Better Brand Agency

Back in the 1950s, the advertising agency JWT had a client, Kraft, that wanted to sell more processed cheese. But rather than create an ad campaign that told people that cheese tastes great, or is good for them, JWT invented the cheeseburger.

By Michael Nutley, editor-in-chief of NMA (Original Article)

At least, that’s the story. And there are other examples of this kind of agency thinking; JWT again, tasked with selling more high quality flour, invented the Mr Kipling brand and sold the flour in the form of cakes.

Sometime between then and now, the advertising industry changed. It went from being the preserve of generalists who solved their clients’ business problems, to specialists who made ads. But in the digital sector at least, that’s changing.

This was one of the key themes that emerged as I was working on the introduction to NMA’s Top 100 Interactive Agencies guide, published on 27.09.07. Agency heads across the spectrum of creative and media talked about clients asking for a different kind of work.

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