MANY DELTA KAPPA EPSILON BROTHERS BECAME LEADERS IN ADVERTISING ACROSS THE GLOBE
Marketing started with the idea of “The Brand” which allowed products, previously sold as commodities, to have a greater value because of their story. Those stories came from advertising agencies. You could say Madison Avenue invented marketing. Marketing was a critical factor in U.S. emergence as a commercial power.
As U.S. industry grew, larger and larger advertising agencies emerged, mostly in midtown Manhattan. They included J. Walter Thompson, Young & Rubicam, Ted Bates, and McCann Erickson (which became Interpublic Group) to name a few.
Madison Avenue admen created and distributed those brand stories. What had been sold simply as soap to clean yourself, now left your skin glowing or caressable. Who wouldn’t pay more for a glowing complexion, instead of being just clean? Creativity, ingenuity, and mass media worked to build the agency industry. So did Dekes.
Marketing spread around the world helped by Madison Avenue advertising agencies. One of the earliest DKE leaders was Stanley Resor (Phi-Yale `01), who led J. Walter Thompson (JWT). He started in JWT’s Cincinnati office, moved to New York, and eventually bought the agency. He was the first major advertising agency leader to have a college degree. Under Resor’s leadership, JWT in 1927 became the first agency to bill more than $100 million. He was later inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame.
Resor hired Samuel W. Meek (Phi-Yale `17) to oversee JWT’s expansion worldwide, extending the Madison Avenue philosophy of using ideas to add value. Meek started in London, England, and soon JWT had offices in Argentina, Australia, Canada, India, Poland, and Uruguay. Key clients General Motors and Pan Am expanded their operations around the world, and JWT followed.
Wilson Seibert (Gamma Phi–Wesleyan `50) was another JWT leader. His creative copy such as “The Marines are looking for a few good men,” still resonates today. He obviously had experience as the rush chairman at Gamma Phi. Siebert also did seminal work for Kodak and Pan Am, and later became Vice Chair at Arnold & Company, a large agency in Boston.
McCann Erickson was another New York advertising agency that quickly took the marketing concept international. McCann expanded worldwide, supporting key clients such as Coca Cola, as U.S. branded products followed an international road paved by agencies. McCann became the core of the Interpublic Group, the first agency conglomerate with subsidiaries in advertising, public relations, and associated communications services.
Phil Geier (Mu–Colgate `55) served as chairman of Interpublic during much of that growth, building the company to 50,000 employees with $5.6 billion in revenues. Madison Avenue was no longer a sideline business but a huge industry carrying the flag of U.S.-style marketing around the globe. Geier was also the first chairman of the advertising agencies’ PROADPAC political action committee.
Another Mu–Colgate DKE, Robert L. James, `59 was co-chair with Geier and became chairman of McCann Erickson and then Interpublic (after passing the acid test of being a boss of your author). Bob led McCann to become the largest advertising agency in the world.
According to his son, Bob James, Jr. (Mu–Colgate 79), Bob Sr. would dine with the leaders of countries, including princes, presidents, and prime ministers, because the magic of Madison Avenue wielded powerful influence throughout the world. Bob Sr.’s pledge-trainer was Clint Blume, Jr. (Mu-Colgate 56) who later served on the DKE International Board. Bob, Jr. pledged with Clint Blume III (Mu `79) and also worked in the agency business.
Meanwhile, over at Young & Rubicam (Y&R), another Madison Avenue giant, Lou Brockway (Tau–Hamilton `17) became chairman of the company in the 1950s. Brockway chaired the agency during a period of its dynamic growth. He also chaired the American Association of Advertising Agencies, known as the 4As.
Alex Kroll (Phi–Yale and Phi Chi–Rutgers `61) advanced through the creative department to become president and CEO of Y&R in 1994. Kroll actually played center for the New York Titans of the old AFL, which were later renamed the New York Jets. Kroll, who was an All America football star, received many awards during his career. He served as chairman of the 4As, is a member of the Advertising Hall of Fame and more. He also survived reviewing creative ideas with your author. One of the highlights of Kroll’s career was presenting our Y&R NY softball team a trophy for winning our league.
Another Y&R veteran was Fred Baxter (Rho Delta–Wisconsin 39). Fred managed the substantial American Home Products account for Y&R, and for many years served on the DKE International Board of Directors. Another pillar of the agency business was Ted Bates who grew his company by focusing on what he called the “USP,” Unique Selling Proposition. Bates hired DKE, Rudolph Montgelas (Phi–Yale 37) originally to handle the Colgate Palmolive account. Montgelas became chairman of the company and served as CEO for more than 25 years.
All those mentioned provided extensive philanthropic, volunteer work with national organizations, sharing their communications, organizational and leadership skills with many charities. Supporting and sharing with others is a DKE trait celebrated equally to achievements.
Terry Hill (Omicron–Michigan `65) served as Creative Director of Grey Advertising in Toronto when I worked there. Terry became President of a Y&R subsidiary, Marsteller, in New York, Washington, London and Paris. Since then, he has written a series of engaging books and plays.
While this article has focused on those at the top during the height of Madison Avenue, many other Dekes have worked in the industry. Much of advertising’s history has been chronicled by Advertising Age magazine, the industry’s bible, run by Rance Crain (Psi Phi–DePauw `60).
Currently, a number of Dekes lead many communications and persuasion agencies in cities throughout North America. The huge influence of Madison Avenue may have been reduced by the decline of mass media in favor of social media. However, the persuasion industry remains a rewarding and challenging field for a career.
Madison Avenue has had another heyday through movies and television, most recently “Mad Men.” The TV series featured Dekes such as Harry Hamlin (Theta Zeta – California 72) and Bryan Batt (Tau Lambda-Tulane 87) acting as ad executives. “Mad Men” character, Pete Campbell, is identified as a Pi–Dartmouth DKE. Easy to believe given the number of Dekes in the industry.
In fact, and in fiction, Dekes have been an integral part of the persuasion industry. Hundreds of Dekes have played successful roles in advertising, promotions, public relations, broadcasting, event management and production.
Communications is integral to any successful human interaction. The technology changes, but the need persists. A career in commercial persuasion is high pressure, creative, always interesting and stimulating with unique problems every day. Every problem starts with a blank sheet of paper and a need to understand how an idea can add value to a product or service. Often the solutions are not easily apparent and require insights based on its user’s psychology and understanding the market where the product competes. Wherever you go in the persuasion business, you can be assured that a fellow Deke has been there.
