N.W. Ayer & Son
Encyclopedia
N. W. Ayer & Son was the first advertising agency
in the United States
. It was founded in Philadelphia in 1869 by 21-year-old Francis Wayland Ayer, who named the agency after his father, N. W. Ayer. This agency was named the 14th largest advertising agency in the United States, according to a guide the firm published in 1982. N.W Ayer & Son started its business by representing religious weekly newspapers, but eventually they would become responsible for some of the most recognized slogans in advertising history. By 1877, N.W Ayer & Son would become highly successful, and there they obtained what was left of another agency, the Volney Palmer Agency. There they soon titled their agency as the oldest advertising firm in the US. It was in 1884 Ayer expanded into the advertising business, but it wasn’t until 1892 that artists and writers would work in groups known as creative teams.
When the founder of De Beers
, Harry Oppenheimer
and president of N.W Ayer & Son, Gerold M. Lauck had a meeting in 1938, they discussed a marketing campaign that would change the falling price of diamonds at the time. At the time, the idea of engagement rings decorated with diamonds wasn’t very popular in Europe because of this the campaign was promoted in the United States where interests of diamonds were very high. De Beers told Ayer, that they did not ask any other agencies for this task, and if Ayer’s plan was successful, De Beers would have N.W Ayer & Son become the exclusive agency for De Beers’ interest within the United States
. This motivated Ayer, who soon proposed that their campaign should move the Americans spending demographic towards larger and more expensive diamonds.
To successfully achieve their goal, Ayer suggested that they reinforce the relationship if diamonds with love and romance. This prove successful as both men and women were caught in the relationship if diamonds being a gift of love. Today, the slogan created for De Beers still remains today and the relationship of love, romance and diamonds are still prominent.
In 1986, Ayer would receive positive feedback for working for U.S Army recruiting with their “Be all that you can be” advertising slogan. This advertisement benefited the army’s recruitment goals greatly while also facing negative responses toward the Vietnam War and the low number of citizen enlisting. All this recognition would be lost after charges were filed against an employee, the same employee who was responsible for the U.S Army and Ayers collaboration.
The loss of the U.S Army recruiting struck Ayer hard, but Ayer would redeem the company by obtaining an account with the Burger King Corporation. This gain was said to strengthen the agency’s business, but unfortunately after eighteen months, Ayer would lose the account with Burger King Corporation.
Another setback to follow for Ayer would be the loss of their account with AT&T Corp, Ayer desperately tried to keep AT&T Corp. by their side, unfortunately the company parted from the agency despite the memorable slogans that they had created..
, KitchenAid
and a few others. In 1999, under the MacManus Group, Ayer would merge with Leo Group and Dentsu to form Bcom3. In 2002, the Ayer name would meet its end as Bcom3 decided to merge them in to their smaller Kalplan Thaler Group, where Ayer would slowly diminish.
Despite the merge between the two groups, Bcom3 Group would soon retire the name of N.W Ayer & Son. Bcom3 Chairman-CEO, Roger Haupt said, “Retiring the venerable N.W Ayer name wasn’t easy.” Then followed that with, “It is more about the Kaplan name...We're in a situation where we have an excellent agency in Kaplan Thaler and at the end of the day that's the right thing to do.” Haupt saying that it was a difficult decision and that was for the better of the company. In the end, Ayer was one of the most recognized names in advertising; there exist a couple other agencies as old as Ayer, but have a hard time being recognized because of Ayer’s legacy.
In 1973, the company relocated to New York
. Acquisitions included Ayer Barker, which once employed Salman Rushdie as a copywriter. Following a general trend in the advertising industry, N.W. Ayer was subject to a number of mergers and acquisitions
and was eventually acquired by the Publicis Groupe, based in Paris
, which closed down the N.W. Ayer offices in 2002.
The N. W. Ayer Philadelphia building in Philadelphia was purchased in 2005 and has been developed into The Ayer, a luxury condominium
.
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was founded in Philadelphia in 1869 by 21-year-old Francis Wayland Ayer, who named the agency after his father, N. W. Ayer. This agency was named the 14th largest advertising agency in the United States, according to a guide the firm published in 1982. N.W Ayer & Son started its business by representing religious weekly newspapers, but eventually they would become responsible for some of the most recognized slogans in advertising history. By 1877, N.W Ayer & Son would become highly successful, and there they obtained what was left of another agency, the Volney Palmer Agency. There they soon titled their agency as the oldest advertising firm in the US. It was in 1884 Ayer expanded into the advertising business, but it wasn’t until 1892 that artists and writers would work in groups known as creative teams.
Notable slogans
- "When it rains it pours", advertising saltSaltIn chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
for Morton SaltMorton SaltMorton Salt is a United States company producing salt for food, water conditioning, industrial, agricultural, and road/highway use. Based in Chicago, the business is North America's leading producer and marketer of salt. It is a subsidiary of the German company K+S.-History:The company began in...
, coined in 1912 - "I'd walk a mile for a Camel", advertising Camel cigarettes for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, coined in 1921. Sometimes this slogan was formed into a jingle,"I'd walk a mile for a mild, mild Camel."
- "A diamond is forever", advertising diamondDiamondIn mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s for De BeersDe BeersDe Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...
, coined in 1947 by Frances Gerety. - "Reach out and touch someone", advertising long-distance telephoneTelephoneThe telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
service for AT&TAT&TAT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
, coined in 1979. Created by Anthony (Tony) P. Galli and Stanley LomasStanley LomasStanley A. Lomas, 1913-2003, was a pioneer in television from 1948. He produced early televised college football games in 1948-49. Stan also produced numerous television commercials featuring celebrities, including many of the New York Yankees of the 1950s, John Wayne, William Holden and others...
. Composed by David LucasDavid Lucas (composer)David Lucas is an American rock and roll composer, singer, and music producer. He has written a number of well-known commercial jingles, such as AT&T's "Reach out and touch someone". In 1981, he received a Clio Award for composing the music to Pepsi's "Catch that Pepsi spirit"...
. The original slogan created by Galli was, "To communicate is the beginning of understanding. Reach out and touch someone." - "We may be the only phone company in town, but we try not to act like it", advertising phone services for AT&TAT&TAT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
. Created by Anthony (Tony) P. Galli. - "Today's Army Wants to Join You" advertising military service for the United States ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, - "Be all you can be", advertising military service for the United States ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, coined in 1981 by E.N.J. Carter.
"Diamonds are Forever" slogan with De Beers"
N.W Ayer & Son created one of the most recognized slogan of the 20th century, “A Diamond is Forever.”When the founder of De Beers
De Beers
De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...
, Harry Oppenheimer
Harry Oppenheimer
Harry Frederick Oppenheimer was a prominent South African businessman and one of the world's richest men...
and president of N.W Ayer & Son, Gerold M. Lauck had a meeting in 1938, they discussed a marketing campaign that would change the falling price of diamonds at the time. At the time, the idea of engagement rings decorated with diamonds wasn’t very popular in Europe because of this the campaign was promoted in the United States where interests of diamonds were very high. De Beers told Ayer, that they did not ask any other agencies for this task, and if Ayer’s plan was successful, De Beers would have N.W Ayer & Son become the exclusive agency for De Beers’ interest within the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. This motivated Ayer, who soon proposed that their campaign should move the Americans spending demographic towards larger and more expensive diamonds.
To successfully achieve their goal, Ayer suggested that they reinforce the relationship if diamonds with love and romance. This prove successful as both men and women were caught in the relationship if diamonds being a gift of love. Today, the slogan created for De Beers still remains today and the relationship of love, romance and diamonds are still prominent.
Becoming AT&T's Main Agency
In 1906, N.W Ayer & Son was commissioned by the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York to create an advertising campaign for AT&T, this campaign was to encourage the company’s popularity with customers. Due to the campaign becoming a success, AT&T made N.W Ayer & Son became AT&T’s main advertising agency. Ayer created five advertisements for AT&T that would be another successful ad campaign by Ayer. The first of the five ads appeared in June, “Twenty Million Voices,” with the other four appearing in the following months. By 1979, Ayer would have created AT&T’s most notable slogans, “Reach out and touch someone," which was one of AT&T’s most successful ads. AT&T’s relationship with Ayer would last into the 1970’, becoming one of the oldest relationships in America.Decline of The Agency
In the late 1960’s, N.W Ayer & Son faced various challenges in the advertising industry. This was due to changes that were occurring in the advertising industry. These changes were because smaller agencies were creating advertisements that were more appealing to a certain group of consumers. Because of this way of advertising, those smaller agencies were able to focus their attention to only one demographic, this process was easier because it was done faster by the smaller agencies, rather than the traditional, and larger agencies. Soon Ayer would drop down into being tenth of the major agenciesIn 1986, Ayer would receive positive feedback for working for U.S Army recruiting with their “Be all that you can be” advertising slogan. This advertisement benefited the army’s recruitment goals greatly while also facing negative responses toward the Vietnam War and the low number of citizen enlisting. All this recognition would be lost after charges were filed against an employee, the same employee who was responsible for the U.S Army and Ayers collaboration.
The loss of the U.S Army recruiting struck Ayer hard, but Ayer would redeem the company by obtaining an account with the Burger King Corporation. This gain was said to strengthen the agency’s business, but unfortunately after eighteen months, Ayer would lose the account with Burger King Corporation.
Another setback to follow for Ayer would be the loss of their account with AT&T Corp, Ayer desperately tried to keep AT&T Corp. by their side, unfortunately the company parted from the agency despite the memorable slogans that they had created..
Retiring of N.W Ayer & Son name
Due to the scandal involving the U.S Army account, N.W Ayer began to struggle and their importance gradually faded away as the years came by. Ayer would become part of MacManus Group, at the same time, CEO Mary Lou Quinlan would step down to from a new unit within MacManus and would be replace by Mary Beth Casey. Ayer’s last clients would include Continental AirlinesContinental Airlines
Continental Airlines was a major American airline now merged with United Airlines. On May 3, 2010, Continental Airlines, Inc. and UAL, Inc. announced a merger via a stock swap, and on October 1, 2010, the merger closed and UAL changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc...
, KitchenAid
KitchenAid
KitchenAid is a home appliance brand owned by Whirlpool Corporation. The company was started in 1919 by The Hobart Corporation to give restaurants a countertop alternative to their industrial sized mixers. The first model weighed 69 lbs. Each unit is still assembled by hand in Greenville, Ohio...
and a few others. In 1999, under the MacManus Group, Ayer would merge with Leo Group and Dentsu to form Bcom3. In 2002, the Ayer name would meet its end as Bcom3 decided to merge them in to their smaller Kalplan Thaler Group, where Ayer would slowly diminish.
Despite the merge between the two groups, Bcom3 Group would soon retire the name of N.W Ayer & Son. Bcom3 Chairman-CEO, Roger Haupt said, “Retiring the venerable N.W Ayer name wasn’t easy.” Then followed that with, “It is more about the Kaplan name...We're in a situation where we have an excellent agency in Kaplan Thaler and at the end of the day that's the right thing to do.” Haupt saying that it was a difficult decision and that was for the better of the company. In the end, Ayer was one of the most recognized names in advertising; there exist a couple other agencies as old as Ayer, but have a hard time being recognized because of Ayer’s legacy.
In 1973, the company relocated to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Acquisitions included Ayer Barker, which once employed Salman Rushdie as a copywriter. Following a general trend in the advertising industry, N.W. Ayer was subject to a number of mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
and was eventually acquired by the Publicis Groupe, based in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, which closed down the N.W. Ayer offices in 2002.
The N. W. Ayer Philadelphia building in Philadelphia was purchased in 2005 and has been developed into The Ayer, a luxury condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
.