J. Walter Thompson Company. Review Board records, 1947-1976, 1987-1995

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Collection is restricted: Photocopying from the Review Board Records is prohibited. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. All or portions...
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Summary

Creator:
J. Walter Thompson Company
Extent:
19.0 Linear Feet
circa 10,000 Items
Language:
English.
Collection ID:
RL.00745

Background

Scope and content:

The Review Board Records, J. Walter Thompson Company's New York Office's primary mechanism for controlling the quality of its services, span the years 1947 and 1953-1976 (bulk 1956-1974). Senior-level creative, account, and management personnel composed the Review Board. It provided guidance to account teams, which were assigned to manage advertising for particular clients, and ensured that client campaigns reflected the cumulative wisdom of the Company's most experienced employees. Frequent changes in the Review Board system make a brief description of its operations impossible, but generally, five to eight creative, account, and management personnel comprised a Review Board for each advertising account. Clients' different brands might have a separate Review Board for each product. Individual Review Board members usually had responsibility for a dozen or more accounts. The procedures called for meetings at least once a year and every time account representatives considered a major campaign. The records consist of meeting minutes, correspondence, memoranda, and reports. Clients represented include Lever Brothers, Liggett and Myers, Scott Paper Company, Warner-Lambert, Standard Brands, Ford Motor Company, Chesebrough-Ponds, Eastman Kodak and a number of others.

The Procedures Series documents the organization and format of the Review Board over time. Also reflected is a widely held perception that the Review Board system was itself in need of some quality control. Confusion over time about the Board's scope and purpose led to numerous attempts at explaining and refining its procedures. The series is organized into the following subseries: Reports, Domestic Correspondence, International Correspondence, and Chronologies and Lists.

The Meetings Series documents the activities of the Review Board, focusing on advertising campaign strategies for JWT's clients. It forms the bulk of the collection.

Biographical / historical:

The Review Board, an advisory system began informally in 1942 as the "Plans Board," when James Webb Young and Walter O'Meara headed the Creative Department. In 1956 JWT instituted the Review Board as a trans-departmental entity with written procedures and a Review Board Secretary.

In the years 1964 to 1969, Review Board functions were divided into a Plans Board, which reviewed the account team's recommended strategy (i.e., the basic proposition the advertising should made to consumers), and a Creative Review Board, which evaluated proposals for the implementation and execution of the advertising strategy.

Acquisition information:
Review Board Records were transferred to the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library from the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) in 1987. Processing of this collection was supported in part by gifts from the J. Walter Thompson Company Fund and the John and Kelly Hartman Foundation.
Processing information:

Finding Aid Edited and Completed by: Katherine Rose, Completed March 1997

Processed by: David Dailey, 1994; Encoded by Katherine Rose;

Additions processede by Richard Collier, March 2019; Accessions included: 93-039

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is restricted: Photocopying from the Review Board Records is prohibited.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. There may be a 48-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.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in the J. Walter Thompson Company Review Board Records 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.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], J. Walter Thompson Company. Review Board Records, John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.