Digimarc Expands Global Footprint With Strategic Hires in Japan and Europe

BEAVERTON, Ore., Oct. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Digimarc Corp. (NASDAQ: DMRC), inventor of the Digimarc Discover® platform featuring the imperceptible Digimarc Barcode, expanded the company's global presence with the hiring of two executives and the opening of a new office in Tokyo. Ricoh executive Tetsuro "Ted" Takahashi has been appointed country director, Japan, and will manage the adoption of Digimarc Barcode in the Japanese marketplace. Additionally, former L'Oréal and Mondelez executive Claudius Jaeger has been named new sales director of Europe, where he will work from Digimarc's Cologne, Germany, office and be responsible for the strategic introduction of Digimarc Barcode into Germany and the greater European marketplace.

With more than 30 years of production printing experience, Takahashi, formerly general manager of Ricoh's Commercial Printing Business Group, comes to Digimarc after having developed new business models at Ricoh that combine hardware, software and services for commercial printers. Prior to his role at Ricoh, Takahashi served as the department manager of Hitachi's business planning department, where he built marketing and business plans for enterprise customers around the company's printing solutions. In his new role at Digimarc, Takahashi is responsible for driving adoption of Digimarc Barcode in Japan and working closely with the "Shopping for The Future" study group, which includes over a dozen Japanese companies encompassing retailers, consumer brands and their suppliers. The group was formed in 2016 and consists of several work groups researching how best to implement Digimarc Barcode industrywide in Japan.

"I am excited to be joining Digimarc as the company seeks to bolster its presence in Japan," said Takahashi. "Japan offers a unique opportunity for greater adoption of Digimarc Barcode in a mature marketplace. The communication and cooperation between retailers, brands and printers are unlike that in any other country. Industry leaders in Japan recognize the powerful retail and supply chain efficiencies of Digimarc Barcode for packaging, as well the consumer engagement through retail mobile applications."

In Europe, Jaeger understands the pressures and competitive forces retailers are facing, having worked as a brand manager with large German retailers such as Schwarz Group, Edeka and REWE Group. Additionally, he has experience in consumer products marketing with both beauty and food products that gives him a unique vantage point to understand the entire value chain in Europe and how Digimarc Barcode can introduce efficiencies and measurable ROI at every stage of the package journey.

"Digimarc Barcode is a disruptive technology that can have an immediate impact on reducing shrinkage and increasing operational efficiency in the German and European marketplace," Jaeger said. "Retailers in Europe already deliver low prices and a high-quality customer experience, leaving little room for margins of any kind. I believe Digimarc Barcode is the 'X factor' that can help them find unforeseen savings in their operations while also providing great opportunities to more effectively communicate to shoppers."

"We are very pleased to have two industry leaders in Tetsuro and Claudius joining the Digimarc team," said Aimee Arana, executive vice president of sales and business development at Digimarc. "We've seen tremendous growth of interest in Digimarc Barcode in both Japan and Europe. Adding top talent in these markets and a focused office in Japan will help us to capitalize on this momentum and serve to demonstrate our commitment to global expansion."

About Digimarc
Digimarc Corp. (NASDAQ: DMRC) is a pioneer in the automatic identification of everyday objects such as product packaging and virtually any media, including print, images, and audio. Based on the patented Intuitive Computing Platform (ICP™), Digimarc provides innovative and comprehensive automatic recognition technologies to simplify search, and transform information discovery through unparalleled reliability, efficiency and security. Digimarc has a global patent portfolio, which includes over 1,100 granted and pending patents. These innovations include state-of-the-art identification technology, Digimarc Barcode, as well as Digimarc Discover® software for barcode scanning and more. Digimarc is based in Beaverton, Ore., with technologies deployed by major retailers and consumer brands, central banks, U.S. states, film companies and professional sports franchises, among others. Visit digimarc.com and follow us @Digimarc to learn more about The Barcode of Everything™.

SOURCE Digimarc Corporation

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