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Robyn Frankel – 2010

Prior to establishing Frankel Public Relations in 1995, Robyn Frankel was Executive Vice President and General Manager for the St. Louis offices of Aaron Cushman & Associates and for Edelman Public Relations Worldwide. Before joining Edelman she was an independent consultant for 11 years. Earlier she had worked in public relations at Drohlich, Hughes Advertising and Stolz Advertising. She also offered pro-bono public relations services to many non-profit organizations. Robyn was elected Chairman of the Friends Organization of the Danforth Plant Science Center, and previously served for two years as Chairman of the Danforth Center’s Conversations programs. She was the first woman to serve as executive director of the Clayton Chamber of Commerce. In addition, she was a three-term board member of the Community College Foundation and graduated from Leadership St. Louis and Coro Women in Leadership.

Alfred Fleishman – 2006

Al Fleishman was co-founder of one of the world’s largest public relations firms, Fleishman-Hillard. Fleishman and longtime friend Robert Hillard created their firm in 1946. Fleishman was considered one of the founding fathers of the public relations industry. He wrote a regular column, “Common Sense Communications,” for the St. Louis Business Journal. The column reflected his knowledge and insight of how people communicate with each other and the importance of effective communication in our lives.

Mike Drohlich – 2010

During college, Mike Drohlich worked in both print and broadcast media, which gave him the perfect perspective for working in public relations. At age 28, after purchasing the public relations company begun by his father, Mike Drohlich set out to grow the business into a regional, mid-sized PR firm. He believed in working with clients, using PR to help grow their companies and increase sales. Drohlich Associates placed emphasis on client preparation for crisis management. His agency developed the St. Louis Metro Media Guide, which many PR shops and not-for-profit agencies found indispensable in their work with the media. Drohlich served on the advisory council to the University of Florida’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications when it offered the largest public relations academic program in the U.S.

William D’Arcy – 2007

William D’Arcy of Western Advertising was a founding member of the St. Louis Advertising Club and of what later became the American Advertising Federation. But the six-person agency he founded on August 23, 1906 is where D’Arcy made his mark. D’Arcy Advertising began with its first client, a small Atlanta-based soft drink, Coca-Cola, for whom the agency later created the enduring illustration of Santa Claus with a bottle of Coke. From its St. Louis headquarters, D’Arcy Advertising promoted Coke and brands from Anheuser-Busch and General Tire nationwide. D’Arcy was known for his truth-in-advertising efforts, which he began on a national level in 1913. He retired from his company in 1945.

Charles Claggett, Jr. – 2008

Charlie Claggett, Jr., was managing director/chief creative officer of D’Arcy St. Louis from 1994 to 1999. He was most noted for coining the slogan “This Bud’s for you” in 1979, which continued to carry Budweiser’s ad campaigns for several decades, and for leading the creative team that conceived the Budweiser frogs. Charlie received more than 80 national and international creative awards, including Cannes, Clio, US TV Commercials Festival and London Art Directors, to name a few. During Claggett’s time as chief creative officer, D’Arcy St. Louis garnered more industry creative awards than at any other time.

Charles Claggett – 2008

Charles Claggett, Sr., began at Gardner Advertising as a copywriter in 1931 after graduating from Princeton, stayed for 37 years and rose to the position of CEO. Under his watch, Gardner grew from a small St. Louis agency to a top international firm, with offices in nine cities, and agency billings quadrupled. In his early work with Ralston Cereals, which included writing scripts and running the Tom Mix radio show, Claggett set up a Tom Mix fan club, bringing in 250,000 memberships from kids as soon as it was announced. The program became the top children’s radio show in the country. He also helped revive the Jack Daniel’s whiskey brand, advising the distillery to raise prices and limit supply to stimulate demand.