Collett Dickenson Pearce
Encyclopedia
Collett Dickenson Pearce & Partners (CDP) emerged from the "Swinging London
" cultural shifts of the 1960s as Britain's most glamorous and influential advertising agency
, generally regarded as one of the finest advertising agencies in the world during the 1970s. Launched in April 1960, it was a nursery for the careers of many who were to become internationally famous; among those working there as young men were Frank Lowe
(now Sir Frank Lowe), David Puttnam
(now Lord Puttnam), Alan Parker
(now Sir Alan Parker), John Hegarty
, Indra Sinha
, Neil Godfrey, and Charles Saatchi
. Ridley Scott
, the director of Blade Runner
, Alien
and Gladiator
, made commercials for CDP, as did Chariots of Fire
director Hugh Hudson
. The creative director during the first two key decades was the late Colin Millward, a dour veteran of World War II.
Puttnam's role was as an account executive. "My equivalent of university was the five years [1962-1967] I spent working at an advertising agency called Collett Dickenson Pearce ... with good reason I believed I was working for the best agency in the world. Most of the work we were doing was both different and good; and we were winning awards and gaining recognition left, right and centre."
The agency's output had a distinctive sharp wit and confident font-led graphic style, well suited to the voguish "colour supplements" which the Sunday newspapers were launching at this time. By the 70s, colour television with improved picture definition was rapidly taking root, bringing the need and the opportunity for greater sophistication in the commercials it showed. CDP plunged in under its new managing director Frank Lowe
(later Sir Frank), and set the tone for what is now viewed as a golden creative period in British advertising. Clients included Harvey’s Bristol Cream, Bird’s Eye, Parker pens, Fiat, Ford, Acrilan, Pretty Polly and Ronson. Campaign slogans which entered the national consciousness include "Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet
" and "Land Rover. The best 4 x 4 x far." "Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach" (1974). ( 1979 ) Heineken Galley Slave commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWXWND4hKzA These, and commercials for Hovis (by Ridley Scott
, 1973) and Cinzano (Alan Parker
, 1978), all appear in the upper reaches of 100 Greatest TV Ads
The agency's most notorious campaign was for Benson & Hedges
cigarettes – carried principally on posters and in print, because cigarette advertising had been banned from British television since 1965. To circumvent restrictions on associating smoking with youth, glamour or life style, CDP devised a memorable series of images placing the product's gold pack in highly contrived, surreal surroundings. No people were shown, and not a word of copy, apart from the obligatory Government health warnings.
After years of dwindling fortune in the late 1980s and through the 1990s, Collett Dickenson Pearce finally ceased business in 2000. The company was acquired by the Dentsu
group, the fifth largest global marketing communications group, which then incorporated the famous name into an existing agency Travis Sully, which was renamed CDP-Travissully London.
Swinging London
Swinging London is a catch-all term applied to the fashion and cultural scene that flourished in London, in the 1960s.It was a youth-oriented phenomenon that emphasised the new and modern. It was a period of optimism and hedonism, and a cultural revolution. One catalyst was the recovery of the...
" cultural shifts of the 1960s as Britain's most glamorous and influential advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
, generally regarded as one of the finest advertising agencies in the world during the 1970s. Launched in April 1960, it was a nursery for the careers of many who were to become internationally famous; among those working there as young men were Frank Lowe
Frank Lowe
Frank Lowe was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer.Born and brought up in Memphis, Tennessee, Lowe took up the tenor saxophone and then moved to San Francisco...
(now Sir Frank Lowe), David Puttnam
David Puttnam
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA is a British film producer. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician.-Early life:...
(now Lord Puttnam), Alan Parker
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
(now Sir Alan Parker), John Hegarty
John Hegarty
John Hegarty was elected 43rd Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland in 2001 for a ten-year term.-Life:He was born in Claremorris, County Mayo, and was educated locally at St Colman's College...
, Indra Sinha
Indra Sinha
Indra Sinha is a British writer of English and Indian descent. Formerly a copywriter for Ogilvy & Mather, London, and, from 1984, Collett Dickenson Pearce & Partners, Sinha has the distinction of having been voted one of the top ten British copywriters of all time...
, Neil Godfrey, and Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi is the co-founder with his brother Maurice of the global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and led that business - the world's largest advertising agency in the 1980s - until they were forced out in 1995. In the same year the Saatchi brothers formed a new agency called M&C...
. Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
, the director of Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
, Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
and Gladiator
Gladiator (2000 film)
Gladiator is a 2000 historical epic film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel and Richard Harris. Crowe portrays the loyal Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed...
, made commercials for CDP, as did Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
director Hugh Hudson
Hugh Hudson
Hugh Hudson is an English film director. His best-known international success is the 1981 multiple Academy Award-winning film, Chariots of Fire.- Early life :...
. The creative director during the first two key decades was the late Colin Millward, a dour veteran of World War II.
Puttnam's role was as an account executive. "My equivalent of university was the five years [1962-1967] I spent working at an advertising agency called Collett Dickenson Pearce ... with good reason I believed I was working for the best agency in the world. Most of the work we were doing was both different and good; and we were winning awards and gaining recognition left, right and centre."
The agency's output had a distinctive sharp wit and confident font-led graphic style, well suited to the voguish "colour supplements" which the Sunday newspapers were launching at this time. By the 70s, colour television with improved picture definition was rapidly taking root, bringing the need and the opportunity for greater sophistication in the commercials it showed. CDP plunged in under its new managing director Frank Lowe
Frank Lowe
Frank Lowe was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer.Born and brought up in Memphis, Tennessee, Lowe took up the tenor saxophone and then moved to San Francisco...
(later Sir Frank), and set the tone for what is now viewed as a golden creative period in British advertising. Clients included Harvey’s Bristol Cream, Bird’s Eye, Parker pens, Fiat, Ford, Acrilan, Pretty Polly and Ronson. Campaign slogans which entered the national consciousness include "Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet
Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet
"Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet" is one of the most famous British advertising campaigns for a tobacco product. It was a long-running campaign for Hamlet Cigars, lasting on television until all tobacco advertising on television was banned in the UK in 1991...
" and "Land Rover. The best 4 x 4 x far." "Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach" (1974). ( 1979 ) Heineken Galley Slave commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWXWND4hKzA These, and commercials for Hovis (by Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
, 1973) and Cinzano (Alan Parker
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
, 1978), all appear in the upper reaches of 100 Greatest TV Ads
The agency's most notorious campaign was for Benson & Hedges
Benson & Hedges
Benson & Hedges is a British brand of cigarettes owned by the Gallaher Group, which became a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco in 2007. They are registered in Old Bond Street in London, and are manufactured in Lisnafillen, Ballymena, Northern Ireland for the UK and Irish markets.-History:Benson & Hedges...
cigarettes – carried principally on posters and in print, because cigarette advertising had been banned from British television since 1965. To circumvent restrictions on associating smoking with youth, glamour or life style, CDP devised a memorable series of images placing the product's gold pack in highly contrived, surreal surroundings. No people were shown, and not a word of copy, apart from the obligatory Government health warnings.
After years of dwindling fortune in the late 1980s and through the 1990s, Collett Dickenson Pearce finally ceased business in 2000. The company was acquired by the Dentsu
Dentsu
is one of the largest advertising agencies in the world. Its headquarters are located in the Dentsu Building in the Shiodome district of Minato, Tokyo....
group, the fifth largest global marketing communications group, which then incorporated the famous name into an existing agency Travis Sully, which was renamed CDP-Travissully London.
See also
- The Men From the Agency BBC Four documentary examining the influence of CDP.
- Authors, John Salmon and John Ritchie. (2001). Inside Collett Dickenson Pearce, London: Batsford. ISBN 0713484039