Mary Wells Lawrence

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Mary Wells Lawrence, 1969

Mary Wells Lawrence (* as Mary Georgene Berg on May 25, 1928 in Youngstown, Ohio ) is an American advertising entrepreneur .

Life

Wells Lawrence completed a two-year course at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania in the late 1940s . There she met Bert Wells, whom she married in 1949. Together with Wells, the couple moved to Youngstown in 1951, where Lawrence got her first job as a copywriter at McKelvey's department store . This turned out to be only a brief liaison. Lawrence began studying theater and dance in New York City in the same year . Further stations in her professional life were the advertising departments of Macy’s , McCann Erickson , DDB Worldwide , Jack Tinker and Partners. Her first big success was with Jack Tinker and Partners with the campaign for Braniff International Airways .

As a result of the campaign, she married the CEO of the airline Harding Lawrence in 1967, after Wells Lawrence founded her own advertising agency Wells Rich Greene in 1966 . Richard Rich was responsible for the agency's finances and Steward Greene was in charge of the secretariat. WRG employees included designers Alexander Girard and Emilio Pucci . WRG's main customers were American Motors , Cadbury Schweppes , IBM , MCI Communications, Pan American World Airways , Trans World Airlines , Procter & Gamble , Ralston Purina , RC Cola and Sheraton Hotels and Resorts . Wells Lawrence retired in 1990 and sold the company to Boulet Dru Dupuy Petit . WRG then operated under the name Wells Rich Greene BDDP , before the agency finally ceased operations in 1998. The company archive has been submitted to Duke University's John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising and Marketing History.

Wells Lawrence had two children with her first husband, Bert Wells. Her second husband, Harding Lawrence, brought four children into the marriage.

Well-known advertising campaigns

I Love New York, 1977
  • Plop plop, fizz fizz - Alka-Seltzer
  • I can't believe I ate the whole thing - Alka-Seltzer
  • Try it, you'll like it - Alka-Seltzer
  • I love New York
  • Trust the Midas touch
  • At Ford, Quality is Job 1
  • Flick your BIC
  • Raise your hand if you're Sure - Sure deodorant

Awards

  • Advertising Woman of the Year by the American Advertising Federation, 1971
  • Indicated in the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame in 1999

Web links

Commons : Mary Wells Lawrence  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ New York Times: A Pioneer in a Mad Men's World, June 8, 2012, accessed April 29, 2018
  2. ↑ Mail Online: Meet New York's real life Peggy Olsen: How a failing actress turned advertising executive made flying sexy and went on to create the iconic 'I heart NY' campaign from June 1, 2014, accessed April 29, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Lawrence, Mary Wells
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Berg, Mary Georgene (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American entrepreneur in advertising
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Youngstown, Ohio