Kaplan Thaler Group
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The Kaplan Thaler Group was an American advertising agency that opened in 1997,[1][2] and created campaigns including the Aflac Duck. The company began with six people in a small apartment.
History[edit]
The Kaplan Thaler Group began as a small boutique agency out of the founder's home in Chelsea, Manhattan. The Kaplan Thaler Group began with six employees on the 700 sq ft third floor of the brownstone where Linda Kaplan Thaler lived on 19th Street in Chelsea.[3]
Over a period of 15 years, the Kaplan Thaler Group grew "from a startup to a company with more than $1 billion in billings."[4]
Linda Kaplan Thaler served as CEO and Chief Creative Officer of the Kaplan Thaler Group since founding the agency in 1997.[2]
In 2002, the advertising agency N. W. Ayer & Son, which called itself the oldest advertising agency, retired its name and merged "into the thriving Kaplan Thaler Group, where Ayer's stalwart client, Continental Airlines, took flight again."[5]
In 2002, the advertising agency D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) was acquired by French firm Publicis and closed.[6] Longtime client Procter & Gamble Co. shifted its Dawn and Swiffer brands from defunct D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles to Kaplan, adding roughly $80 million in U.S. billings.[7]
The agency created the Aflac duck,[8] Herbal Essences Totally Organic Experience[9],Continental Airlines "Work Hard. Fly Right.", and Swiffer Sweeper campaigns.[7]
"On July 12, 2012, Publicis New York, part of Publicis Worldwide in the USA, and the Kaplan Thaler Group, part of the Paris-based Publicis Groupe, merged to form Publicis Kaplan Thaler."[10]
In June 2015 Publicis New York ended the use of the name "Kaplan Thaler".[11]
References[edit]
- ^ Kaplan Thaler, Linda; Koval, Robin (2003). Bang! (1 ed.). New York: DOUBLEDAY. p. 3. ISBN 0-385-50816-6.
When the Kaplan Thaler Group opened for business 6 years ago...
- ^ a b "Publicis New York And Kaplan Thaler Group Merge To Form Publicis Kaplan Thaler". PR Newswire (Press release). July 12, 2012.
- ^ Kaplan Thaler, Linda; Koval, Robin (2015). GRIT TO GREAT (1st ed.). Crown Business. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-8041-3912-0.
- ^ Vanden Plas, Joe (June 8, 2021). "How a legend was made of advertising quackery". In Business Greater Madison.
Kaplan Thaler, the first woman to win the prestigious Clio Lifetime Achievement Award, is the author of advertising campaigns that grew the Kaplan Thaler Group from a startup to a company with more than $1 billion in billings. She and Koval also co-authored several books, including Bang! Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World.
- ^ Sanders, Lisa. "AGENCY SHUTDOWN: BCOM3 PULLS PLUG ON AYER". AdAge.
In 2002, Bcom3 retired the Ayer name and merged it into the thriving Kaplan Thaler Group
- ^ Elliot, Stuart (October 15, 2002). "Publicis begins an extensive, and risky, reshuffling of accounts and people".
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "SPECIAL REPORT AGENCY OF THE YEAR" (PDF). AdAge. January 12, 2004.
Longtime client Procter & Gamble Co. shifted its Dawn and Swiffer brands from defunct D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles to Kaplan, adding roughly $80 million in U.S. billings.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Riggs, Thomas. Encyclopedia Of Major Marketing Campaigns. Thomson Gale. pp. 34–39. ISBN 978-0-7876-7356-7.
Aflac wanted to expand its business by improving consumer's awareness of the brand. It also wanted to target 35- to 54-year-old consumers. In 1999 the company hired a new advertising agency, the Kaplan Thaler Group, to improve its name recognition. The New York–based agency was known for its Big Bang approach to advertising: the belief that campaigns succeeded most when they altered consumers' views about the brand advertised. To accomplish this for Aflac, the agency created a new spokescharacter, the Aflac Duck. Voiced by comedian and actor Gilbert Gottfried, the Duck appeared in spots that featured consumers having trouble remembering the company's name.
- ^ "Marketing Campaign Case Studies".
In 1999 the ad agency Kaplan Thaler Group, New York, was awarded the Herbal Essences account. The allfemale agency, helmed by the campaign's creator, Linda Kaplan Thaler, released new television spots and print ads with the expanded $30 million Herbal Essences ad budget.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Kaplan Thaler ADVERTISING". Agency Spotter.
On July 12, 2012, Publicis New York, part of Publicis Worldwide in the USA, and the Kaplan Thaler Group, part of the Paris-based Publicis Groupe, merged to form Publicis Kaplan Thaler.
- ^ Morrison, Maureen (June 30, 2015). "PUBLICIS DROPS KAPLAN THALER MONIKER". AdAge.