J Walter Thompson - An Inspiration. (JWT)

J. Walter Thompson
1847 - 1928

This Story never fails to inspire me! Hope it does the same for you. 

Businessman. Innovator. Marine. Pioneer.

“The Commodore,” James Walter Thompson, was a man of many talents. After serving aboard the USS Shenandoah as a Marine during the Civil War, he found employment at an advertising brokerage, selling space in religious publications and pioneering the use of advertising in women’s magazines. He eventually went on to purchase the brokerage for $500 (plus an extra $800 for furniture), and rename it after himself – J. Walter Thompson.

From there, the Commodore went on to change the industry by creating what we now know as the modern advertising agency. Under his watch, J. Walter Thompson created the creative department, hired the first female creative director, brought non-US clients to America, and US products abroad – opening the first international office in London in 1899.

Starting with one piece of business, Chesebrough-Ponds in 1886, J. Walter built a roster of blue chip clients – including Unilever, who has been with the agency for over 100 years. His advertising empire logged $26.8 million in domestic billings in the year of his death – 1928.

For 150 years, the spirit of J. Walter Thompson has lived on in this agency. It’s still embodied in the work we do here today. Though the Commodore is no longer, his legacy lives on. In each of us. Especially in those of us with beards and cigars.