Nine years after changing it’s name to JWT, the agency will, once again, be known as J. Walter Thompson. While the change was planned for later this year, WPP’s Martin Sorrell let the change slip at a breakfast event Monday hosted by the Wall Street Journal.
Sorrell shared with the audience that the agency has been “talking about rebranding” and said the J. Walter Thompson name is “immensely powerful” and that a return to the name would be “a slick and good move.”
Back in 2005, JWT CEO Bob Jeffrey explained the change to JWT saying, “We are now living in a world where the consumer is savvy, time-conscious, easily distracted and in control. Today’s consumer is totally at odds with dumbed-down, formulaic, repetitive, voluminous messaging. Our greatest value to clients is our ability to recognize a changing world in which the customer is king, the currency is time and the rewards are measured in the length and strength of relationships. This understanding defines our role, purpose and belief.”
Hmm. Does that mean that the the new (old?) J. Walter Thompson is going back to “dumbed-down, formulaic, repetitive, voluminous messaging?”
We hope not. And neither does Jeffrey who said “this is a year of reigniting the values and soul” of the agency.
Of Sorrell stealing his thunder, Jeffrey magnanimously said, “Maybe he just couldn’t help himself.”
