This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
Aleph Number:
(C) 1996 Duke University. All rights reserved.
Collection is open for research.
However, patrons must sign the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.
The copyright interests in the J. Walter Thompson Company Archives have not been transferred to Duke University. For further information, see the section on copyright in the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
[Identification of item], J. Walter Thompson Company. Frankfurt Office. Denis Lanigan Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
The Denis Lanigan Papers were transferred to the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library from the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) Frankfurt Office in 1995.
Processed by: Sylvia Pfeiffenberger
Completed December 1996
Encoded by Stephen Douglas Miller
Processing of this collection was supported in part by gifts from J. Walter Thompson GmbH (JWT's Frankfurt Office), the J. Walter Thompson Company Fund, and the John and Kelly Hartman Foundation.
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
Denis and Jean Lanigan had two children, Mark born in 1960 and Katherine in 1962. Mr. Lanigan currently resides in London.
The papers of Denis Lanigan, former advertising executive of the J. Walter Thompson Company, span the years 1958 to 1964, with the bulk of the material dating from 1959 to 1960 and from 1963 to 1964. The papers primarily document activities of JWT's Frankfurt Office during the years Lanigan served as Joint Manager. Specific topics covered are efforts to increase and improve the use of television and print advertising in Europe, especially England and Germany; to improve coordination of international JWT Offices to better serve client interests; to increase European business; and to handle a variety of personnel, public relations, and marketing concerns. The papers consist of typed and handwritten correspondence, telexes and telegrams, memoranda, notes, reports, one photograph, press releases, speeches, contracts, newsletters, clippings, product samples, collateral literature and advertisements. Clients of the company represented in the collection include Chesebrough-Pond's, Findus, Ford, Johnson Wax (or Johnson-Gruenol), Kaufhof, Kraft, Lever-Sunlicht, Pan American Airlines, Pepsi, Rowntree, Singer, Triumph, Warner-Lambert, Wick, and others. Correspondents include clients; executives from JWT offices such as George Black, David Campbell-Harris, Bill Hinks, Constance B. Ivie, Don Johnston, Jens von Leutzendorff, Sam Meek, D. M. Saunders, Lubertus Smilde, Norman Strouse, Thomas Sutton, and Edward G. Wilson; media consultants such as Eric Boden; and persons affiliated with various companies and organizations.
Approximately 70 percent of the collection is in English and the remainder is in German, with the exception of very small amounts of French, Italian, and Dutch. English is the sole language of the Articles Series and the Layton Awards Series, and the predominant language in the Correspondence Series, the Other JWT Offices Series, and the Meetings Series. English and German are used in roughly equal amounts in the Clients Series, the New Business Series and the Marketing and Research/Abteilung Marktforschung Series. German is the predominant language in the Memoranda/Haus-Mitteilungen Series.
The Correspondence Series documents Lanigan's transition from JWT's New York Office to the Frankfurt office, coordination between the Frankfurt and London Offices, Frankfurt's day-to-day operations, German and American attitudes toward advertising, and reviews of a German-made film on U.S. advertising called
The Other J. Walter Thompson Offices Series consists of correspondence between Denis Lanigan and executives from JWT's international offices. Files for the London and New York Offices contain the most material, while Amsterdam, Milan, and Paris are also substantial among the thirty-five offices documented. Topics include aspects of film production for clients, the impact of legislation and public perception on advertising internationally, training and personnel matters, Frankfurt Office visitors, and international public relations for JWT. Some issues that are covered specifically include 1962 total advertising expenditures in the UK; Lord Robens' speech on advertising and politics; a major German exhibit on advertising and the consumer (“Der umworbene Mensch”); information on outdoor advertising in Italy; market research on the German beer and bread markets; the need for establishing a JWT Office in Vienna; the development, testing and introduction of new Lever products in Germany such as CD and SIGNAL; efforts to improve the overall quality of film advertising in Germany including the unsuccessful attempt to recruit well-known theater director Peter Zadek; and an evaluation of the need for better assessing client conflicts of interest, arising in part from the conflict between Canada Mink and the Swedish SAGA Mink as JWT clients in Europe. Correspondents from the London Office include James Archibald, Jeremy Bullmore, Christopher Cross, Bill Hinks, Norman Basset, Carl Ivens, Elizabeth Oxley, Michael Patmore, Douglas Saunders, and Tom Sutton; and from the New York Office, Gordon Conley and Edward Wilson among others. Current and prospective accounts discussed in this series include Alcan, Brinkmann, Bristol Myers, Burroughs, Braemar, Brillo, Canada Mink, Champion, Chesebrough-Ponds, Dunlop, Eastman Kodak, Findus, Ford, Kaufhof, Kelloggs, Kraft, Lintex, Lux, Merrill Lynch, Nestle, Oxo, Singer, Scott, Therachemie, Triumph, and Vic's (UK name of Vick's/Wick).
The Clients Series consists of materials pertaining to JWT's day-to-day work for its clients, including market strategies, campaign development, and the production of advertisements. It includes background information on JWT's relationship with Ford in Germany and Switzerland, a review of Kraft advertising in Germany, and information on special promotions for Pepsi in Europe. Well-documented accounts in this series include: Chesebrough Pond's, Dunlop, Ford, Intercontinental Hotels, Johnson Wax, Litton Industries, Kaufhof, Kraft, Maggi, Merrill Lynch, Norda, Playtex, Pepsi, SAGA, SIGNAL (a Lever product), Triumph, Warner-Lambert, and Wrigley.
The New Business Series documents Frankfurt's strategies to acquire new clients. The series includes both successful and unsuccessful new business presentations for the following companies and organizations: Beecham/Ribena, Constructa, Dow Chemical, Eastman Kodak, Famous Artist Schools, FAZ, Horlicks, Jopa, Langeberg Sales, Oetker, Osram, Philips, Lever, SEL, Singer, and the World Coffee Promotion Committee.
The Memoranda/Hausmitteilungen Series offers insight into the internal policy and communications of the Frankfurt Office. The series specifically documents shifts in the Marketing Department's organization and training, information on television advertising, art-buying, the company's media archive, personnel policies, and daily operations. Clients discussed in this series include Findus, Florida Citrus Growers, Nordsee, RCA, SIGNAL, and Scott.
The Meetings Series documents Lanigan's participation in JWT European Managers' Meetings. Topics discussed at the meetings include JWT's international public relations, management coordination of international accounts, ideas for new business presentations, the economic implications of the European common market, and interoffice communication and exchange of personnel.
The Articles Series contains advertising and promotional plans for JWT agricultural clients (California Raisin Advisory Board, Pineapple Growers Association, Olive Advisory Board). Other topics include copy research and grocery trade; advertising effects on economic growth; and international advertising markets and campaigns.
The Marketing and Research/Abteilung Marktforschung Series documents research projects, correspondence (primarily with the New York Office), and memoranda of Frankfurt's Marketing and Research division (Abteilung Marktforschung).
The Layton Awards Series consists of materials relating to the annual Layton Awards for British advertising, an event sponsored by the graphics firm C and E Layton.
The original organization of the material has been retained in large part. The only change that was made was to break up the strictly chronological arrangement of all records by business year so that the individual series could be brought together and would cover the entire range of years for which records exist. Only duplicate items have been removed. The client names have also been retained according to the filing system of the Frankfurt Office. Although Lever-Sunlicht is a 100% subsidiary of Unilever, JWT-Frankfurt's correspondence with this client is filed under the letter "L" and not "U." Similarly Eastman Kodak Company is referred to in correspondence as "Kodak," and files under "K." Advertisements have been photocopied, and originals have been transferred to the Frankfurt Advertisement Collection. Newsletters from JWT offices other than Frankfurt have been transferred to the J. Walter Thompson Company Archives Newsletter Collection.
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
Consists of letters to and from
Although
Constitutes
Arranged alphabetically by city, then chronologically.
Comprised of call reports (Kontaktberichte), market research, minutes (Protokolle), clippings, invitations, contracts, letters of terms, purchase orders, articles, speeches, bills, ads, graphs, and correspondence with and regarding JWT clients.
Although
Comprised of correspondence, notes, sample contracts, charts, memos, public relations action proposals, articles, advertisements, speeches, proxies, consumer surveys, and research policy statements relating to the acquisition of new business accounts for JWT.
Arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by company or organization.
Consists of internal correspondence, statements of company policy, drafts of speeches, newsletters, other publications of JWT's Presse- und Informationsdienste (media and information services), and lists of print media in the company archive. Also includes the charter of the “JWT Dinner-Club,” an organization for JWT's male executives.
Arranged chronologically.
Comprised of agendas, minutes, memos, correspondence, and one
photograph relating to European Managers' Meetings. Includes a list of dates
and locations of all European Managers' Meetings that took place from
Arranged chronologically.
Includes JWT Research Department's bulletins, JWT news releases, speeches, writings, copies of JWT house advertisements, a report on copy research, clippings, articles, newsletters, and an international advertising convention's program.
Arranged chronologically.
Comprised of European Research Meeting minutes, research projects,
speeches, reports, minutes (Protokolle), correspondence, and memoranda.
Includes a
Arranged chronologically.
Contains notes, invitations, letters, exhibit catalogs, rules and
entry forms, speeches, articles and correspondence relating to the Layton
Awards. Includes a
Arranged chronologically.