Although there were no female advertising company CEOs in the 1960’s, Mary Wells
Lawrence never doubted her own ability to blaze this trail. By becoming the first president of an agency and the first to take a company public, Mary Wells Lawrence succeeded in changing the status quo of an entire industry (Elliot 2002). In the same bold, captivating way, she impacted the advertising world by leading fearlessly and by producing effective, creative works that are as unforgettable as she is. Many of her campaigns have become classics and we will look back on several of them as we consider her contribution to the field of communication.
Prior to Mary Wells Lawrence, advertising had its epicenter at Madison Avenue and was dominated by men like David…show more content… She quickly showed her capability for creating savvy, young, out of the box advertising that could not only be attention getting, but also be very effective in providing a return for the customer. Even as she created and managed amazing work she was confronted with the maddening reality that she would never run the company. She was told that she would never have the title of President because, “The world was not ready for women presidents” (Lawrence…show more content… I believe the work WRG did for Midas is important because it highlights their great knack for creating brand associations and strengthening a growing brand. It also shows the importance of good research. When Midas first came to Lawrence they were a company looking for growth. They had just started franchising. WRG research showed that their main competitors were the local gas stations that sold gas, changed tires, provided mechanical services and did whatever odd jobs car owners needed. It was hard to convince the owners of Midas that this was their true competition. They thought local stations were a great source of referrals and didn’t want to try to compete with them. Lawrence did not back down. She says in her book, “It was our experience that taking on the establishment was not only the fastest way to gain attention for a new business but also a first step towards creating trust for it- and trust is what branding is all about- trust is the payoff for the investment it takes to build a big brand name.” The ads were anti-establishment but funny. It showed people trying to find mufflers, but since service stations didn’t specialize in mufflers, they didn’t have what was needed in stock. It made the point the Midas only did mufflers, and for that reason they had to be good at it. The tag line was, “At Midas we install mufflers for a living, we have to do a better job.” It was a great success. It