Why I bled purple. And how Wunderman mattered.
Lester Wunderman, his brother, and two colleagues set up the eponymous Wunderman agency in 1958.? Today the name disappeared in the latest consolidation within what George Parker called “big dumb holding company" (BDHC) WPP to create (I quote) a "creative powerhouse".
Over the last 40 years many founder names disappeared into the maw of BDHC consolidations, including Compton, Ted Bates, D’Arcy, Masius, McManus, Benton & Bowles, and Lowe.? When a BDHC acquired an independent agency, their name disappeared.
If today we also lost J.W. Thompson and Young & Rubicam, I argue, with total absence of bias, that Wunderman mattered more. Its demise tells us so much about the state of marketing and advertising in a transformation that few understand.
Over 15 years I contributed to Wunderman’s growth and client successes. People made many remarks about me, not all positive.? I recall these two.
Once at a planning day for the leaders of WPP’s top clients I made an impassioned plea for Wunderman’s capabilities. An executive commented, to excuse my exuberance: “Stewart bleeds purple” (the color of our logo then).
Once at a WPP investor day I spoke about these capabilities along with peers from other group agencies. A global bank analyst wrote: “Wunderman offered a different perspective on using Facebook to reach consumers” (a trend I resisted).
I wonder how many today in Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R knew Lester’s story, or indeed anything about the history of the agency, or marketing.
Lester was a giant in the industry and a modest man. In our lifetime, only David Ogilvy compares, and DO was not a modest man.? Ogilvy almost acquired Wunderman: that would have been a true powerhouse.
Lester named direct marketing at M.I.T in 1967; pioneered direct-to-consumer; insisted upon measurement and accountability; anticipated electronic media and the internet; and evangelized dialogue and interactivity in advertising. As a marketer he developed subscriptions, clubs, and loyalty programs, embracing all within the new definition of relationship marketing.
In the 1980’s everyone in direct and relationship marketing came to a conference in Montreux on Lake Geneva every Spring. It was pleasant. I spoke a couple of times, once on emerging electronic media: Minitel in France, and Prestel in the UK (haplessly I could get neither to work on the day). ?I’d briefly met Lester in NY and met him again here, star struck by his latest ideas.? At that time, he was talking about Curriculum Marketing, conceived for his Ford client.
In the 1990’s I adapted (copied) this strategy, adding enhanced data modeling, to grow my automotive client’s business in the UK. I maintained a connection with a strategist in Wunderman’s NY office, and later working with another agency around the corner from Madison Avenue, I always looked to Wunderman for new thinking.
In 2000 WPP acquired the Y&R Group. The Wunderman agency had been gutted by Y&R management. I was hired to revive the agency and grow clients in Europe. I came to know Lester better. As Emeritus Chairman he commanded respect wherever he went. He was in his late-80’s when I accompanied him on an exhausting week of speaking engagements in Warsaw, Frankfurt, and Paris. ?After I moved to Seattle, I invited him to visit, to share his ideas with our fast-growing team, and to encourage recalcitrant Microsoft clients to respect these ideas and our experience (one client had told me she was the only subscriber to Ad Age and DM News in the Pacific Northwest). With his humble, wise observations Lester quietly mesmerized his Microsoft audience.
Later I would swap emails with him, asking his advice on the challenge faced by whichever client I was working with, wherever in the world. Once I went to Coca-Cola in Atlanta, to understand why our work was not developing. I was briefed that the then CMO was all-in on Facebook (at the time WPP was seeking deals with Facebook and Google as partners). Lester’s advice was that no brand should allow another to come between itself and its own consumers. I presented that case, and we won our first substantive assignment, going on to more.
In the 2010’s I watched the marketing and advertising sector genuflect to Big Tech. WPP was in the vanguard of that surrender, flying clients out on West Coast tours, holding an annual strategy meeting in Mountain View, bussing us around the campuses (Larry Page showed up, Mark Zuckerburg did not).
In addition to warning that marketers and agencies should not surrender their consumer relationships to tech platforms, Lester espoused a Consumer Bill of Rights for Online Engagement, with 12 rights starting with: #1 “Tell me clearly who you are and why you are contacting me”; #2 "Tell me clearly what you are - or are not - going to do with the information I give.?"
If we had taken up Lester's cause, might we have avoided or constrained the pernicious violation of privacy and data theft by the digital platforms?
The marketing and advertising industry did surrender to Big Tech. We now understand the devastating damage caused to society and consumers.? What is rarely reported is the huge financial damage inflicted on corporations and brands. Digital programmatic and performance advertising birthed a new business model in which platforms sucked value from products and services.
At the time I was trying to tell Coca-Cola not to rely on Facebook, Kantar’s Brandz estimated the Coca-Cola brand value as twice that of Facebook's.?
Now ten years on, the Brandz valuation of Meta's Facebook and Instagram is 50% greater than Coca-Cola’s.
This reveals a stunning reversal of fortune. Platforms have taken over markets and significantly eliminated choice and competition. Corporations and their brands, and agencies and their talent, have all been shattered and consolidated.
Wunderman was not just another agency brand.? With Lester’s heritage Wunderman offered a distinctive and strategic definition of marketing and advertising which created value for clients through engagement with their customers with permission, integrity, and substance.
At the new and bigger VML Jon Cook promises a re-definition of marketing. He and his talented team are among the few who could pull it off.
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We should all tremble at the scale of the challenge and wish them well.
Stewart Pearson
Stewart believes in Consilience, the unity of knowledge across disciplines. He has lived, worked, and traveled globally in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. He has settled in the Evergreen State and Seattle. After studying Statistics and Marxist Economics in the U.K. he had four decades of experience in marketing and advertising focused on building client brands directly and globally.?He was Global Chief Client Officer and Vice-Chairman of Wunderman, then the fastest-growing major agency in WPP. David Ogilvy once sent him a telex from India and Lester Wunderman told him stories of Picasso from the village in France where both of Stewart’s heroes had lived. Stewart is on?LinkedIn?and?Twitter, and at?[email protected].
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Co-founder and Chief Story Officer of A-lab + National Storytelling and Innovation Director at Artplan
1 年Thanks for putting out a feeling that I'm sure many of us are feeling Stewart. Those who had the privilege of being part of an era. Being part of an agency that carried a story within its name. I keep mentioning Lester on lectures I give about Storytelling, because it was with him that I understood the power of knowing your audience (among many other crucial things). It is a pity that this movement is happening this way. In a way that loses a lot of its soul.
Founder of Proximity, creative consultant and copywriter
1 年It does make you wonder how much Agency Group Heads understand about brands. They know loads about profit margins and efficiency ratios but never seem to appreciate how difficult it is to build a agency brand. You’d never advise Persil, Apple or Volkswagen to change their name, but you may advise them to change how they are perceived. I mean, look what’s happened to what was Twitter. But having finally got an agency brand embedded in the industry’s consciousness they happily ditch it in favour of another bunch of forgettable initials. #Wunderman #Proximity
Executive Assistant at IPG Health
1 年This makes me so nostalgic! The end of a era. I loved working at Wunderman, and it was an honor to get to know Mr. Wunderman a bit. He made time to share stories and to enjoy an employee's photography. I remember him saying that he once *required* his employees to take an acting class to free up their creativity and encourage teamwork. Who does that? ??
at Business Tank
1 年I have a very nice memories about Lester Wundeman and his wife Susan. He was a visionary and an admirable person. I had the honor to meet him when he visited our office in Poland.
Founder : Chief Strategy Officer : C-Suite Advisor : Speaker : Author
1 年Thank you, Stewart. Wunderman was such a wonderful addition to my career. I thought I would only spend 2 years but ended staying 7. I loved it and I learned a ton about Marketing in a new way that dramatically enhanced my own story and career. I'm grateful.