Leo Burnett is no more, the agency now part of Publicis Groupe is being merged with Publicis Worldwide to form Leo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
On the one hand, a rebrand shouldn\u2019t surprise anyone. Brands, even companies come and go, they\u2019re acquired, they merge, they change shape. Life goes on, companies and brands don\u2019t exist in a vacuum, inured from the elements around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, the disappearance of an agency brand reminds the ad world that nothing lasts for ever. We have moved from risk-takers to moneymakers; from craftsmen to machine operators; and, yes, from madmen to mathmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This does not always end well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
J Walter Thompson, David Ogilvy, Bill Bernbach, Raymond Rubicam, Leo Burnett were all proud of their work, they literally put their name on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We still have John Bartle, John Hegarty, Maurice and Charles Saatchi, Charles Vallance. But the number of people prepared to put their name above the door is increasingly small. Maybe it\u2019s just not fashionable; maybe it\u2019s a matter of anonymising responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I worked for Leo Burnett, the agency, not the man (he had long gone by then) for 14 years. It was a great place to work; I am forever in the debt of Mike Yershon who hired me and the late Simon Broadbent who took me under his wing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Burnett was an agency with a strong sense of itself. Every office throughout the world had a bowl of apples on the reception desk \u2013 a throwback to a remark in one of the Chicago papers when Mr Burnett founded his agency in the 1930\u2019s and offered an apple to any prospective client who visited. \u2018Mr Burnett will soon be selling his apples on a street corner\u2019 read the piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t know if the agency still does that \u2013 I suspect the apples have long gone the way of a procurement driven cost-saving programme, but I would be delighted to be proved wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New recruits were given a book of Leo-isms to read and a video of the man himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Certainly, you could accuse some of forever looking over their shoulder at Leo, but this was an agency with a heritage built around a set of principles to which it stuck like glue. It knew what it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Principles live on. They survive different ages, different circumstances<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s unusual to have the chance to listen to the guy who set the agency\u2019s principles enunciate the agency\u2019s principles. That\u2019s what Leo Burnett did in a 1967 speech entitled: \u2018When to take my name off the door\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s here: https:\/\/m.youtube.com\/watch?v=htAMJSX8S54<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Less than 10 minutes long, a bit shaky but a rare opportunity to listen to a legendary ad man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than that, a chance to recall Bill Bernbach\u2019s words: \u201cA principle is not a principle until it costs you money\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Burnett\u2019s agency has long gone. Now his name is off the door too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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