Advertising

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.

Mara “Mitch” Meyers – 2010

Hired by Anheuser-Busch to handle marketing for the launch of Bud Light, Mara “Mitch” Meyers became known as the creator of the Spuds MacKenzie character. She later joined Jack Thorwegen and opened Zipatoni, which grew to 350 employees at five locations. The St. Louis-based firm had annual billings in excess of $40 million. Under her leadership as CEO, Zipatoni picked up Miller Brewing, Snapple, Bacardi, eBay and Motorola among its many clients. For her marketing work, Meyers was named AdWeek’s Woman of the Year in 1987. She retired from Zipatoni in 2003 and became active on several business and advisory boards.

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.

Franklin Oros – 2012

A 35-year veteran of the advertising and communications business in St. Louis. Franklin Oros was a creative director, broadcast and film producer, writer, musician and an educator. He headed the advertising curriculum in the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University, and was involved in curriculum development for an emerging media studies program in the college and graduate school of art.

Earlier in his career, Oros worked for Veritas, Creath Jacobsen and Gardner Advertising, where he produced a tremendous body work for many worldwide brands.

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.

James B. Orthwein – 2010

Beginning his advertising career at D’Arcy as an artist in 1947, James Orthwein rose to the company’s top job in 1970. As its leader, he is credited with turning the St. Louis company into an international organization, which became known as DM&M Worldwide. Under his chairmanship, the agency surpassed the billion dollar billing level. The agency’s account list was full of blue chip names: Coca-Cola, Mars Candy, Anheuser-Busch, Pontiac, Cadillac and General Tire. He retired from the CEO position at age 59 and began a second career in investments and as a short-time NFL team owner.