What’s in a Name?
16 January 2025
Leo Burnett is no more, the agency now part of Publicis Groupe is being merged with Publicis Worldwide to form Leo.
So what?
On the one hand, a rebrand shouldn’t surprise anyone. Brands, even companies come and go, they’re acquired, they merge, they change shape. Life goes on, companies and brands don’t exist in a vacuum, inured from the elements around them.
On the other hand, the disappearance of an agency brand reminds the ad world that nothing lasts for ever. We have moved from risk-takers to moneymakers; from craftsmen to machine operators; and, yes, from madmen to mathmen.
This does not always end well.
J Walter Thompson, David Ogilvy, Bill Bernbach, Raymond Rubicam, Leo Burnett were all proud of their work, they literally put their name on it.
We still have John Bartle, John Hegarty, Maurice and Charles Saatchi, Charles Vallance. But the number of people prepared to put their name above the door is increasingly small. Maybe it’s just not fashionable; maybe it’s a matter of anonymising responsibility.
I worked for Leo Burnett, the agency, not the man (he had long gone by then) for 14 years. It was a great place to work; I am forever in the debt of Mike Yershon who hired me and the late Simon Broadbent who took me under his wing.
Burnett was an agency with a strong sense of itself. Every office throughout the world had a bowl of apples on the reception desk – a throwback to a remark in one of the Chicago papers when Mr Burnett founded his agency in the 1930’s and offered an apple to any prospective client who visited. ‘Mr Burnett will soon be selling his apples on a street corner’ read the piece.
I don’t know if the agency still does that – I suspect the apples have long gone the way of a procurement driven cost-saving programme, but I would be delighted to be proved wrong.
New recruits were given a book of Leo-isms to read and a video of the man himself.
Certainly, you could accuse some of forever looking over their shoulder at Leo, but this was an agency with a heritage built around a set of principles to which it stuck like glue. It knew what it was.
Principles live on. They survive different ages, different circumstances
It’s unusual to have the chance to listen to the guy who set the agency’s principles enunciate the agency’s principles. That’s what Leo Burnett did in a 1967 speech entitled: ‘When to take my name off the door’.
It’s here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=htAMJSX8S54
Less than 10 minutes long, a bit shaky but a rare opportunity to listen to a legendary ad man.
More than that, a chance to recall Bill Bernbach’s words: “A principle is not a principle until it costs you money”.
Mr Burnett’s agency has long gone. Now his name is off the door too.
Thanks, Brian: a lovely piece.
Given the way media agencies fund themselves nowadays, you might say that a ‘Principal isn’t a principal unless it makes you money’.
Brian,
Brilliant stuff. I remember the first day I joined Leo Burnett London (September 1976) as a Graduate Trainee in Client Service as it was then called). We were ushered into a meeting room and played Leo’s speech…from an LP on a record player. Feels like a final ending to that story – apart from retaining the great man’s first name, talking about a ‘constellation’ of talent, and Burnett’s ‘human-centric’ creativity. Makes one wonder who (or what) the target audience is now. RIP.
Very good Mike!
Well said!
Ah,memories. BJ at Burnetts, me over the road at Carlton and breakfast together at Browns. A third of a century ago!
And Browns is no more too….
Memories that last a life time are nice for those who have them. But lessons in business, advertising and marketing can shape a career of a lifetime. Leo Burnett did for me, as did you. So thank you, Leo and thank you Brian.
Thank you!