Some Of The Giants That Have Come Before Us

Now this list is by no means complete. I could add dozens of other great men and women from the marketing and advertising world. But these are the folks who have made the greatest impression on me.

William Bernbach

William Bernbach was a creative leader who revolutionized the way that advertising was approached. Above all he valued innovation and intuition over science and rules. In an interview, he credited his creativity as being the secret of his success, saying, "I think I...had the advantage of not knowing too much about advertising, and therefore I could be fresher and more original about it. As soon as you become a slave to the rules, you’re doing what everybody else does; when you do what everybody else does, you don’t stand out."

Leo Burnett

Leo Burnett was frequently asked by young people about how he got involved in advertising, and his answer was invariably: "I didn’t just happen to get into advertising, advertising got into me."

He developed a variety of advertising concepts, including the influential idea of "searching for the inherent drama" of the product. "You have to be noticed," he once said, "but the art is getting noticed naturally, without screaming and without tricks."

John Caples

John Caples was a famous copywriter whose considerable talents in mail-order advertising earned him a place in advertising history. David Ogilvy once called Caples, "[O]ne of the most effective copywriters there has ever been."

Caples will always be remembered for a classic advertisement he developed for the U.S. School of Music in the 1920s. It began, "They laughed when I sat down at the piano. But when I started to play..." When it first ran in Physical Culture magazine, it brought in a record number of coupons. The advertisement was so successful that it ran in other publications for several years and was imitated by many copywriters.

Claude Hopkins

As one of the greatest copywriters of all time, Claude Hopkins developed phrases and methods that had a deep impact on the advertising world and brought a great success to his clients. He wrote one advertisement for Van Camp Evaporated Milk that brought in more than 1.46 million coupons. By learning the science behind brewing, Hopkins was able to organize and write a campaign that propelled Schlitz Beer from fifth place to a tie with Budweiser for first.

David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy was one of advertising’s most successful copywriters. His influence on the industry as a whole has been so large that Advertising Age called him "one of the greatest creative minds in the advertising business," and Time recognized him as "the most sought-after wizard in the advertising business."

Even when Ogilvy was the chairman of the board, he always considered himself a copywriter first. His passion for advertising was grounded in his love of the art. His distaste for business led him to say, "If you’re good at creating, for goodness sake don’t waste your time in top management."

Raymond Rubicam

Raymond Rubicam’s innovative leadership and creativity led many to recognize him as "advertising’s statesman."

As a young copywriter for N.W. Ayer and Son, Rubicam was responsible for some of advertising’s most memorable pieces. Steinway’s "The Instrument of the Immortals," Squibb’s "The Priceless Ingredient," and Rolls-Royce’s "No Rolls-Royce has ever worn out," were highly successful slogans which made him one of the industry’s leading copywriters. While he enjoyed considerable success at N.W. Ayer, he felt that the agency failed to emphasize the importance of the creative artist in advertising. Rubicam, seeking to create an agency that valued artistic and creative talent over business, joined with James Orr Young to found Young & Rubicam in 1923.

James Young

James Young served the advertising world in several capacities, influencing the development and history of industry at each step.

In 1912 Young joined J. Walter Thompson as a copywriter, writing several memorable advertisements such as the "Curve of a Woman’s Arm." He quickly rose through the ranks to become a vice president and remained a senior influence on the affairs of the agency until 1964. One of his greatest contributions to J. Walter Thompson was in supporting and directing the agency’s international expansion efforts.

There you have it. Thems the giants that blazed the path that the rest of us are following. Creative copywriters most of them. Imaginative and unique. The keys to the golden marketing tabernacle.