James Walter Thompson

James Walter Thompson (28 October 1847 – 16 October 1928) was the namesake of the JWT advertising agency and a pioneer of many advertising techniques. He was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

In 1868, James Walter Thompson, age 24, completed service in the U.S. Marines Corps, on the USS Saratoga, and moved to New York to find employment. Carlton hired Thompson as a bookkeeper. Eventually Thompson found that soliciting and sales were much more profitable and he became a very effective salesman for the small company. In 1877, Thompson bought the agency for $500 and renamed it J. Walter Thompson Company. Notably, Thompson paid $800 for the Carlton and Smith furniture in the same transaction.

Realizing that he could sell more space if the company provided the service of developing content for advertisers, Thompson hired writers and artists to form the first known Creative Department in an advertising agency. He is credited as the "father of modern magazine advertising" in the US.

Mr. Thompson, having served on the USS Saratoga in the Civil War, was a passionate sailor. He owned a variety of vessels, including a seagoing houseboat, a steam yacht, (Stella). He headed the NY Yacht Club, for which his title as Commodore and his portrait became famous within the Company. He lived at 11 East 68th Street in Manhattan.

The J. Walter Thompson Company was incorporated in 1896. In 1899: J. Walter Thompson opened an office in London. An avid traveler, Mr. Thompson went abroad nearly every summer for 20 years, and rarely came back without important accounts. He saw New York as ‘the flagship’ office for a company with no geographical restrictions. “It has no limitations. Any spot on earth where goods are to be sold by advertising is inside the fence of the Thompson field,” said Thompspon.

In 1900, JWT published a house ad explaining ‘trademark advertising’. This was the first known commercial explanation of what we now know as ‘branding’. Mr. Thompson soon became known for his philosophy of ‘drawing a straight line between the manufacturer and the consumer.’

In 1916, Stanley Resor and several partners bought the Company from the aging James Walter Thompson for $500,000.

In 1930, a letter addressed to Mr. Thompson arrived from soon to be president Franklin D. Roosevelt asking for a job for his son Elliott, guaranteeing ‘he has a perfectly good mind.’ Mr. Thompson had died in 1928, and Elliott never did work for JWT. (JWT’s mother was a distant cousin of FDR).

In 1937, J. Walter Thompson produced the first All Colored Program for Fleischmanns Yeast which starred Louis Armstrong. In the confines of a script, it was needed for Armstrong to use minstrel dialect and use a weekly “sketch” by two comic characters, Eddie Green and Gee Gee James, who were in the stereotypes of minstrel characters. However, Armstrong refused to speak this dialogue, changing lines into standard English as he read them over the air. He eventually gained a reputation of being difficult to work with. The show was canceled after only six weeks.

Thompson is responsible for some enduring brand images in popular culture, like the Rock of Gibraltar used for the Prudential Insurance Company.

Today, JWT is one of the largest advertising agencies in the United States and the fourth-biggest in the world. It is one of the key companies of Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP Group (NASDAQ:WPPGY) and is headquartered in New York. The global agency is led by Worldwide Chairman and Global CEO Bob Jeffrey who took over the role in 1998. JWT was named Adweek magazine's 2009 "Global Agency of the Year." JWT's remit is to create ideas people want to spend time with.

References

• Staff report (Oct 18, 1928) J. WALTER THOMPSON, ADVERTISER, DEAD; Founder of Agency Bearing His Name Succumbs to Stroke in 81st Year. WAS PIONEER IN FIELD He Early Recognized Importance of Magazine Covers for Advertising Use. New York Times