Mark Abels
2010Mark Abels spent more than 35 years helping people communicate clearly, concisely and effectively. Mark served as a senior communications executive at two major airlines – Northwest and TWA. He was responsible for public relations, employee communications and inflight entertainment, and headed up community service projects including the volunteer airlift of millions of pounds of emergency relief supplies following natural disasters in the U.S. and Asia. He was also active in politics, running statewide political campaigns and serving as press secretary to a U.S. Senator. He was a senior vice president of a major international public relations firm, general manager of a state radio network and was a principal in Kratos Global Strategies. He taught public relations at the University College at Washington University. He is a member of the Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board, vice chair of the Army’s St. Louis Regional Advisory Board, and held leadership posts with St. Louis Variety Children’s Charity and the Gateway Chapter National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Bea Adams
2007Bea Adams made her mark in the advertising community at a time when women were usually relegated to secretarial jobs. She began in 1935 as a copywriter at Gardner Advertising. Ten years later she had risen to executive vice president. The next year she became the agency’s creative director. During the decade of the ‘40s, Ms. Adams was a pioneer in the use of psychological research in the creation of ads. She was named National Advertising Woman of the Year in 1956 and was also listed in Fortune magazine’s top 36 American businesswomen and Life magazine’s 27 Women of Achievement. She retired from Gardner in 1972.
Wally Armbruster
2008Armbruster 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.
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Steve Bunyard
2015Steve Bunyard joined Gardner Advertising in 1973, working in media on various Ralston and Anheuser-Busch brands over four years. In 1977, he was named VP/Media at Kenrick Advertising, leaving 2 1/2 years later to form the Clayton Webster Corporation, a startup national radio syndication entity that would later evolve into the Olympia Networks.
Over the next 24 years, St. Louis-based CWC/Olympia created and syndicated 18 national radio programs to over 1600 radio stations each week.
Then in 1989, what would later become Pacific Broadcasting was formed by Bunyard to acquire middle market “turnaround” radio station across the country. Through 2014, 13 radio stations were bought and later sold various major broadcast groups.
