N. W. Ayer & Son
| Industry | Advertising |
|---|---|
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Successor | MacManus Group, Bcom3, Kaplan Thaler Group, Publicis Groupe |
| Founded | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (1868) |
| Founder | Francis Wayland Ayer |
| Defunct | 2002 |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
N. W. Ayer & Son was an advertising agency founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1869. It called itself the oldest advertising agency in the United States. Named after Francis Ayer's father N. W. Ayer, it ventured into advertising in 1884. It created a number of memorable slogans for firms such as De Beers, AT&T and the U.S. Army. The company started to decline in the 1960s and, after a series of mergers, was closed in 2002 with its assets sold to the Publicis Groupe.
N. W. Ayer & Son was founded in Philadelphia in 1869 by 21-year-old Francis Wayland Ayer, who named the agency after his father, N. W. Ayer. N. W. Ayer & Son started its business by representing religious weekly newspapers. By 1877, N. W. Ayer & Son had become successful enough to obtain what remained of another agency, the Volney Palmer Agency. In 1884, Ayer expanded into the advertising business. Ayer styled itself the oldest advertising firm in the U.S. In 1892, artists and writers began working in groups known as creative teams. Eventually Ayer became responsible for some of the most recognized slogans in advertising history. Gerold M. Lauck was president of Ayer in the 1930s.
N. W. Ayer & Son created one of the most recognized slogans of the 20th century, A diamond is forever.
Harry Oppenheimer of De Beers and Ayer president Gerold M. Lauck discussed a marketing campaign in 1938 that would change the falling price of diamonds at the time. The idea of engagement rings decorated with diamonds wasn't very popular in Europe, but interest in diamonds was high in the U.S. Because of this, Oppenheimer decided to promote the idea in the U.S. and told Lauck that, if Ayer's plan was successful, De Beers would have Ayer become the exclusive agency for its American interests. Ayer was motivated to propose that its campaign should move the American spending demographic towards larger and more expensive diamonds.
To successfully achieve its goal, Ayer suggested a reinforcement of the relationship of diamonds with love and romance. This proved successful, as both men and women were caught in the relationship of diamonds being a gift of love. The slogan created for De Beers remained memorable for many years.
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