N. W. Ayer & Son

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. ^[1]

Notable slogans

• "When it rains it pours", advertising salt for Morton Salt, 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." ^[2][3][4]
• "A diamond is forever", advertising diamonds for De Beers, coined in 1947 by Frances Gerety.^[5]
• "Reach out and touch someone", advertising long-distance telephone service for AT&T, coined in 1979. Created by Anthony (Tony) P. Galli and Stanley Lomas. Composed by David Lucas. 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&T. Created by Anthony (Tony) P. Galli.
• "Today's Army Wants to Join You" advertising military service for the United States Army,
• "Be all you can be", advertising military service for the United States Army, 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, 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. ^[6]

Retiring of N.W Ayer & Son name

As time moved on, N. W. Ayer & Son became part of another firm, MacManus Group, then merged to create Bcom3. 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. ^[7]
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.

References

1. ^ Hower,Ralph (1949.). The History of an Advertising Agency: N. W. Ayer & Son. Cambridge, Harvard Univ. Press. 
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ [2]
4. ^ [3]
5. ^ Cele Otnes, Elizabeth Hafkin Pleck (2003 ISBN 0520236610). Cinderella Dreams: The Allure of the Lavish Wedding. University of California Press. pp. 65–66. http://books.google.com/books?id=OYBB_DGQN7kC. 
6. ^ Edward Epstein (1982). Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?. Atlantic Magazine. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/4575/. 
7. ^ Sanders, Lisa MacArthur, Kate (2002). Bcom3 pulls plug on Ayer.. Advertising Age. 

• Garfield, Bob. "The Advertising Century: Top 100 Advertising Campaigns". Advertising Age. Retrieved March 15, 2005.
• Ushistory.org. "Virtual Historic Tour of Historic Philadelphia: Washington Square". Retrieved March 15, 2005.