able to provide a competitive offering that meets clients’ manufacturing needs.

Quad is subject to seasonality in its quarterly results as net sales and operating income are higher in the second half of the calendar year as compared to the first half of the calendar year.

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Competitive Advantages

Quad’s suite of marketing solutions is powered by three primary competitive advantages that the Company believes distinguish it from its competitors:

integrated marketing platform excellence, ongoing innovation, and culture and sustainable impact.

Quad’s MX Solutions Suite is powered by three primary competitive advantages that the Company believes distinguish it from its competitors:

integrated marketing platform excellence, intentional innovation and a commitment to operate responsibly.

Integrated Marketing Platform Excellence

Quad’s integrated marketing platform encompasses all the resources brands and marketers need to plan, create, deploy, measure and optimize their marketing efforts across all media channels — from household to in-store to online.

Quad’s integrated marketing platform encompasses all the resources brands and marketers need to plan, create, deploy, measure and optimize their marketing efforts across any media channel — from household to in-store to online.

Accordingly, the Company can guide clients through every effort intended to drive an action, from consumer awareness and trust, to brand preference and purchase.

Print and Distribution Capabilities

While Quad’s manufacturing operations are the most capital-intensive part of its integrated marketing platform, they constitute a key point of differentiation from consulting firms, traditional creative agencies and agency holding companies.

Traditional agencies or agency holding companies develop creative and then outsource production while traditional consulting firms provide strategy and then outsource implementation.

Quad, however, is able to strategize, create and execute all campaign elements across all channels using its own internal resources.

Within its manufacturing operations, the Company benefits from managing several very large facilities (greater than one million square feet) that produce multiple product lines under one roof, which maximizes utilization of equipment and labor resources while also driving savings in certain product lines (such as publications and catalogs) due to economies of scale.

The Company continually strengthens its manufacturing operations through leading-edge technologies such as digital presses that enhance targeted print products and wide-web presses that maximize labor productivity;

advanced equipment and automation, including automated guided vehicles and robotic palletizers that support high-quality, low-cost production;

and its own global production resources that provide around-the-clock service for tasks like page assembly, retouching, color correction and design to reduce print job turnaround times.

In addition to the scale of its manufacturing operations and ongoing investments in technology, Quad’s ability to address postage rate increases sets the Company apart from its competition.

Postage rates are a significant component of many clients’ cost structures, and Quad believes that postal costs directly influence clients’ print and mail quantities.

Quad offers clients an array of postage optimization programs that lead to significant client cost savings.

Several of these programs integrate directly with the United States Postal Service (“USPS”).

For instance, the Company operates the print industry’s largest co-mail program (based on information published or otherwise made available from competitors), which expedites distribution by sorting and bundling multiple printed products at once in exchange for work-sharing discounts.

Client Dedicated Teams

A key aspect of the Company’s integrated marketing platform is the client dedicated on-site and near-site teams it employs.

These teams serve as an extension of a client’s internal marketing department, fulfilling critical execution roles ranging from content creation and creative production to marketing deployment in all channels.

All of this is executed to maximize production efficiencies, creating content that is adaptive across channels and easily templated and automated and, therefore, scalable.

Quad’s on-site and near-site teams also offer seamless access to additional services and subject matter experts across the Company, removing handoffs and associated friction in the client’s marketing process.

Quad’s dedicated team model simplifies marketing for clients and enables them to focus on what they do best:

Connected Solutions

While the Company’s products and services are organized into distinct solutions suites, they are intentionally crafted to complement one another.

For instance, the Company’s decades in print production provides household-level insights that fuel Quad’s differentiated data stack.

This data, in turn, drives the Company’s ability to strategically craft effective omnichannel media campaigns for its clients.

Similarly, combining the Company’s creative prepress capabilities with Quad’s robust marketing platform enables brand-consistent print deliverables at both volume and velocity.

Its breadth of solutions enables Quad to integrate where others cannot and deliver specialists where they are needed most.

The Company has built its business around clients’ needs, selling comprehensive solutions to problems – not just standalone products and services.

Quad’s integrated selling approach brings together experts from its manufacturing business and agencies to remove friction wherever it occurs in a client’s marketing ecosystem.

This approach results in cross-category sales and expanded growth opportunities that deeply engrain the business in a client’s marketing operations.

For instance, clients using the Company’s Betty agency for creative campaigns can leverage its Rise agency to craft a customized media strategy for connecting the right audiences using the optimal channels at the time consumers are most likely to engage.

The Company continues to see growth in this integrated strategy, with approximately 85% of its U.S.

clients purchasing more than one product or service during 2024.

Agency Expertise

Quad offers complete media and creative agency of record services through its Rise and Betty agencies.

Both agencies tailor their approach to match the way modern marketers buy media and creative services.

Fully integrated with the rest of Quad, Rise and Betty provide frictionless access to the Company’s comprehensive portfolio of marketing solutions.

Rise helps brands and marketers drive greater business results via digital and traditional media strategy, planning, buying and optimization.

Through its origins as a performance media company, Rise executes full-funnel media activation with unified measurement at its core, holding all media accountable for business outcomes.

The agency does not own principal-based positions in media (i.e., buying discounted ad inventory and selling it to clients at a markup).

Quad’s data stack backs the agency’s media services with reliable, household-level insights and passions without the customary taxes and hidden fees marketers often incur.

Rise’s media buying and placement is channel neutral and leverages the best data, platform and partners for a client’s unique needs.

The agency prioritizes transparency by conducting log-level analysis of its media.

Clients receive information about each ad request, bid and impression so they can clearly understand how their media inventory is delivered across different channels.

Betty answers the market need for an integrated and flexible creative solution that provides scalable execution without sacrificing quality or effectiveness.

It combines a boutique agency approach with Quad’s production power to deliver high quality, culturally relevant creative at high volumes – all while maintaining a client’s individual brand integrity.

Betty prides itself on being people obsessed, applying a combination of proprietary, client and third-party data to conduct in-depth research on consumer trends to help clients best define, design and position their brands and marketing efforts.

Its global network of photography and video production studios perform in-studio and on-location services – several of which operate directly within or near client facilities – and enable the agency to collaborate closely with clients to rapidly generate superior, scalable, on-brand content.

Global Platform

Quad’s Rise and Betty agencies are backed by global production resources that provide around-the-clock services.

Quad’s global production team enables quick-turn design and production support, executing responsibilities such as page assembly, retouching, color correction and design to reduce turnaround times, and provide the scalability that differentiates the creative agency.

In addition to Rise’s Mexico City team, which executes complete agency of record (AOR) media services, Rise’s team in India conducts data intelligence work for creating resonant media plans that maximize business results for clients.

Managed Services

Quad’s Managed Services offering deepens partnerships with clients by acting as a seamless extension of their marketing operations.

Leveraging Quad’s broad production capabilities and network of trusted vendor partnerships with integrated client services, technology and process design, Managed Services provides clients with advisory and execution-level support to simplify their workflows, decrease costs and reduce the number of partners needed to execute their work.

Quad begins with a consultative review of a client’s marketing operations, including its processes, technology, resources, costs and purchase execution practices.

The Company then creates tailored solutions that address identified process optimization opportunities.

Managed Services operations combine Quad’s robust manufacturing platform and expansive supplier network to produce a client’s marketing collateral.

These services extend beyond print to packaging, in-store signage, branded goods and an array of other marketing services.

Quad deploys on-site and near-site client-dedicated teams that integrate directly into a client’s internal marketing and purchasing departments.

These teams fulfill critical execution roles ranging from content creation and creative production to purchase execution and marketing deployment across all channels.

This team structure simplifies marketing for clients and enables them to focus on what they do best:

selling more products, services and/or content.

Quad has more than 500 professionals embedded within more than 70 client dedicated on-site and near-site teams including several photography and video production studios.

These teams support a range of clients, including those in grocery, sporting goods, mass merchandise and publishing.

Ongoing Innovation

Quad’s ongoing innovation drives its purpose to create a better way for its stakeholders.

While the Company challenges each of its employees to think differently through its core Value of “urgently innovate,” its disciplined approach to product development and innovation (PDI) identifies major innovation opportunities that can materially impact the Company’s revenue and margins.

Led by an interdepartmental committee of leaders, this process focuses on solutions that either close a gap or meet an underserved need in the marketplace, or provide significant time and cost efficiencies to internal workflows.

This organized approach to innovation ensures the Company is able to balance the short-term needs of the business with long-term growth opportunities provided by investments in new technology, capabilities and services.

Quad has more than 400 professionals embedded within approximately 50 client dedicated on-site and near-site teams.

Intentional Innovation

Founded on the belief that there is always a better way to do business, Quad applies a disciplined approach to product development and innovation (PDI) that intentionally identifies needle-moving opportunities that can improve the Company’s revenue and margins.

Led by an interdepartmental committee of leaders, the Company focuses on new or expanded solutions that either close a gap, meet an underserved need in the marketplace, or provide significant time and cost efficiencies to internal workflows.

Quad then strategically invests in the needed talent, technology and capabilities to activate these solutions.

Key areas of innovation that differentiate Quad from its competitors include the following:

Powered by its extensive print manufacturing business, Quad possesses a large data stack that represents approximately 89% of U.S.

The Company matches clients’ data files with its curated database of household addresses, ensuring that insights connect to real consumers, not just faceless email addresses.

Quad uses these insights to derive household-level “passion scores” that highlight the interests of that household, which inform target audience identification.

Over an 18-month span, Quad sent an average of 39 mail pieces on behalf of clients to each of the 117 million households it reaches (according to internal data from June 2022 to December 2023).

This frequency of interaction ensures that the Company’s data stack remains relevant, providing meaningful insights to help clients make the most of their marketing budgets.

As the federal government increases regulations on data privacy, and sources of data such as third-party cookies begin to disappear, Quad anticipates marketers will place a premium value on its privacy-compliant household data.

Led by experts in the field, Quad is investing in several applications of its differentiated data stack to help clients enhance audience insights and segmentation to optimize their marketing spend.

In-Store Experience

Quad helps clients think differently about the in-store experience by combining in-depth research with leading-edge testing to produce strategic insights on consumer behaviors, and then designing and executing innovative signage and displays that amplify brand awareness and generate consumer engagement.

Through its proprietary InVision testing platform, Quad offers:

• Virtual concepting of in-store campaigns through digitally rendered store environments;

• Predictive analytics that calculate the probability of where consumers are most likely to focus when looking at signage or a display;

• Display evaluation to verify the effectiveness of a client’s product messaging and creative design via feedback from a panel of shopper marketing experts.

Quad understands that in-store signage and product packaging work together to inform a consumer’s purchasing decision.

Complementing the Company’s InVision testing platform is Package InSight, a solution that applies advanced biometric research capabilities to evaluate brand packaging performance, consumer attention and shelf impact.

Package InSight uses the latest in biometric technology, such as mobile eye-tracking, facial coding and brain activation, to assess a packaging’s design effectiveness in an actual shopping environment.

In 2024, the Company plans to expand its testing capabilities by opening a retail and brand innovation center in its West Allis, Wisconsin, manufacturing facility.

The space will visually tell the story of Quad’s marketing experience offering for brick-and-mortar retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, and will include three mock retail environments – a general testing area, a cosmetics and beauty space, and a CPG and grocery section – all customizable for client visits.

Quad’s ability to bring a client’s most complex design concepts to life is another key differentiator for the Company.

Quad’s In-Store team creates and executes on a wide range of products, such as temporary end cap displays, semi-permanent store-within-a-store setups, and outdoor permanent signage, among others, in substrates such as wood, metal, acrylic, plastic or paper board.

Once a concept has been rendered, engineered and prototyped, Quad is able to either manage or manufacture the work itself, and handle deployment and distribution.

In 2023, Quad acquired DART Innovation (“DART”), a company specializing in in-store digital media solutions.

The Company aims to use DART’s expertise and capabilities to establish in-store retail media networks (RMNs) for brands at mid-sized retailers.

In-Store RMNs, like online RMNs, are useful to individual brands for reaching and engaging shoppers.

This acquisition expands Quad’s in-store capabilities with a dynamic digital solution at the shelf.

Technology Solutions

Given artificial intelligence’s (AI) generational leap over the past year, Quad has amplified its AI focus across the Company.

In 2023, the Company formed a cross-functional AI steering committee composed of Quad executives and technology experts to explore new ways to apply generative AI across its internal workflows and client-facing solutions.

The group spearheaded an enhanced policy to address emerging use cases and associated business risks.

The steering committee established a robust methodology to test, harden and implement AI use cases.

Quad’s expanded focus on generative AI is built upon decades of leveraging AI-driven robotic process automation and cognitive insights at the Company.

Quad’s technology solutions underpin many of the capabilities that make up Quad’s integrated marketing platform.

This includes supporting retail media networks, in which Quad recently invested through its acquisition of DART (as described above in “In-Store Experience”).

Internally, Quad incorporates advanced technologies in its workflows to maintain its execution excellence.

For example, the Company’s manufacturing operations leverage a proprietary enterprise resource planning system (known as Smartools®) to provide real-time information flow across all facets of print production and deployment — from print sales and estimating to production planning, scheduling, manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, invoicing, reporting and customer service.

Culture and Sustainable Impact

For more than 52 years, Quad has operated as a company with a soul, believing it can do good in the world while doing well as a business.

The Company’s long-standing focus on “creating a better way” reflects its “maker” culture where employees not only envision solutions, but actually create and execute them.

This approach has been a hallmark of the Company’s culture since its founding and has inspired creativity in how it addresses environmental issues, social issues and corporate governance, and contributes to good corporate citizenship.

The Company details its progress on driving positive, sustainable impact annually in its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report*, which includes metrics, programming details and advancements on its environmental and social commitments, multiple of which were achieved in 2023.

Further, the Company believes that its distinct corporate culture, which evolved from a core set of Values conceived by the Company’s late founder, Harry V.

Quadracci, drives thoughtful decision making, especially around its disciplined approach to managing operations and innovating solutions for clients, better positioning the Company to succeed and grow in a dynamic marketplace.

*Quad is not including the information contained on or available through its website as part of, or incorporating such information by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Proprietary Data Stack

Powered by its extensive print manufacturing business, Quad possesses a proprietary, household-based data stack that represents approximately 97% of the U.S.

adult population and 92% of U.S.

The Company believes this household information is uniquely resilient to the industry headwinds impacting other data offerings.

Since the majority of Americans have only one home address, and that address must be readable by a mail carrier to complete daily deliveries, Quad’s data stack ensures that insights are derived from real people, not bots, randomized device IDs or random email addresses.

From insights driven by its data stack, Quad develops proprietary “passions” that highlight the interests of that household and inform target audience identification.

While the data stack is founded on household data, it was created with an open architecture to easily ingest supplemental data from new clients and/or vendor partners.

Bolstered by this data, Quad’s stack consists of more than 3 billion data points that are revalidated weekly, representing more than 20,000 consumer attributes across demographic, behavioral, attitudinal and transactional data sets.

As announced in 2024, Quad is partnering with Google Cloud to leverage AI optimization capabilities and large language models for creating new AI-driven solutions that tap into the data stack and seamlessly connect it with clients’ creative and media assets.

These AI solutions will streamline access to Quad’s audience-targeting capabilities to further monetize its unique data stack.

In-Store Connect by Quad

Through decades supporting retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) clients in print and creative services, Quad has established itself as an expert in crafting impactful consumer journeys within physical retail environments.

As the marketing ecosystem continues to rapidly evolve and brands rely heavily on multi-channel media plans across online and offline platforms, Quad is positioning itself to lead the charge in creating a new retail experience.

The boom of retail media networks (RMNs) has unleashed exciting new possibilities for brands, and companies are shifting their marketing plans accordingly, with eMarketer predicting ad spend in omnichannel RMNs will grow to nearly $100 billion by 2028.

Quad is tapping into the power of RMNs by taking the traditional digital marketing funnel and bringing it into the store environment where U.S.

shoppers make more than 80% of their retail purchases.

Launched in 2024, In-Store Connect by Quad positions digital screens and kiosks throughout a physical store, giving retailers and CPG companies more impactful opportunities to deliver relevant promotions, share key product information and connect adjacent product options to shoppers, thus enhancing the overall shopping experience.

By providing direct connections with shoppers at strategic locations throughout the store, the solution generates greater product awareness to influence decisions in real-time and drive sales.

In-Store Connect combines Quad’s deep retail knowledge, extensive CPG network and scalable creative excellence with the hardware and software capabilities provided through its 2023 acquisition of DART Innovation, providing an end-to-end in-store RMN offering.

The Company is focused on building out a nationwide network of mid-market grocery clients, with testing currently ongoing in 30 stores as of December 31, 2024.

Early testing results are promising, with stores seeing significant product and category-level sales lifts.

As the Company continues to build its client portfolio, it is also exploring applications in other retail verticals such as department stores, home improvement stores and convenience stores.

Postal Optimization

A continued focus of innovation and investment for Quad is geared toward addressing postage rate increases.

Postage is the most significant client cost to manufacture and deliver printed marketing materials, representing up to 70% of costs for some clients, and Quad believes that these high costs directly influence clients’ print and mail quantities.

Quad is a leading partner with the United States Postal Service (USPS), mailing more than 5.9 billion pieces of marketing materials annually, which represents approximately 9.8% of the USPS’ yearly marketing mail and periodical volume.

Quad believes it is uniquely positioned to offer superior mail services and is continually creating innovative services to address this significant cost, including:

• Co-mailing:

The Company’s co-mail program expedites distribution by sorting and bundling multiple printed products at once for the USPS in exchange for work-sharing discounts and providing savings for publishers, marketers and retailers.

• MergedMail™:

This print-to-carrier solution uses a standard mailing format and Quad’s co-mailing abilities to produce completely personalized direct mail while maximizing postal savings.

The solution, powered by Quad’s print expertise and scalable solutions, supports weekly print runs.

• Household Fusion™:

This first-to-market mail packaging solution combines multiple pieces from different marketing or periodical mailers into a single package delivered to one address, resulting in incremental postage savings.

These solutions are supported by Quad’s team of postal experts who work closely with the USPS to allow clients to better leverage USPS promotions and incentives and receive further savings.

The team services clients on an individual basis to determine eligibility and make the necessary changes in production and mailing processes to qualify for these increasingly complicated savings opportunities.

Operating Responsibly

The Company seeks to operate responsibly by relying on its distinct corporate culture, which evolved from a core set of Values conceived by the Company’s late founder, Harry V.

Quadracci, and are focused on creating a better way forward.

These Values, which prioritize “believe in people,” “do the right thing” and “urgently innovate,” drive thoughtful decision making, especially around Quad’s disciplined approach to managing operations, solutioning for clients, and supporting employees and the communities where they work and live.

Quad’s Culture

Believing in its people, Quad empowers each employee to think like an owner and do what they can to put the client first and make it easy to work with the Company at every touchpoint.

Regardless of job title, Quad encourages employees to engage in its “maker” culture, embracing attention to detail and committing to continuous improvement by identifying opportunities, however small, to improve processes and create efficiencies.

Quad promotes a culture of constant collaboration where employees share ideas with others inside and outside of their immediate department and/or business area.

Employees’ close, personal relationships foster inter-departmental partnerships and trust that speed up the Company’s ability to urgently innovate and evolve as an MX company.

Doing the right thing means creating an environment where all employees feel welcome and able to bring their best selves to work every day.

The Company’s Business Resource Groups (BRGs) are one way Quad lives out this Value, providing space for employees of shared backgrounds and interests to support one another and convey their perspectives and feedback with Company leadership.

Quad currently has nine BRGs supporting women, military

veterans and their families, differently abled employees and caregivers, employees facing mental health challenges, the LGBTQIA+ community, Black employees, Hispanic / Latino employees, working parents, and employees of multicultural demographics.

Human Capital Management

The Company continually invests in and supports its employees and the areas in which it operates.

Building confident, skilled and knowledgeable talent and strong community partnerships are essential to Quad’s continued success.

Attracting, Developing and Retaining Highly Qualified Talent

Given Quad’s belief that its talent stands as a major differentiator among its competition, the Company invests heavily in efforts to attract, develop and retain employees, and in tools, technologies, processes, training and education to increase engagement, and drive productivity enhancements and efficiencies across the entire organization.

As of December 31, 2024, the Company had approximately 12,200 full-time equivalent (“FTE”) employees in the following geographies:

Geographic Region Number of FTE Employees

North America (Includes Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean) 9,800

Europe, Middle East and Africa 1,500

South America 700

By fostering a culture of empowerment in a welcoming environment, offering career growth and mentorship opportunities, and providing competitive pay and innovative benefits, Quad believes employees are more fully engaged in their day-to-day activities and produce better results for clients.

• Employee Experience:

The Company applies a holistic strategy to engage individuals throughout the employee lifecycle — from onboarding through career development and, ultimately, retirement.

Through timely, transparent communications, employees are kept well-informed and engaged in the Company’s culture and strategic direction.

Quad’s open-door culture, along with regular surveys, offer multiple avenues for feedback to further enhance the employee experience.

The Company’s various recognition programs provide motivation and a sense of purpose while helping employees understand the impact of their daily work.

The Company’s many coordinated efforts are intended to create a productive and engaged workforce where employees are excited to come to work and contribute to Quad’s success, as well as promote Quad as an employer of choice in their communities.

• Career Training and Growth:

To maintain and engage its highly skilled workforce, the Company provides employees with educational tools and skills courses through an easy-to-use, on-demand learning platform.

Employees are also encouraged to take advantage of the Company’s employee growth and development programs, including:

Accelerated Career Training, a fast-track for career advancement in manufacturing positions;

Corporate Trainee Program , a rotation-based offering that develops skills and leadership abilities through a series of agency and corporate administration positions;

hands-on, mentor-led manufacturing apprenticeships;

and Leading Within Quad , which focuses on best-in-class managerial behaviors.

These programs not only teach critical on-the-job and leadership skills, but also help employees respond to rapid change, cultivate effective networks, and create high-quality relationships necessary for personal, professional and Company growth.

• Competitive Pay and Innovative Benefits:

Employees are hired into jobs with competitive wages and innovative benefits.

The Company regularly evaluates its pay practices and structures to ensure it is competitive in the markets where it operates, and equitable based on employees’ experience, job responsibilities, performance and business results.

Beyond traditional, expected benefits, the Company offers expansive health and wellness benefits, including:

◦ QuadMed, the Company’s wholly owned health and wellness subsidiary, which provides a differentiated set of benefits for Quad employees and dependents through on-site and near-site primary and specialty health centers;

no-cost virtual primary care across all 50 states;

and a nationwide behavioral health program with in-person and virtual counseling.

Beyond Quad itself, QuadMed provides worksite healthcare solutions nationally for approximately 30 employers of all sizes and across multiple industries, including private and public sector employers.

◦ The Company’s QLife Wellness program, which provides educational resources, interactive webinars and regular communications around physical, emotional, financial and social well-being topics.

Building Strong Communities

The Company believes partnering with local communities creates a catalyst for movement and change, which benefits those outside of Quad’s walls while helping the Company maintain a positive reputation as the kind of business people choose to work for, do business with, invest in and call a true neighbor.

Supporting community activities, initiatives and organizations also demonstrates the Company’s Values in action, which fosters pride and employee engagement.

The four key objectives that guide the Company’s community impact from strategic investment of finances, volunteerism and in-kind services in community organizations are:

• Lessen the use of natural resources and impact on the environment;

• Provide academic and educational opportunities, and experiential learning for more people;

• Ensure that Quad reflects the communities where its employees live and work, as well as the clients who trust Quad with their business;

• Support programs that improve employees’ mental and physical health.

Environmental

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In 2023 (the most recent year for which data has been tabulated), the Company’s U.S.

manufacturing facilities recycled more than 98% of their industrial wastepaper and other solid waste.

manufacturing facilities recycled 97.7% of their industrial wastepaper and other solid waste.

• Energy and Emissions :

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Department of Energy at some of its largest manufacturing plants, and participating in the State of Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy Program.

• Hazardous Waste :

Quad mitigates the dangers associated with hazardous waste through comprehensive chemical and hazardous waste management processes, including safe handling practices, and finding ways to reduce the use of chemicals and solvents.

• Responsible Forestry :

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Compliance with existing or new environmental laws and regulations may require the Company to make future expenditures.

Human Capital Management

The Company continually invests in and supports its employees and the areas in which it operates.

Highly qualified, skilled and knowledgeable talent and strong community partnerships are key to Quad’s success as a marketing experience company.

Attracting, Developing and Retaining Highly Qualified Talent

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had approximately 13,150 full-time equivalent (“FTE”) employees in the following geographies:

Geographic Region Number of FTE Employees

North America (Includes Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean) 10,800

Europe, Middle East and Africa 1,575

South America 750

Quad focuses on the following key areas to attract, develop and retain highly qualified talent:

• Competitive Pay and Innovative Benefits:

Employees are hired into jobs with competitive wages and innovative benefits.

Beyond traditional, expected benefits, such as paid vacation time and holidays, a 401(k) retirement savings program with annual discretionary Company match, short- and long-term disability insurance, and employer-paid life insurance, the Company offers expansive health and wellness benefits, including:

◦ QLife Wellness, a program that provides educational resources, interactive webinars and regular communications around physical, emotional, financial and social well-being topics.

For instance, the program partners with Quad’s Total Rewards team and external vendors to provide employees with retirement planning, financial wellness webinars and one-on-one meetings so they can strategically plan for their financial futures.

◦ QuadMed, the Company’s wholly owned health and wellness subsidiary, provides a differentiated set of benefits for Quad employees and dependents through:

▪ On-site and near-site primary and specialty healthcare, pharmacy, dental, vision and physical therapy services, and fitness centers at several large-scale employee locations.

▪ No-cost virtual primary care across nearly all 50 states that allows patients to connect regularly with the same doctor, building the level of trust and connection they’ve come to expect from in-person care.

▪ Nationwide behavioral health program with in-person and virtual counseling through licensed therapists.

External services include on-site, near-site and virtual health delivery of comprehensive primary and preventive care, condition management, wellness programs and coaching, physical therapy, behavioral health, pharmacy services, occupational health and more.

• Career Training and Growth:

Employees are encouraged to take advantage of the Company’s focus on employee growth and development, which not only teaches critical on-the-job and leadership skills, but also helps them respond to rapid change, cultivate effective networks, and create high-quality relationships necessary for personal, professional and Company growth.

Multiple programs offer employees accelerated responsibility and pay, including Accelerated Career Training, which provides a fast-track for career advancement in manufacturing positions;

Leading Within Quad , which focuses on best-in-class managerial behaviors;

Corporate Trainee Program , which develops skills and leadership abilities through a series of agency and corporate administration rotations;

and hands-on, mentor-led manufacturing apprenticeship programs.

The Company also provides all employees with training focused on expanding cultural awareness, recognizing commonalities and differences across cultures, and adapting as appropriate – critical skills which help support employee retention, collaboration and productivity.

• Employee Recognition:

Regularly acknowledging the hard work employees demonstrate every day is an important component of Quad’s culture and retention strategy.

Recognition occurs through annual traditions, such as celebrating milestone years of service, especially one’s 10th year of service, during which an employee joins Quad’s Founders’ Circle – a tradition begun by the Company's founder to honor the dedicated work long-time employees do to push the Company forward every day.

Various additional recognition programs aim to spur employee pride, such as the quarterly Safety Cup Award for manufacturing plants that achieve low Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred (DART) rates, low cost-per-hour rates and high safety test scoring.

Manufacturing locations also participate in a quarterly engagement and retention award program that highlights plants’ initiatives to create an engaging workplace through employee and family events;

and community outreach activities.

• Employee Feedback:

The Company recognizes that when employees feel heard and supported, they are more likely to stay and put forth their best work.

To foster an engaged workforce, the Company offers multiple avenues to provide feedback so the Company can better understand what is working well and what can be improved.

Examples include:

Quad conducts an annual, U.S.-wide engagement survey in addition to “pulse surveys” to acquire feedback.

Human Resources and Company leadership then meet to review and develop new and updated programs from this information.

◦ Open forums:

Quarterly all-company town halls, in addition to department meetings, provide opportunities for employees to voice their thoughts and questions.

◦ Business Resource Groups (BRGs):

The Company’s BRGs also help create a company culture that is empathetic and attentive to the needs of employees.

The Company’s BRGs create spaces where employees of shared backgrounds and interests can come together to support each other and share their unique perspectives and feedback with Quad leadership.

The Company currently has seven BRGs supporting women, military veterans and their families, differently abled employees and caregivers, the LGBTQIA+ community, Black employees, Hispanic / Latinx employees, and working parents.

• Inclusive Policy Review:

Through its policies, the Company aims to create a safe and open environment where all Quad employees can bring their truest and best selves to work every day, consistent with the Company’s long-standing values.

Quad regularly reviews its policies and aims to ensure all Company procedures, processes and distribution of resources create equal opportunities among its employees and fair and just outcomes.

Building Strong Communities

Supporting community activities, initiatives and organizations also demonstrates the Company’s Values in action, which fosters pride and employee engagement.

The four key objectives that drive the Company’s community impact from strategic investment of finances, volunteerism and in-kind services in community organizations are:

• Lessen the use of natural resources and impact on the environment;

• Provide academic and educational opportunities, and experiential learning for more people;

• Ensure that the diversity of Quad reflects the communities where its employees live and work, as well as the clients who trust Quad with their business;

• Support programs that improve employees’ mental and physical health.

Corporate Governance

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The program includes ongoing employee education to ensure the security of physical and digital workspaces, protect the privacy of valuable data, identify potential phishing and malware threats, and avoid risky behaviors.

Growth Strategy

As an MX company, Quad intends to expand its capabilities and develop its platform through executing on the three pillars of its growth strategy:

Deliver Integrated Service Excellence

Quad focuses on solving problems, and removing pain points and sources of friction wherever a client experiences them in the marketing process.

Quad seeks to become an invaluable strategic marketing partner by helping its clients successfully navigate today’s constantly evolving media landscape through innovative, data-driven omnichannel solutions that are scalable and efficiently produced and deployed — from household to in-store to online.

A key component of Quad’s client-facing strategy is to strengthen relationships at higher levels within a client’s organization so the Company can better understand, anticipate and satisfy the organization’s business objectives.

To serve clients’ disparate needs, Quad continues to make disciplined and compelling investments across its integrated marketing platform.

These investments take many forms, including new equipment, technology and service capabilities.

The Company also makes investments in its talent, such as hiring business professionals with transformation, innovation, and client-side marketing and consulting expertise to enhance its position as an MX company, as well as investments to attract new employees and increase existing employee engagement, retention and productivity.

As the Company has transformed its offering to better meet the needs of brands and marketers, it has also made strategic decisions to divest of businesses that could not be easily leveraged as part of its greater integrated marketing platform.

These decisions free up cash flow for disciplined investments that the Company believes will lead to sustainable growth.

Accelerate Market Penetration

Quad’s ability to acquire new and expand existing account relationships is critical to the Company’s growth strategy.

The Company has made significant strides in recent years, introducing a growing number of brands and marketers to its suite of solutions.

The Company is particularly focused on expanding in key vertical industries where it believes the biggest opportunities for new business exist.

These include commerce, including consumer packaged goods, direct-to-consumer and retail;

financial services;

Key investments in 2023 to accelerate market penetration included:

• Fortifying business development efforts through strategic personnel hires in Sales, Sales Operations, Marketing and Agency Solutions to give the Company wider visibility as an MX company within its current client base, as well as with companies in its targeted growth verticals;

• Expanding awareness of Quad’s differentiated capabilities through a large-scale marketing and advertising effort centered on the campaign “Built on Quad”;

• Providing brand visibility and thought leadership at global industry events, such as the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, the premier gathering of the global advertising and creative communications industry.

Leverage Culture as an MX Company

The Company’s culture continues to be a driver for growth as Quad accelerates its competitive position as an MX company.

Core aspects of its unique culture are:

• Walk in the shoes of clients:

Quad delivers service excellence by encouraging all employees, regardless of job title, to prioritize listening to clients’ needs and challenges, and do what they can to make it easy to work with Quad at every touchpoint.

• Empower employees:

Quad continues to position itself as the workplace for the marketing industry’s best talent, and empowers its employees to think like owners and take responsibility for how they can help propel the business forward.

By embracing employees’ unique perspectives and experiences, fostering a sense of belonging through inclusion, and providing growth opportunities through skill development and career advancement, Quad believes employees are more fully engaged in their day-to-day activities, producing better results for clients while helping grow the business.

• Continuously improve:

Through its foundation in manufacturing, Quad’s has built a “maker” culture that embraces attention to detail, expert execution and a commitment to continuous improvement.

All employees are encouraged to identify opportunities, however small, that can improve processes and create efficiencies.

It’s this long-standing commitment to continuous improvement that enables Quad to confidently identify and remove friction from clients’ workflows.

• Collaborate to innovate:

The close, personal relationships employees form with one another is a foundational aspect of Quad’s culture.

The Company recognizes that the more effectively teams work together across the entire organization, the better it can serve its clients.

Accordingly, Quad encourages employees to connect and collaborate with others both inside and outside of their immediate department and/or business area.

Integrated workflows and inter-departmental collaboration speed the Company’s ability to innovate and evolve as an MX company.

• Communicate a unified vision forward :

The Company sends timely, transparent communications to all employees through a variety of channels to maintain employee engagement and connectivity, and maintain trust.

These communication efforts not only detail matters of personal importance (e.g., total rewards), but also keep employees informed on business operations and the Company’s strategic direction.

By articulating the role that each business area plays in the Company’s suite of interconnected solutions, Quad crafts a unified vision that everyone can rally behind.

Communication channels include InsideQuad, the employee intranet;

executive blogs and video logs (vlogs);

executive town halls;

department meetings;

“lunch and learn” events;

in-plant electronic and print signage;

and in-home mailings.

Financial Objectives

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The priorities for capital allocation and deployment are balanced according to prevailing circumstances and what the Company thinks is best for shareholder value creation at any point in time.

These priorities currently include using Free Cash Flow and cash proceeds from any asset sales to continue reducing debt while investing in scaling the business as a marketing experience company to fuel net sales growth;

driving profitability through sales growth;

and pursuing opportunities to return capital to shareholders through stock buybacks or dividends.

To provide ongoing improvement in productivity and, ultimately, maximize operating margins, the Company applies holistic continuous improvement and lean enterprise methodologies to further streamline its processes and maximize operating margins.

These priorities currently include increasing growth investments as an MX company to fuel net sales growth, maintaining low debt leverage to ensure long-term financial strength, and increasing return of capital to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks.

The Company’s disciplined financial approach and strong, trusted banking relationships allows it to maintain sufficient liquidity and to reduce refinancing risk, such as with Quad’s successful 2024 refinancing of its Term Loan A and Revolving Credit Agreement.

Quad applies holistic continuous improvement and lean enterprise methodologies to further streamline its processes and maximize operating margins.

These same methodologies are applied to its selling, general and administrative functions.

The Company continually works to lower its cost structure by consolidating manufacturing operations into its most efficient facilities, as well as realizing purchasing, mailing and logistics synergies by centralizing and consolidating print manufacturing volumes, and eliminating redundancies in its administrative and corporate operations.

Quad believes that its focused efforts to be the high-quality, low-cost producer generates increased Free Cash Flow and allows the Company to maintain a strong balance sheet through debt reduction.

The Company’s disciplined financial approach also allows it to maintain sufficient liquidity and to reduce refinancing risk.

Quad is proud of its strong and trusted banking relationships, which provide the Company with increased financial flexibility to make strategic investments to accelerate its growth and drive profitability as a marketing experience company.

Quad believes that its focused efforts to be a high-quality, low-cost producer generates increased Free Cash Flow and allows the Company to maintain a strong balance sheet through debt reduction.

Patents, Trademarks and Trade Names

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The primary raw materials that Quad uses in its print business are paper, ink and energy.

The price and availability of paper has been, and may continue to be, adversely affected by paper mills’ permanent or temporary closures;

paper mills’ access to raw materials, conversion to produce other types of paper, and ability to transport paper produced;

and tariffs and trade restrictions.

At this time, the Company’s supply of raw materials are available from numerous vendors;

however, based on market conditions, the current supply is under pressure due to supply chain shortages and higher than expected inflation.

however, based on previously mentioned market conditions, the current supply is under pressure due to supply chain disruptions and inflation.

The Company generally buys these raw materials based upon market prices that are established with the vendor as part of the procurement process.

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Vanderboom 50 Executive Vice President and Treasurer;

Head of Agency Operations and Logistics

Head of Agency Operations

Joel Quadracci has been a director of Quad since 2003, its President since January 2005, its President and Chief Executive Officer since July 2006 and its Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer since January 2010.

Quadracci joined Quad in 1991 and, prior to becoming President and Chief Executive Officer, served in various capacities, including Sales Manager, Regional Sales Strategy Director, Vice President of Print Sales, Senior Vice President of Sales and Administration, and President and Chief Operating Officer.

He serves on the board of directors for Plexus Corp., Pixability, Inc., Road America, Inc., Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

He serves on the board of directors for Plexus Corp., Pixability, Inc., Road America, Inc., the National Association of Manufacturers and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

He also serves on the board of trustees for the Milwaukee Art Museum and on the advisory council of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

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Prior thereto, Mr.

Golden served as Vice President, Global Digital Marketing for Xerox from March 2015 to June 2016;

Golden served as Vice President of Global Digital Marketing for Xerox from March 2015 to June 2016;

as Chief Marketing Officer of Story Worldwide from September 2011 to March 2015;

as Chief Digital Officer of Grey Group from September 2010 to September 2011;

as Managing Director, Digital of Havas from December 2007 to September 2010;

as Managing Director of Digital at Havas from December 2007 to September 2010;

as Group Director of Digital Marketing for NBC Universal from January 2006 to December 2007;

and as Head of Digital at Young & Rubicam from November 2000 to January 2006.

Golden serves on the board of directors of the National Epilepsy Foundation.

Gruen has served as General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Chief Risk & Compliance Officer since February 2023.

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Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance and Risk Officer in 2020;

Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Risk & Compliance Officer in 2022.

and Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Risk & Compliance Officer in 2022.

Prior to joining Quad, Ms.

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Prior to joining Quad, Mr.

Honan served as Vice President, General Manager and Chief Financial Officer of Journal Community Publishing Group, a subsidiary of diversified media company Journal Communications Inc., for five years, and held executive-level roles in investor relations and corporate development at Newell Rubbermaid, a global marketer of consumer and commercial products.

Honan served as Vice President, General Manager and Chief Financial Officer of Journal Community Publishing Group, a subsidiary of diversified media company Journal Communications Inc., for five years, and held executive-level roles in investor relations and corporate development at Newell Brands, a global marketer of consumer and commercial products.

Prior thereto, Mr.

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Eliezer Associates, a print consulting firm in Stamford, Conn., beginning in 1998 and was named President of the firm in 2004, the leadership role he maintained until joining Quad in 2010.

Robert Quadracci has served as Quad’s Chief Human Resources Officer since February 2023.

Robert Quadracci has served as Chief Human Resources Officer since February 2023.

Previously, he was Vice President of Human Resources - Sales, Marketing & Quad Agency Solutions from January 2022 to February 2023;

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Vanderboom has served as Executive Vice President and Treasurer since 2018 and Head of Quad Agency Solutions Operations since March 2023.

Vanderboom also serves on the board of Quad/Med and the advisory board of Rise Interactive, a Quad company, and provides executive oversight for Quad Paper Services.

Vanderboom also serves on the board of QuadMed and provides executive oversight for Quad Paper Services.

Since joining Quad in 1993, he has served in various leadership capacities, including Controller of Parcel Direct, a freight expediting subsidiary sold to FedEx in 2004; Treasurer, beginning in 2007; Vice President, beginning in 2008; Vice President of the Program Management Office (PMO) from 2012 to 2014 and 2019 to 2023; and President of Logistics from 2014 to 2023.

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Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 1. Business