J. Walter Thompson became the biggest name in advertising over 155 years, making classic campaigns for brands like Ford, Kraft, Unilever, and the US Marines.
21 insiders say the agency struggled to deal with the rise of digital and the aftermath of a legal scandal that grabbed headlines around the world.J. Walter Thompson rose from a brokerage selling ads in New York City newspapers to become the world's most successful and longstanding ad agency on the strength of classic campaigns for brands like Ford, Kraft, Kellogg's, Unilever, and the US Marines.
Business Insider spoke to 21 current and former executives at J. Walter Thompson, Wunderman Thompson, and WPP forJWT began to struggle with the 2010 departures of key executives and major accounts including Microsoft, JetBlue, and Royal Caribbean while WPP's financial constraints hampered its turnaround.