| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Integrated Marketing Communications |
| Founded | Philadelphia (1923) |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York |
| Key people | David Sable, CEO Hamish McLennan, Global Chairperson Peter Law-Gisiko, CFO Tony Granger, CCO |
| Employees | 16,000 (2008) |
| Parent | WPP plc |
| Website | www.yr.com |
Y&R (originally Young & Rubicam) is a marketing and communications company specializing in advertising, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting.
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In 1923, John Orr Young and Raymond Rubicam established a small advertising agency in New York. It still operates in the original building. During the 1960s, Y&R produced the first color television commercials. In the 1970s, under the leadership of Edward N. Ney as chief executive officer, Y&R expanded with the acquisition of Wunderman Ricotta & Kline in 1973, Cato Johnson in 1976, and Burson-Marsteller in 1979. Throughout the 1980s, Y&R continued to build an integrated marketing offering by buying diverse firms like Landor Associates in corporate and brand identity. By the end of the decade there were nine companies formally owned.
Y&R became the highest-billing advertising agency in the United States in 1975 with billings recorded at US$477 million.
In the 1990s, Y&R was charged with bribery related to a Jamaican tourism account, and a partnership with Dentsu and Eurocom fell apart when Eurocom withdrew. Y&R and Dentsu reformed as Dentsu, Young & Rubicam Partnerships.
Peter Georgescu became chief executive officer in 1994 and began to streamline the company's operations. In 1995, Y&R began an acquisition push again, increasing ownership in advertising agencies and public relations firms across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
In 1996, Hellman & Friedman became Y&R's first outside investor, and on May 15, 1998, Y&R closed an initial public offering of its common stock, and became a public company.
In 2000, Y&R was acquired by the WPP Group, a London-based marketing communications holding company.
The following summaries are extracted from the 2000 Y&R annual report.
Young & Rubicam Advertising is one of the world's largest consumer advertising agencies, offering strategic and creative development, consumer research and marketing. Young & Rubicam Advertising ranks as the world's 10th largest advertising agency, with revenues of approximately $907 million.[1]
David Sable is the Global CEO, Hamish McLennan is the Global Chairman, Tony Granger is the Global Chief Creative Officer, and Peter Law-Gisiko is the CFO of Young & Rubicam Advertising.
VML, Inc. is a marketing technology company based in Kansas City, Missouri, with additional offices in New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago. The VML network includes Studiocom, with offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Bogotá, Colombia, and VML in London.
Bravo Group and Kang & Lee create multicultural marketing and communications programs targeted to the U.S. Hispanic and Asian communities through advertising, promotion and event marketing, public relations, research and direct marketing.
Wunderman "helps powerful brands inspire consumer action". Wunderman is headquartered in New York and operates in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia/Pacific regions.
Lester Wunderman, the founder of Wunderman, Ricotta & Kline in 1958 and acknowledged father of direct marketing, spawned a new way of selling products and services. In November 1967, he coined the phrase Direct Marketing to describe the new type of advertising he was practicing.
KBM provides integrated information-based marketing solutions to businesses in targeted high-growth industries. KBM delivers its integrated business solutions services by creating consolidated databases, and then designing, implementing and evaluating database marketing programs for clients. KBM's capabilities include data warehousing, data mining, information services and data analysis. Y&R acquired KBM in May 1999.
This public relations company issues analysis, crisis management, consumer and business marketing and research, corporate communications, investor relations and public affairs advocacy. Burson-Marsteller is headquartered in New York and operates in the United States, Latin America, the Asia/Pacific region and Europe.
Cohn & Wolfe is a public relations firm specializing in corporate communication and brand identity. It was founded in 1970 and was acquired by Young-Rubicam in 1984. Cohn & Wolfe operates in North America, Europe and Australia.
Robinson Lerer & Montgomery specializes in working with the senior management of companies to develop and implement strategies for corporate image-building, financial transactions, crisis management, litigation support and media and investor programs. RLM was founded in 1986 and was acquired by Y&R in March 2000.
Landor Associates is a branding consultancy and strategic design firm. Landor offers branding and identity projects, including corporate identity, packaging and brand identity systems, retail design and branded environments, interactive branding and design, verbal branding and nomenclature systems, corporate literature, brand extensions and new brand development.
Landor was founded in 1941 and was acquired by Y&R in 1989. Landor is headquartered in San Francisco and operates in the Americas, Asia/Pacific and Australia, Europe and the Middle East, including multidisciplinary consulting and design studios in New York, Seattle, Mexico City, Hamburg, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Sudler & Hennessey is a leading healthcare communications firm that develops strategic promotional and educational programs for a wide spectrum of healthcare brands. S&H creates advertising, direct marketing and sales promotion programs for prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications. In addition, S&H provides strategic consultancy and communications support in the areas of managed care, medical devices and equipment, nutrition, veterinary medicine and general healthcare. Communications programs produced by S&H on behalf of its largely pharmaceutical industry client base are directed to a wide range of healthcare professionals as well as patients and their support networks.
S&H was founded in 1941 and was acquired by Y&R in 1973. S&H is headquartered in New York and operates in North America, Europe and the Asia/Pacific region.
The company is frequently cited in the AMC television series Mad Men.