Ad agencies dying? Long may the art of persuasion live

Big ad agency names like JWT and Leo Burnett are gone but consumers still behave the way they did

- BIJU DOMINIC

Over the past few days, the world of business has been busy discussing the impact of DeepSeek, a Chinese GenAI tool, on its future. While analyzing this new kid on the AI block, almost no one noticed the demise of a venerable 90-year-old name that had the status of a business institution.

Leo Burnett has been an iconic name in the global advertising industry since 1935. This is the ad agency that created the famous Pillsbury Doughboy, Tony the Tiger, which remains Kellogg's mascot for its frosted flakes, and of course the famous Marlboro Man. Many healthcare professionals might blame Leo Burnett for encouraging the habit of smoking among people. But despite such criticism, the advertising campaign of Marlboro cigarettes will always remain a case study offering a classic example of the persuasive power of creativity.

Until the 1950s, Marlboro, one of the first filter cigarettes in the US market, was positioned as a woman's cigarette with the tagline, "Mild as May." But the brand's sales stayed below expectations. To turn the tide on its market performance, its marketing team decided to reposition Marlboro as a man's cigarette. It was easier said than done.

Even today, how many persuasion professionals would have dared to take up such an audacious communication challenge? Leo Burnett stepped forward to take up the task of repositioning a woman's cigarette as a male preference. Not only did the ad agency successfully reposition Marlboro as a man's cigarette brand, but in that process created one of the most iconic images of masculinity in a cowboy that came to be identified with it.