GES Buys CSG Creative to Expand Event Marketing

Associations and event organizers using CSG Creative keep the same team and brand inside GES's larger service platform.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Advertising

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of two modular exhibition stands of different sizes side by side under exposed truss, suggesting a combined but distinct structure. — GES agreed to acquire CSG Creative from National Trade Productions to expand its event marketing services, with CSG keeping its brand and leadership, including President Paige Cardwell. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

GES, a global exhibition and experiential marketing services company, has acquired CSG Creative from National Trade Productions, Inc. CSG Creative, a marketing and creative services agency focused on the association and exhibitions industries, will operate within GES while keeping its established brand.

Why it matters

The deal folds a specialist in growing event attendance and revenue into a larger exhibition services platform, a move that signals consolidation among event marketing providers. Event organizers and associations face more complex audience and market dynamics, and the combined company is positioned to address them across GES's enterprise client base.

CSG Creative has nearly 25 years of operating history, and GES has a legacy of almost 90 years, while National Trade Productions, Inc. is marking 50 years. The announcement did not disclose a transaction value or any revenue or headcount figures.

The players

GES

GES is a global exhibition and experiential marketing services company with a legacy of almost 90 years and operations across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Middle East.

CSG Creative

CSG Creative is a marketing and creative services agency with nearly 25 years of operation, specializing in the association and exhibitions industries.

National Trade Productions, Inc.

National Trade Productions, Inc. is the company that owned CSG Creative before the sale and is celebrating 50 years in business.

Derek Linde

Derek Linde is the CEO of GES, leading a global exhibition and experiential marketing services company.

Paige Cardwell

Paige Cardwell is President and Founder of CSG Creative, and she will remain in place to serve existing clients.

The details

CSG Creative will operate as an operating company within GES and retain its established brand, so its clients continue to work with the same team. Paige Cardwell, President and Founder of CSG Creative, and the CSG team will remain in place to serve existing clients. The structure lets GES add CSG's marketing capability to its exhibition services without absorbing the agency's client relationships into a new brand.

The acquisition was announced on November 5, 2026.

Market Landscape

The acquisition extends a pattern in which exhibition-services companies buy specialist marketing agencies to offer broader services to event organizers and associations. It places a Las Vegas-linked event marketing specialist inside a larger global platform serving the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Middle East.

Event organizers and associations working with CSG Creative should expect continuity, since its team and brand remain in place. Businesses that buy exhibition and event marketing services may see a wider set of capabilities from a single provider, which is worth factoring into vendor reviews.

The takeaway

Operators who rely on CSG Creative for association or exhibition marketing should keep their existing contacts, since the team and brand stay the same. Vendors in this space should watch whether GES bundles CSG's services into broader enterprise contracts in coming quarters.