Halls of Fame

Bob Kochan – 2008

Bob Kochan founded Kochan & Company Advertising in 1987. The agency provided advertising and marketing services for a variety of well-known clients including The Pasta House Co. Restaurants, Argosy Casino and the Missouri Valley Conference among others. Kochan spent the first 16 years of his career with the Six Flags organization in St. Louis, overseeing the public relations, marketing and entertainment departments. Bob was a past president of the Advertising Club of Greater St. Louis, leading the organization in 1999 and 2000 during its 100th anniversary. He donated much of his time and his agency’s work to local causes, including the preservation of St. Louis media history.

Wally Armbruster – 2008

Armbruster began his career at D’Arcy as an office boy in 1939 and ended it in 1984 as executive vice president and worldwide creative director. He always called himself a salesman. But he was a powerful salesman that came up with the catchphrases of a lifetime: “When You Say Budweiser, You’ve Said It All,” “If Cows Could, They’d Give Milnot,” and “Surprise People/Serve Michelob.” He was twice voted as one of the 100 Outstanding Creative People in America; was the recipient of the Distinguished Service to Journalism Award from the University of Missouri; the author of numerous books; and the genius behind the decision to hire a young minor league sportscaster by the name of Jack Buck to call St. Louis Cardinal baseball games.

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. 

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.