Mary Wells had a revolutionary part in Advertising; being the founding president of Wells Rich Greene and being the first female CEO of a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Wells began as a copywriter of McKelvey’s Department Store, and then moved on to working in the advertising department at Macy’s. In 1957, she joined Doyle Dane Bernbach, where she created her first famous advertising image.
Wells shined when she worked for Jack Tinker & Partners, creating famous campaigns such as ‘Plop, plop, fizz fizz’ for Alka-Seltzer. The company had been unpopular as people tended to associate its products with overeating, but Wells completely changed that.
Some of her most famous work was for Braniff Airways. When Wells was a child she took theatre lessons, and it was with Braniff Airways that she first incorporated her theatre knowledge into advertising. She ended the ‘plain plane’. She made the planes and uniforms colourful and created the ‘The Air Strip’ which drew customers in, especially from the baby boomer generation.
In 1967 she, and two of her associates, opened up their own company, of which she was the president of. It was called Wells Rich Greene. Her experience in theatre helped bring a dramatic flair to her commercials. By using her drama knowledge in her work, it set her company apart from all the others as they related better to their clients.
“Mary really influenced how promotion and product changes were part of the role of an advertising agency.” - Charlie Moss
“Of course, I’m a legend. But it’s not because of any great gift I have. It’s because I’m a risk taker.” - Mary Wells, 2002
Resources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3_aNtQFsLk
'Art and Copy' - documentary - 2009 - directed by Doug Pray
http://www.adweek.com/sa-article/lifetime-achievement-mary-wells-131861
http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/history-1960s/98702/
http://adage.com/article/special-report-the-advertising-century/mary-wells-lawrence/140198/
http://facstaff.elon.edu/gibson/COM322/Written/ResearchPaperFiles/MaryWellsLawrence.pdf
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