Alumni focus: Jack McManus

January 30, 2013

Growing up around entrepreneurship had a huge influence on Jack McManus. His father and grandfather both owned their own businesses, and now McManus is following the family tradition. Owner of Promotional Outfitters and COMMcaddy Network, McManus has reinvented promotional marketing with new innovative ways to advertise.

Originally from Coral Springs, Fl., McManus traveled away from home to attend Georgia Southern University. “Most of my high school peers were going to Florida State or the University of Florida,” McManus said. “I wanted to go to a smaller school that had a strong business school and a chance to play on the tennis team.”

McManus attended Georgia Southern and decided to major in management. His father advised him that having a management degree could “encompass virtually all facets of business.” McManus was really interested in getting a degree in entrepreneurship, but at the time Georgia Southern did not offer one.

Nevertheless, McManus graduated from Georgia Southern in 1983 with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration in management. While at Georgia Southern, McManus was involved with Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity, the men’s tennis team, and several intramural sports. On top of playing a varsity sport and going to school full time, McManus worked at Sports Buff.

It would be his involvement with all these extracurricular activities that would land his first job after graduation. “My boss actually went to the Georgia Southern placement office to scan through all the business resumes, and I was blessed enough for him to pull mine,” McManus said. “He said that he liked how I played a varsity sport and worked while going to school.”

It was Bill Brannen, of Tappan Appliance Company, who hired McManus and trained him to work for a South Georgia territory of the company. After working in the appliance industry for five years, McManus became interested in the promotional products industry. “I went to a party of one of my best friends, JT Marburger, and started talking with his mom about what she did for a living,” he said. “She told me all about the promotional products industry and it was love at first sight.” McManus began working for a small promotional products company and then moved to work for Communicorp, a division of AFLAC.

While at Communicorp, McManus began working with John Cavanagh who was developing a new licensing division within the company. “Eventually, John bought the licensing division from Communicorp and I went to work with him,” McManus said. Cavanagh’s new division was named Cavanagh Group International (CGI), and became an “invaluable” experience for McManus in his pursuit to start his own business.

McManus always knew that one day he would start his own business. “My father and grandfather both had their own businesses,” McManus said. “I grew up with daily business updates at the dinner table and learned an appreciation of how hard work could lead to success.”

McManus gained all types of experience while working for CGI. He worked with companies such as Coca-Cola, Harley Davidson, and even Dreamworks. “I traveled all over the world, learned about manufacturing overseas, and managed over 130 representatives selling our products,” he said. Deciding to “trust in God and take one step of faith at a time,” McManus took a leap of faith and decided to quit CGI and start his own company.

In 2000, he took all the knowledge he had acquired from CGI and incorporated it into his company Promotional Outfitters. “Traditionally, the promotional products industry is dominated by pens, t-shirts, [etc.],” McManus said. “I wanted to be more creative and incorporate trendy clothing lines to trend custom made products.” Promotional Outfitters creates custom and unique products that are not the typical sales items. By creating and marketing items that did not previously exist, McManus earned higher profit margins. “Over the years, Heineken USA, American Honda, and Comcast have been our largest customers,” he said.

The constant strive to develop unique promotional products drove McManus to another innovative idea. Working with Heineken USA, he learned that over half of people that walk up to a bar are actually undecided on what they want to drink. Thus is the purpose for logos surrounding the bar area. “An epiphany happened when I was holding a Caddy (the item at the bar that holds napkins and straws) and looking at my iPhone,” McManus said. “I thought what if I put a screen on the front of the Caddy that would allow for continuous messages/images to be displayed.”

COMMcaddy Network was formed and now McManus has Caddies in locations throughout the United States and even in his first international location, Panama. “We currently reach over 1 million impressions per month with our locations,” he said. “We change content on the Caddies 24/7 and allow for some innovated marketing and advertising ideas.” To date, COMMcaddy Network has worked with Heineken, Gallo, Bacardi, Sam Adams and several other top beverage companies. McManus explained the caddies have been proven to increase sales. The current goal is to place Caddies in 1000 locations nationwide.

In the future, McManus is looking forward to more family time. His main goal right now is to buy a trawler yacht and to complete the Great Loop, a circumnavigation of the eastern half of the United States and portions of Canada. McManus plans to make the trip with his wife within the next few years. “We will meet new people and explore new cities to potentially move to,” he said. “My hope is that a new idea or mission will develop.”