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Inventory of the J. Walter Thompson Company. Thomas Sutton Papers, 1965-1975 and undated

Abstract

The J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT), founded in 1864, is one of the oldest and largest enduring advertising agencies in the United States. Thomas Sutton was an executive in charge of JWT's international operations during the 1960s-1970s.

The Thomas Sutton Papers span the years 1965-1975 and document Sutton's career, especially his role in JWT's international expansion and the establishment of global advertising markets. The papers provide insight into JWT's international financial matters--budgets, salary structure, stock incentive plans and market shares--as well as personnel policies, client relations, product launches, television advertising projects and marketing research and strategies, seen from the perspective of Sutton's position as JWT chief executive for international operations. The papers also contain marketing plans, evaluations and reports for a number of JWT's international offices, that provide a detailed glimpse into JWT's operations within the respective countries' economic and socio-political contexts. The offices represented include Amsterdam, Bogotá, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Ceylon, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Karachi, Lima, London, Mexico City, Milan, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, San Juan, Santiago, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Vienna and Zürich. Key clients include the Honda Motor Company, Eastman Kodak Company, Ford Motor Company, the Hertz Corporation, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg Company, Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company, Nestlé, Pan American World Airways, PepsiCo, Inc. and Unilever (Lever Brothers).

Descriptive Summary

Repository
David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
Creator
J. Walter Thompson Company.
Title
J. Walter Thompson Company. Thomas Sutton Papers, 1965-1975 and undated
Language of Material
English, , Spanish, , Portuguese
Extent
6.6 Linear Feet, 4950 Items
Location
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Series Quick Links

Collection Overview

The Thomas Sutton Papers span the years 1965-1975 and document Sutton's career, especially his role in JWT's international expansion and the establishment of global advertising markets. The papers include correspondence, printed materials, business reports, advertising brochures, photographs, statistical documents, and pamphlets that provide insight into JWT's international financial matters--budgets, salary structure, stock incentive plans and market shares--as well as personnel policies, client relations, product launches, television advertising projects and marketing research and strategies, seen from the perspective of Sutton's position as JWT chief executive for international operations. The papers also contain marketing plans, evaluations and reports for a number of JWT's international offices, that provide a detailed glimpse into JWT's operations within the respective countries' economic and socio-political contexts. The offices represented herein include Amsterdam, Bogotá, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Ceylon, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Karachi, Lima, London, Mexico City, Milan, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, San Juan, Santiago, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Vienna and Zürich. Key clients include the Eastman Kodak Company; Ford Motor Company; the Hertz Corporation; Honda Motor Company; IBM; Johnson & Johnson; Kellogg Company; Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company; Nestlé; Pan American World Airways; PepsiCo, Inc.; and Unilever (Lever Brothers). While most of the files are in English, some of the documents are written in Spanish and Portuguese.

The collection is organized into three Series--the General Office Files Series; the Central and South American Office Files Series; and the Annual Marketing Plans and Reports Series.

The General Files Series contains correspondence, memoranda and periodical reports on JWT management and marketing, JWT's international offices and operations, as well as on other international advertising agencies. Topics include capital expenditures, fees and commissions, management salary and bonus policies, and stock incentive plans. The correspondence on international new business includes clients such as Hertz, Honda, and IBM. Arranged alphabetically.

The Central and South American Offices Files Series contains correspondence and reports on JWT budgets, market shares, profits, marketing research and product launches, as well as newsletters and some newspaper clippings pertaining to individual country offices of JWT throughout Latin America. The documents reflect the communication between JWT personnel and the dealings between JWT and its large international clients such as Ford, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg's, Kodak, Lever, Liggett & Myers, Pan American World Airways, Pepsi-Cola, and Nestle, as well as prospective clients like Siemens and local clients in Central America and South America. The documents provide insights into JWT's operation in the expanding advertising markets of Central and South America. This series also includes assessments of the respective countries' economies, census data, and the competition in the advertising market. Moreover, it shows the increasing importance of television advertising in the Latin American market. Organized alphabetically.

Annual Marketing Plans and Reports Series contains status and planning reports from JWT's international operations. The documents assess the respective country's economy, politics, and the advertising and media market as a context for presenting a review of the JWT's offices' financial and organizational performance that includes billings, expenditures, and profits, salaries, personnel, specific clients, and the company's public relations in the respective past year. This analysis of strengths and weaknesses provides the bases for a discussion of the targets and objectives for the respective next year. Arranged alphabetically.

Restriction on access: Sensitive personnel materials pertaining to individual employee matters are closed to non-JWT users until 2043. Those items have been physically removed to Restricted Materials. Fragile original materials have been relocated to Removed Materials. Use Copies are available to patrons.

Additional information on JWT's international advertising operations may be found in the J. Walter Thompson Co. London Office Records, the J. Walter Thompson Co. Frankfurt Office Records, the Harry Clark Papers, the Arthur Stridsberg Papers, and the Shirley F. Woodell Papers. In addition, files relating to Thomas Sutton may be found in the Denis Lanigan Papers and the Peter Gilow Papers.

Administrative Information

Collections are on the move for the renovation of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Contact Rubenstein Library staff before visiting. Read More »

warning Access Restrictions

Collection is restricted.

Sensitive personnel materials pertaining to individual employee matters are closed to non-JWT users for 75 years from the date of the file creation.

Fragile originals are closed to patron use. Consult Use Copies in files.

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.

warning Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Contents of the Collection

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Contains correspondence, memoranda and periodical reports on JWT management and marketing, JWT's international offices and operations, as well as on other international advertising agencies. Topics include capital expenditures, fees and commissions, management salary and bonus policies, and stock incentive plans. The correspondence on international new business includes clients such as Hertz, Honda, and IBM. Arranged alphabetically.

Capital Employment in JWT, 1970
Box 1
Correspondent agencies, 1968-1972
(3 folders)
Box 1
International Advertising Association, 1966
(2 folders)
Box 1
Latin American seminar, 1970-1971
(6 folders)
Box 1
Managers' Meeting III: People Management, 1970
Box 1
Commission structure, 1967-1972
Box 1
Management bonus program, 1969-1971
Box 1
Remuneration of senior executives, 1969
Box 1
New business, 1969-72
(3 folders)
Box 2
Public stock offering, 1969
(2 folders)
Box 2
Statistical background, international operations, 1968 and 1969
Box 2
Stock incentive plans, 1969-1972
(2 folders)
Box 2

Contains correspondence and reports on JWT budgets, market shares, profits, marketing research and product launches, as well as newsletters and some newspaper clippings for JWT offices in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru, among others. The documents reflect the communication between JWT personnel and the dealings between JWT and its large international clients such as Ford, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg's, Kodak, Lever, Liggett & Myers, Pan American World Airways, Pepsi-Cola, and Nestlé, as well as prospective clients like Siemens and local clients in Central America and South America. The documents provide insight into JWT's operation in the expanding advertising markets of Central and South America. This series also includes assessments of the respective countries' economies, census data, and the competition in the advertising market. Moreover, it shows the increasing importance of television advertising in the Latin American market. Arranged alphabetically. A few folders of “general” material are listed first under some office names.

Restriction on access: Sensitive personnel materials pertaining to individual employee matters are closed to non-JWT users until 2043. Those items have been physically removed to Restricted Materials; a dummy folder, indicated by a title enclosed in brackets, has been substituted for the original material.

Budget, 1967-1968
Box 3
Clients, 1967-1968
Box 3
Correspondence, 1967-1968
(3 folders)
Box 3
Finance, 1967-1968
Box 3
New business, 1968
Box 3
[Personnel, 1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 3
Regular reports, 1968
Box 3
[Salaries and profit sharing, 1967-1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 3
Budget, 1968-1969
Box 3
[Cavalcanti, Carlos, 1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 3
Clients, 1967-1968 and undated
(3 folders)
Box 3
Correspondence, 1968
(2 folders)
Box 3
Medical/Pension plan, August 28, 1968
Box 3
New business, 1967-1968
Box 3
Pepsi-Cola, 1967-1968
Box 4
[Personnel, 1968 and undated: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 4
Press clippings, 1967
Box 4
Regular reports, 1967, 1968
Box 4
[Salaries and profit sharing, 1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 4
[Eaves, Elliott, 1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 4
[Gibson, Chuck, 1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 4
[Raiburn, Gerald, 1966, 1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 4
[Wallace, Robert, 1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 4
General, 1968
Box 4
Budget, 1967, 1968
Box 4
Clients, 1967, 1968
Box 4
Correspondence, 1968
Box 4
New business, 1968
Box 4
[Personnel, 1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 4
Regular reports, 1968
Box 4
[Salaries and profit sharing, 1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 4
General, 1968
Box 4
General, 1968 and undated
Box 4
Budget, 1968
Box 4
Clients, 1968 and undated
Box 4
Correspondence, 1968 and undated
Box 4
New business, 1968, 1969
Box 4
Space 1968
Box 4
[Personnel, 1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 4
Regular reports, 1968
Box 4
[Salaries, 1967, 1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 4
Budget, 1968
Box 4
Clients, 1968 and undated
Box 5
Correspondence, 1967-1968
(2 folders)
Box 5
New business, 1968
Box 5
[Personnel, 1967-1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 5
Regular reports, 1968
Box 5
[Salaries and profit sharing, 1967-1968: Folder removed to Restricted Materials]
Box 5
General, 1967-1968
Box 5
Linten, Jose, television proposal, 1966-1967

Linten, a Spanish television executive, proposed the creation of the first Latin American television network.

Box 5
Marketing, 1968
Box 5

Contains status and planning reports from JWT's international operations. The documents assess the respective country's economy, politics, and the advertising and media market as the context for then reviewing the individual JWT office's financial and organizational performance. These reviews include billings, expenditures, and profits, salaries, personnel, specific clients, and the company's public relations in the respective past year. This analysis of strengths and weaknesses then provides the basis for a discussion of the targets and objectives for the upcoming year. Also included for some countries are executive summaries of annual reports that offer a comparative overview of JWT's operations in larger geographical areas, such as Europe. Reports from JWT offices in countries where the company had only recently been established by the mid- or late 1960s, such as the Far East (like Pakistan), are often very short compared to the reports of more established offices in the larger countries of Europe, Scandinavia, or Latin America. Arranged alphabetically.

Annual marketing report, 1967 Jan. 16
Annual marketing plan, 1970-1973
(3 folders)
Marketing plan, 1969
Marketing report, 1967-1968
(2 folders)
Annual marketing plan, 1970-1971
Annual marketing report, 1968
Client costing report on financial managers' meeting, 1973
JWT Brussels, circa 1975
Long term policy and objectives, 1972
Marketing plan, 1969, 1973
Executive summary of continental annual marketing reports, 1970 Nov.
Box 6
Annual management assessment and objectives, 1975
Box 6
Annual marketing plan, 1968-1972
(4 folders)
Box 6
Annual marketing report, 1967
(2 folders)
Box 6
Summary of the report on the office's business, 1973 Sept. 26
Box 6
Annual marketing report, 1966-1970
(4 folders)
Box 6
Annual marketing plan, 1969-1972
(3 folders)
Box 6
Marketing plan, Emarbe S.A., 1972 Dec.
Box 6
5-Year plan, 1975 Apr.
Box 7
Annual account review, 1974 Mar.
Box 7
Annual marketing plan for 1974, 1973 Dec.
Box 7
Annual marketing report, 1967
(2 folders)
Box 7
Marketing plan, 1968-1972
(4 folders)
Box 7
Marketing plan, Emarbi S.r.l., 1972 Dec.
Box 7
Annual marketing plan, 1968-1970
(3 folders)
Box 7
Annual marketing report, 1966-1967
Box 7
Executive summary of 1973 marketing plan, 1973
Box 7
Annual marketing report, Copenhagen, 1967 Nov.
Box 7
Marketing plan for 1971, 1970 Nov. 2
Box 7
Scandinavia, 1967-1972
(2 folders)
Box 7
Scandinavian marketing plan, circa 1973
Box 7
Second annual marketing plan, Copenhagen, 1968 Nov.
Box 7
Annual management assessment/objectives, 1975 Jan.
Box 8
Marketing plan, 1968, 1972
Box 8
Annual management assessment, 1975 Jan.
Box 8
Annual marketing report, circa 1967
Box 8
Marketing plan, 1968-1972
Box 8
Marketing report, circa 1968
Box 8
Annual marketing report, 1966-1967
Box 8
Annual marketing report, circa 1967
Box 8
Review of annual marketing reports, 1968-1970
Box 8
1970 year-end closing/1971 revised reporting 1971 Jan.
Box 8
9 months operating results, 1971 Sept. 30
Box 8
Executive summary of Latin American annual marketing reports, 1972 Apr.
Box 8
Financial review visit, 1971 Mar. 10-Apr. 20
Box 8
Annual marketing plan, 1972 Dec.
Box 8
Annual marketing report, 1965, 1968
(2 folders)
Box 8
Argentina-Uruguay annual marketing report forecast, budget 1970, 1969 Oct.
Box 8
Presentation to the Executive Committee, 1973 Apr. 2,
Box 8
Annual marketing report, 1967-1968
(2 folders)
Box 9
Executive summary of marketing plans, circa 1973
Box 9
Marketing plan, 1973 Jan.
Box 9
Review of annual marketing report, 1966 Dec.
Box 9
Annual marketing plan, 1967-1969
(3 folders)
Box 9
Review of annual marketing report, circa 1966
Box 9
Annual marketing report, 1967-1972
(5 folders)
Box 9
Financial review, presentation made to the JWT Board of Directors in New York, 1973 Feb. 14
Box 9
Annual management assessment-objectives, 1975 Jan.
Box 9
Annual marketing plan, background aspects, review and preview, 1972 Dec.
Box 9
Annual marketing report, 1966-1967
(2 folders)
Box 9
Executive summary of annual marketing plan, 1971 Dec.
Box 9
Review of annual marketing report, 1968-1969
(2 folders)
Box 9
Annual marketing plan, 1969-1970
(2 folders)
Box 9
Annual marketing plan, JWT Caribbean, 1972 Dec.
Box 9
Annual marketing report, JWT Caribbean, 1967-1969
(3 folders)
Box 9
Annual marketing plan, 1971 Nov. 1
Box 9
Annual marketing report, 1966-1970, 1973
(7 folders)
Box 9
Annual marketing plan, 1973
Box 10
Annual marketing report, 1967
Box 10
Annual report, 1968-1971
(5 folders)
Box 10
Quarterly survey, Australia-New Zealand Limited, 1968 Oct.
Box 10
Annual marketing report, 1967-1969
(4 folders)
Box 10
Marketing plan, appendix, 1973 Feb.
Box 10
Annual marketing plan, 1973
Box 10
Annual marketing report, 1966-1970
(4 folders)
Box 10
Objectives and communications plan, 1977 Jan.
Box 10

Restriction on access: Sensitive personnel materials pertaining to individual employee matters are closed to non-JWT users until 2043.

Personnel, 1968
Box 11
Salaries and profit sharing, 1967-1968
Box 11
Cavalcanti, Carlos, 1968
Box 11
Kfuri, Joe, 1967
Box 11
Personnel, 1968 and undated
Box 11
Salaries and profit sharing, 1968
Box 11
Eaves, Elliott, 1968
Box 11
Gibson, Chuck, 1968
Box 11
Raibourn, Gerald, 1966, 1968
Box 11
Wallace, Robert, 1968
Box 11
Personnel, 1968
Box 11
Salaries and profit sharing, 1968
Box 11
Personnel, 1968
Box 11
Salary increases, 1967-1968
Box 11
Personnel, 1967-1968
Box 11
Salaries and profit sharing, 1967-1968
Box 11

Restriction on access: Original is closed to patrons. A Use Copy is available to patrons.

Annual report (original, Use Copy in files, box 10), 1968
Box 11

Historical Note

DateEvent(s)
1923 Feb. 9Born Thomas Schulhof, in Berlin (of Austrian Jewish descent, the Schulhof family relocated to England to escape the Nazis, and changed its name to Sutton during World War II)
1948Received M.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from St. Peter’s College, Oxford University
1949Research officer at British Market Research Bureau (BMRB), a subsidiary of J. Walter Thompson Co. (JWT) London
1951Left JWT to work as Advertising and Market Research Manager for Pasolds Limited, a textile manufacturer
1952Returned to JWT London, and sent to Frankfurt, Germany, as Managing Director; charged with reopening the JWT office in Germany which had ceased operations in 1934
1960Returned to England to assume position of Managing Director, JWT London
1966Executive Vice President, International
1966-1972Executive Vice President at JWT New York, responsible for all 37 of JWT’s international operations
1970International Advertising Man of the Year Award
1972Stepped down from New York post to become General Manager for JWT Japan in Tokyo
1980Executive Vice President, JWT's Asia-Pacific operations
1981 Dec.Executive Vice President, JWT Group
1983 Dec. 31Retired as Executive Vice President of J. Walter Thompson Company and a member of its Board of Directors, and as Executive Vice President of JWT Group, Inc.
1994 Dec. 9Died at the age of 71

Sutton received several honors during his lifetime. In Great Britain he served on the Council of Institute of Practictioners in Advertising and headed their Development Committee. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Statistical Society and a fellow of the Institute of Statisticians. In the United States, Sutton was a member of the Advisory Board of International Business Program of Rutgers University.

Subject Headings

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], J. Walter Thompson Company Thomas Sutton Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Provenance

The J. Walter Thompson Company Thomas Sutton Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a transfer in 1987.

Processing Information

Processed by Richard Collier, Andrea Franzius, Ashley Urquhart, April 2006

Encoded by Richard Collier

Completed April 2006

Accession is described in this finding aid.

Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and our local Style Guide.