Lester Wunderman

Lester Wunderman

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Lester Wunderman (June 22, 1920– ) is an advertising executive widely considered the creator of modern-day direct marketing. His innovations include the magazine subscription card, the toll-free 1-800 number, loyalty rewards programs, and many more. He identified, named and defined the term "direct marketing" in a 1967 speech at MIT, and was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame in 1998.

Biography

Wunderman was born in the Bronx and educated at New York City public schools. He attended classes at each of New York City’s colleges and universities so he could create his own “degree.” Though highly educated, he still does not hold a formal college degree.

In 1947, he was hired as a copywriter at Maxwell Sackheim & Co. While there, he noted that their "mail order" accounts had the potential to be built into a broader line of business. He introduced a "direct marketing" approach to service them, using the medium of clients’ mailboxes as a way to develop a more personal connection with potential customers than general advertising had previously found possible.

Together with his brother Irving and two colleagues, Ed Ricotta and Harry Kline, they met on August 20th 1958 for the first time in Lester's new "office" - a $30-a-night room at the Hotel Winslow in New York City - and with combined assets of $60,000 they founded their own agency, Wunderman, Ricotta & Kline, to expand the direct marketing approach. In 1958, Wunderman, Ricotta & Kline opened its doors in New York City with a staff of seven. There were no clients. Nevertheless, WRK attracted more than $2 million in billings during its first year. WRC (later acquired by Young & Rubicam and eventually called Wunderman) was responsible for developing the Columbia Record Club, the 1-800 toll-free number for businesses (developed for a Toyota campaign) and the magazine subscription card. A long-time relationship with American Express also led to the first customer rewards program—a breakthrough means of keeping customers loyal to a brand that has since transformed the travel and retail industries as well.

Wunderman was elected to the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Advertising Hall of Fame in 1998. He was named one of twenty “Advertising Legends and Leaders” by AdWeek Magazine in 1998.

Mirroring his eclectic college education, Wunderman has lectured at a host of schools, including Columbia University, Fordham University, Boston University, and M.I.T. His book Being Direct: Making Advertising Pay was published in January 1997 and republished with new material in 2004. His collection of Dogon art is part of the permanent collection of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

He currently serves as Chairman Emeritus of Wunderman. He lives in New York City and the South of France with his wife Suzanne, who was Director of Editorials for WCBS-TV, New York, for many years (under professional/maiden name Sue Cott). Wunderman remains an active speaker, author and photographer.