Gray Global Group
| Gray Global Group
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|---|---|
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| legal form | |
| founding | August 1, 1917 |
| Seat | new York |
| management | Jim Heekin |
| Number of employees | 10500 (2003) |
| sales | $ 1.3 billion |
| Branch | communication |
| Website | www.grey.com |
| As of December 31, 2003 | |
The Gray Group is a worldwide association of communication agencies. The origins of the company are Gray Studios , a company for direct marketing (mailings) founded by Larry Valenstein in 1917 . As a result, the range of services grew and the name changed to Gray Advertising . In the 1960s the company expanded into a global network. Sales in 2003 were $ 1.3 billion with approximately 10,500 employees. In 2005 Gray became part of the WPP Group .
Edward ("Ed") H. Meyer was chairman and CEO of the Gray Global Group until 2005 and has been Jim Heekin since then.
Company history
Gray Studios was founded on August 1, 1917 by Larry Valenstein, then 18 years old. In 1921, 17-year-old Arthur Fatt was hired as an office boy. At Fatt's suggestion, a magazine - Furs & Fashions - was launched. The success allowed the company to specialize in advertising. Fatt was then involved in running the company.
In 1925 the name was Gray Advertising Inc. changed. The most important customer to date - Procter & Gamble - signed a contract with the agency in 1956. The company's expansion continued and in 1959 the first foreign office opened in Montreal . In 1965 Gray went public. The company continued to grow, for example Steinman and Gray was founded in 1976 with a Swiss company . In 1980, Gray acquired the Conahay & Lyon agency . In 2000 the Gray Global Group was founded as a holding company for the various operations worldwide. The Gray Global Group gave up its independence in 2004 by accepting a takeover offer from the WPP Group amounting to almost 1.4 billion US dollars. The company's annual financial statements have since been consolidated in the annual financial statements of the WPP Group.
Gray Group Germany
The Gray Group Germany is the association of German communication service providers of the Gray Group. Since summer 2008, all of the Düsseldorf agencies of the Gray Group Germany have been based in the Derendorf district of Düsseldorf . A partner agency is located in Berlin.
history
In 1953, Karl-Heinz founded Gramm Werbe-Gramm in Düsseldorf. The initial customer was the British American Tobacco in Hamburg with HB for which Bruno, the HB male , was devised. The message “Sheer Driving Pleasure” was created for BMW . Procter & Gamble came to Germany in the early 1960s, followed by American agencies looking for German partners. Werbe-Gramm and Gray Advertising from New York merged. Karl-Heinz Gramm died in 1965. Theo Breidenbach and Hans Christoph Kleinau subsequently took over the management of the agency. They founded an office in Düsseldorf.
QVC and Brother are some of the customers today.
Bernd M. Michael was employed in the agency from 1966 to 2006, becoming CEO in 1978 and managing partner in 1982. In the 1990s, AOL became known through the question "Am I already in", conceived by Gray and presented by Boris Becker. The company e-plus was able to attract attention with the appearance of Franz Beckenbauer and the slogan “Yes, it's Christmas?”. The “Punica Oasis” devised by Gray achieved a high level of awareness. Thanks to Gray, the Visa company was able to achieve a great success with the statement "I take my freedom". The Odol brand , previously only known as a provider of mouthwash, rose to become the largest umbrella brand for oral care thanks to Gray.
Awards
The Gray Group Germany agencies have won numerous awards, including Euro Effie, Cannes Lion , ADC Germany, New York Festivals International, One Show Clio, Comprix, CREA Award, German POS Marketing Award, Die Klappe, German Design Award , Red Dot Award, LIA Awards, Cresta, Eurobest.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Funding Universe Short Story by Gray Global Group Inc., accessed February 14, 2012
- ↑ Homepage of the WPP Annual Reports 2009, accessed on February 14, 2012
- ↑ a b c 10-K Report (Financial Statements) of Gray Global Group Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2003, accessed February 14, 2012
- ↑ a b Article of the Spiegel from 1966 regarding German-American advertising cooperations, newspaper article "Am Steigbügel. Agencies" from the Spiegel of January 10, 1966
- ↑ newspaper article of the Rheinische Post "Gramm: Sparkling like champagne", April 7, 2005, Jessica Schwarzer
- ↑ Homepage of the German Advertising Figure Museum Entry from the German Advertising Figure Museum on "Bruno dem HB Männchen
- ↑ Homepage of the German trademark register Registration of BMW for the slogan "Driving pleasure"
- ↑ Homepage of QVC ( Memento of the original from August 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Official press release regarding QVC's funding dated April 5, 2011
- ^ Homepage of the GWA Official announcement from the General Association of Communication Agencies GWA eV on August 8, 2011
- ↑ a b Article of the world "Brands need blemishes", October 2, 2000, Martin Ax
- ↑ Individual reference from the e-plus and Franz Beckenbauer Horizont, February 11, 1999
- ↑ Flumoto.de, - individual evidence of Visa advertising ( memento of the original from November 3, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The campaign page for Odol med 3 designed by GRAY
- ↑ GWA Effie 2009 The most efficient campaigns of the year, GWA, 2009, from page 342
- ↑ gwa price archive for GRAY ( memento of the original from June 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
