Ad2 History
Turn back the clock 50 years to a time when World War II was coming to an end, young soldiers were on their way home to finish their GI Bill education and enter the business world. Members of the AAW (Advertising Association of the West) were gathering at a convention in Sun Valley. It was 1947 when Marion Simpson went to this convention "because the glamour of the name" lured her.
While "networking" wasn't the buzzword in 1947 that it is today, the activity was certainly in good form. At the Sun Valley convention, Marion, with five years of experience selling handkerchiefs for Marshall Field's, was asked by Claire Drew Forbes, former advertising manager of Seattle's Rhodes Department Store and then-owner of a Santa Barbara ad agency, to join a meeting in the corner of the lodge.
According to Simpson, "She {Forbes} told the seven of us there that a few of the seniors thought there should be something - a Junior Ad Club in every major city for the fellows to come back to when they got World War II out of the way, finished their GI Bill education and needed help and encouragement to 'get back into advertising.'" Simpson emerged from that meeting with the title of Chairman, Junior Division of the AAW.
There were seven members at that crucial meeting, and they represented 200 "junior" members in the eleven western states. "Twenty of us attended the 1948 Sacramento Convention. That convention held many "firsts" for Juniors," according to Simpson. Simpson said that the convention was the site of the first banquet hosted by the "juniors" for "seniors."
The club's growth and activities increased over the years, and in the mid-1960s, when Kent Valandra, (San Francisco) headed up the Junior Division of the AAW, clubs were meeting every six months to compete against each other with campaigns for completely fabricated products. "It was like making a new business pitch to a new client," said Valandra in a recent interview. "Six big wigs came to judge and awards were given to the top two. It was good training," Valandra said.
The AAW Junior Division was approached with a request to do a campaign on the Central American Common Market, encompassing countries from Mexico to Panama. The goal of the campaign was to drive American businesses to expand their operations to Central American cities. "The guy at first thought we wouldn't be able to do much for them," said Valandra.
Five presidents from Junior Clubs of the AAW took on the challenge of this campaign. Ken Saunders, from the San Francisco Junior Ad Club, worked on the team to create the "Discover the Gems" campaign. As a result of this campaign, tourism expanded in Central America, several companies opened offices in the "Gem" cities, and the team of five "Juniors" were flown in as guests of the Central American government.
Valandra said that this campaign competition evolved into the Ad 2 Public Service Competition as we know it today.
The AAW (Advertising Association of the West) was originally founded in about 1905, around the same time that the AFA (Advertising Federation of America), representing the eastern U.S., formed. In 1967, the two groups merged to form the AAF (American Advertising Federation) as it is known today. It was at this time in the 1966-67 term that Ad 2 organized a formal national board of directors. Kent Valandra served as the first National Chair, and Ken Saunders as the second.
Various Ad 2 records show that the name "Ad 2" became official at the 1973 AAF convention in New Orleans. Originally, the club was referred to as "Juniors." The 1974-75 issue of Whispers (the official publication of Ad 2) reported "The constant irritation of being called "juniors" was just too much for the delegates to take," thus the name change was instituted. Prior to 1973, the name structure shifted from Junior Division to Juniors to Ad Club Two - Ad Two - Ad II - Ad2 - to the current Ad 2.
Since then, the Ad 2 Public Service Competition has been the signature of the organization. With young ad pros reaching out to touch the lives of communities that they represent, through building advertising campaigns and endorsing community service organizations, Ad 2's history is a very rich one. For all the tomorrows we have brightened and all the organizations we have bettered, it is a great tribute to those who have provided public service before us, that Ad 2 campaigns will continue.
Through all the years of existence, through the structural changes and the name changes, one thing has remained constant: the foundation upon which this club was formed. From 1947 through today: Ad 2 has been a group of people helping people. In personal and professional growth, in bettering our communities, Ad 2 is a group of young, passionate, forward thinking and forward moving people making a difference. We are active, die hard advertising addicts, blazing our way to a brighter tomorrow with style and good company.
