How I got lucky at JWT.

I worked at JWT London, as it was then known, in the 80’s. I was a very junior account handler for a while and then for most of my time a very junior planner. It was a really long time ago, with different clothes and more smoking, but what strikes me now is not how old-fashioned it was in its outlook, but how modern. Particularly in that planning department. 

Stephen King still worked in the agency then, as did Judie Lannon. Tony Stead ran the department. Other members included Jeremy Elliott, Terry Bullen, Ev Jenkins, Christine Gray, Jean Grundy, Bernadette Knox, Donald Kerr, Terry Prue, Roger Titford, Cathy Clift, Judy Harman, Jon Daly, Howard Thrift, and Alex McKie. They were smart, smart people who really knew their stuff. They cared about doing great creative work, but were far from being snobs or ad luvvies, because they also cared about results, data, effectiveness, objectivity, business, media, and the total eradication of bullshit. I learnt enough about demand curves from Jeremy Elliott to be surprisingly well-informed when I went to work for Mars. The first brief I worked on as a planner was not for an ad, but for a new on-pack character. Terry Bullen wrote marketing plans for his clients, not just communication ones. And everyone spent quite a bit of time in the real(ish) world attending or doing research groups, although admittedly I was usually the one that was sent to Sheffield or Manchester.

Yes, the agency was a bit posh, but its work achieved mass popularity. And yes, there was often a bit more booze consumed during the working day than would be considered appropriate now. But mainly what I remember from that department is not so much as an indulgent blur as a really sharp focus on what made brands succeed and companies thrive, using the most robust and useful information that could possibly be obtained. And that seems like a very relevant attitude in a world awash with data of varying quality. Although the JWT name has gone, I hope the fundamental ethos of the planning department I was lucky enough to inhabit will continue in a new and revitalised form. It’ll be just as valuable tomorrow as it was in 1987.