In advertising, pretty much everyone has been influenced by someone else. As we’ve been bringing you stories about ad legends like Bill Bernbach and George Lois, we stumbled onto a guy who influenced both. Paul Rand (not to be confused with Rand Paul) is well known for his logo work for companies like UPS, ABC, …
The world is full of bad advertising. Sometimes it’s because the ad is tone-deaf. Other times these ads are just flat-out boring. Unappealing. Without soul (We’re looking at you, AI). Usually, this results from laziness, but client “preferences” are also the culprit. So put away your starbursts and listen up. The best way to make …
Okay, I’ll admit that I knew nothing about JWT before starting this article. I knew he was the founder of J. Walter Thompson Advertising, now the huge conglomerate Wunderman Thompson. I also knew he didn’t fit the mold of most of my subjects. He came way before the “Mad Men” era. In fact, he actually …
J. Walter Thompson: Father of brand advertising? Read More »
The year was 1909. The US Army bought the first military aircraft from the Wright Brothers, Sigmund Freud lectured in NYC, and the Manhattan Bridge opened. Meanwhile, in Louisville, KY, the American Advertising Federation convened at the Galt House and — led by Samuel C. Dobbs — took a stand against false advertising. You can …
Bernbach, along with James Doyle and Max Dane, founded DDB in 1949. He had left Grey Advertising in “an act of defiance,” taking one small client — Ohrbach’s Department Store — with him. The reason he left was simple. He had the notion that advertising was an art, whereas most thought of it as a …
In 1999, Time Magazine named Leo one of the most influential people of the 20th century. He earned this honor not only by building an ad agency that now boasts 85 offices worldwide — employing over 9,000 people — but also by creating some of advertising’s most iconic characters. Born in 1891, Mr. Burnett started …
Out of the golden age of advertising came a number of fantastic TV commercials that are forever stuck in the heads of people who grew up in the 70s. Many of these commercials featured ongoing characters. Well before the bears — Leonard, Dylan, Amy, Bill, and Molly — Charmin had Mr. Whipple, who was obliged …
Mourned by few, the era of 3-martini lunches is long gone. But, is the era of just having lunch with coworkers, clients, or friends also going the way of the dinosaur? Before the pandemic, it seemed like lunch with someone, anyone, was a foregone conclusion. Then quarantine happened. We had to all go our separate …
Logos aren’t your brand, but they do represent it. As such, if your brand changes, your logo probably should, too. That aside, there are other reasons to update your logo, even if your brand hasn’t changed. Here are a few. It’s been 7-10 years since you last updated your logo. Typically, this is about how …
Lee Clow is the genius behind a number of memorable campaigns that leave most of us in the industry wishing we could match just one of his masterpieces. He began his career in advertising at a “dopey agency” whose owner had contempt for the creative department. He only cared about getting and keeping clients, not …
