Rena Bartos worked as a marketing researcher, advertising executive, and consultant from 1960 to 1998. She directed research at the McCann Erickson advertising agency and held the position of Senior Vice President at the J. Walter Thompson Company before forming her own marketing consulting firm, The Rena Bartos Company. A pioneer in the field of marketing to women and an advocate for older adult consumers, Bartos was the recipient of numerous prestigous marketing and advertising industry awards, including the Matrix and Effie Awards. The Rena Bartos Papers consists of speeches and presentations, publications, research, and correspondence related to Bartos' career in the marketing research divisions of McCann Erickson and the J. Walter Thompson Company, spanning the years 1960-1998, with the bulk of the contents from 1975-1991. Other items in the collection include video and audio copies of speeches and presentations by Bartos, a brief history of the J. Walter Thompson Company, as well as drafts of articles and manuscripts.
The Rena Bartos Papers span the years 1960-1998, with the bulk of the material dating from 1975 to 1991. The collection documents Bartos' career through speeches and presentations, publications, correspondence, research files, slides, photographs and videotapes, while in positions at McCann Erickson, the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT), and The Rena Bartos Company. Major topics include marketing to under-represented groups, the role of women in advertising, and Bartos' efforts to promote marketing towards women and "over forty-nine" adults. The collection is organized into five series and two indexes: Speeches and Presentations; Correspondence; Publications; Research Files; Audiovisual Materials; an Alphabetical List of Publications; and an Alphabetical List of Speech Titles
The Speeches and Presentations Series includes reading copies or scripts from speeches and presentations given by Bartos during her career. Dominant themes include the role of women in advertising, marketing to underrepresented groups such as women and people in Latin America and India, and the psychological aspects of advertising. In addition, the series includes the slides and graphics Bartos used in her speeches, as well as press clippings from her various speaking engagements.
The Correspondence Series includes business correspondence, mailings and solicitations from Bartos' career in marketing research, as well as correspondence with JWT executives, including Don Johnston and Thomas Sutton. The series also contains correspondence between Bartos and the various publishers of her written works.
The Publications Series includes copies of the articles written by Bartos for scholarly and trade publications such as The Harvard Business Review, the Journal of Advertising Research, Marketing Review, and Marketing and Research Today, either from the original periodical or in pre-print form.
The Research Series includes an extensive collection of newspaper and periodical clippings and other resources used by Bartos as supporting materials for her speaking engagements, articles, and books.
The Audiovisual Materials Series includes audio and visual recordings of promotional works for marketing campaigns, including The Moving Target. In addition, this series also includes tapes of speeches and interviews given by Bartos, some of which relate to the published article "The Founding Fathers of Advertising Research."