Dancer Fitzgerald Sample
Encyclopedia
Dancer Fitzgerald Sample (DFS & later DFS-Dorland) was a top tier Madison Avenue advertising
agency during the 20th century originally founded in Chicago in 1923. It was acquired and merged into the Saatchi & Saatchi
network in the 1980s.
in 1942. Hummert left the company at the end of 1943, forming Hummert Radio Productions with his wife Anne
. Sample, after unsuccessful attempts to buy out the absent Blackett, announced that they would allow the firm to dissolve when their partnership agreement expired in 1944, and that he would enter a new partnership with B-S-H president H.M. "Mix" Dancer at that time. These plans were later altered to terminate the partnership earlier, on January 1, 1944, with Blackett forming his own firm and Dancer and Sample adding as a partner Clifford L. Fitzgerald, then a B-S-H vice president and director.
On February 24, 1986 Saatchi & Saatchi
agreed to acquire Dancer Fitzgerald Sample for $75M and immediately announced that it would be merged with the Saatchi owned UK network Dorland Advertising. At that time Dancer Fitzgerald Sample was the thirteenth largest advertising agency in the US with billings of $876M and clients including Procter & Gamble
, General Mills
, Toyota, Sara Lee
and RJR Nabisco
. The new DFS Dorland Worldwide network was to be operated independently from the Saatchi and Saatchi Compton Worldwide network and was at that time the sixteenth largest agency network in the world.
Within a year however - by June 1987, DFS was merged with Saatchi & Saatchi
Compton, the US subsidiary of Saatchi & Saatchi. At that point the merged business it became the largest agency in New York with billings of $2.3B. The consolidation ended DFS's relationship with Dorland which was at that was point the number-three-ranked London agency.
DFS founded Program Syndication Services in 1973 and The Program Exchange
in 1979.
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
agency during the 20th century originally founded in Chicago in 1923. It was acquired and merged into the Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi is a global advertising agency network with 140 offices in 80 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in London in 1970 but now headquartered in New York. The parent company of the agency group was known as Saatchi & Saatchi PLC from 1976 to 1994, was listed on the London...
network in the 1980s.
History
The agency was founded in 1923 by Hill Blackett and John G. Sample, in Chicago. E. Frank Hummert joined the agency in 1927, and it was renamed Blackett-Sample-Hummert, even though Hummert was never a partner in the company. Blackett left company management, despite remaining a partner, when he was commissioned into the U.S. NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
in 1942. Hummert left the company at the end of 1943, forming Hummert Radio Productions with his wife Anne
Anne Hummert
Anne Hummert was the leading creator of daytime radio serials during the 1930s and 1940s, responsible for more than three dozen drama series....
. Sample, after unsuccessful attempts to buy out the absent Blackett, announced that they would allow the firm to dissolve when their partnership agreement expired in 1944, and that he would enter a new partnership with B-S-H president H.M. "Mix" Dancer at that time. These plans were later altered to terminate the partnership earlier, on January 1, 1944, with Blackett forming his own firm and Dancer and Sample adding as a partner Clifford L. Fitzgerald, then a B-S-H vice president and director.
On February 24, 1986 Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi is a global advertising agency network with 140 offices in 80 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in London in 1970 but now headquartered in New York. The parent company of the agency group was known as Saatchi & Saatchi PLC from 1976 to 1994, was listed on the London...
agreed to acquire Dancer Fitzgerald Sample for $75M and immediately announced that it would be merged with the Saatchi owned UK network Dorland Advertising. At that time Dancer Fitzgerald Sample was the thirteenth largest advertising agency in the US with billings of $876M and clients including Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, General Mills
General Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...
, Toyota, Sara Lee
Sara Lee
Sara Lee Corporation is a global consumer-goods company based in Downers Grove, Illinois, USA. It has operations in more than 40 countries and sells its products in over 180 nations worldwide...
and RJR Nabisco
RJR Nabisco
RJR Nabisco, Inc., was an American conglomerate formed in 1985 by the merger of Nabisco Brands and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. RJR Nabisco was purchased in 1988 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co...
. The new DFS Dorland Worldwide network was to be operated independently from the Saatchi and Saatchi Compton Worldwide network and was at that time the sixteenth largest agency network in the world.
Within a year however - by June 1987, DFS was merged with Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi is a global advertising agency network with 140 offices in 80 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in London in 1970 but now headquartered in New York. The parent company of the agency group was known as Saatchi & Saatchi PLC from 1976 to 1994, was listed on the London...
Compton, the US subsidiary of Saatchi & Saatchi. At that point the merged business it became the largest agency in New York with billings of $2.3B. The consolidation ended DFS's relationship with Dorland which was at that was point the number-three-ranked London agency.
DFS founded Program Syndication Services in 1973 and The Program Exchange
The Program Exchange
The Program Exchange is a syndicator of television programs. It was originally founded as Program Syndication Services Inc. in 1973 and later launched the DFS Program Exchange in 1979, which became the DFS-Dorland Program Exchange from 1986 to 1987...
in 1979.
Legacy
Dancer Fitzgerald Sample was responsible for developing the "Oh What A Feeling" worldwide campaign for their client Toyota USA Inc and that legacy survives today in Saatchi & Saatchi's continuing global relationship with Toyota.Sources
- Goldman, Kevin Conflicting Accounts - The Creation & Crash of the Saatchi & Saatchi Empire, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1997 ISBN 0-684-83553-3