The Herbert Brungs Papers span the years 1969 to 1988, with the bulk from the 1980s. The papers document Brungs' activities as the representative to the German trade organization GWA and as the executive in charge of further education of employees and managers through seminars and classes. Specific topics documented the opening of the JWT office in Düsseldorf; the introduction of computers systems at JWT-Frankfurt; correspondence with academics interested in the advertising industry; relations with a few big clients such as CMA (agricultural industry) and Deutscher Wein (trade organization for German wine); communication with the GWA concerning the relationship between the industry and politicians; industry excellence awards; and internal and external seminars and their evaluations. The collection consists of typed and handwritten correspondence; external and internal memoranda; articles and presentations (typed or offprints) accompanied by charts and graphs; and some other printed material. Approximately 70 percent of the collection is in German. Only correspondence with foreign offices and clients as well as some of the subject material is in English.
The collection is arranged into five series: General Files, Client Files, Events, Organizations, and Writings and Speeches.
The General Files series documents the day-to-day activities and proceedings in the JWT Frankfurt Office during Brungs' tenure: domestic and foreign correspondence; memoranda; information on JWT-Frankfurt's workers' council; and background information. Topics include the opening of the JWT office in Düsseldorf; the introduction and development of computer systems at JWT-Frankfurt; special events organized for individual clients; correspondence with academics investigating the advertising industry; personnel and financial management; JWT-Frankfurt's internal managers' organizational committee; and internal information flow through house memoranda.
The Client Files series collects Brungs' papers concerning the accounts under his direction. Since Brungs was managing director rather than account supervisor at the time of these documents, they reflect management-level discussions and decisions rather than day-to-day planning of the accounts. The series documents on-going advertising campaigns--through correspondence; presentations; research; and briefings--as well as general and economic relations between JWT-Frankfurt and its clients. The major accounts in this series are Bacardi (alcoholic beverages); Burger King; CMA (agricultural industry); DBV (insurance); Deutsche Bank; Deutscher Wein (the trade organization for German wine); Eckes (non-alcoholic beverages); Flachglas; Ford; German Fish Council; Kraft (foods); Pepsi; and Platin.
The Events series collects documents pertaining to seminars, conferences, classes, and visits organized or attended by the JWT-Frankfurt office. These seminars were organized either for the benefit of particular clients on anniversaries or when new accounts were being discussed and similar occasions, or for members of JWT. They were usually not open to all office members, but were attended by selected individuals (some of whose biographies are included in the material) from different levels of the company. Internal seminars were not all organized by the Frankfurt office, but by JWT offices around the world, especially in the United States. Some seminars were given personal names due to their sponsor or inspirer--such as the Sam Meek Seminar; the James Webb Young Seminar; and the Stanley Resnor Seminar--and were held regularly, others are one-time events. External seminars were organized by outside organizations such as Deutsche Unilever and Bernd Rohrbach Unternehmensberatung (consulting firm). Most seminars, external or internal, were accompanied by detailed evaluations, which in most cases were kept with the information on the seminars. Apart from these evaluations, there is fairly little information on the content of the seminars and more on their organization and financing.
The Organizations series collects Brungs' papers pertaining to GWA (Gesellschaft Werbeagenturen, later Gesamtverband Werbeagenturen), the German advertising industry's trade organization. JWT Frankfurt was a prominent member of the trade organization and and a number of JWT staff served as executive officers. Communication took place on two levels: Rundbriefe, circulars addressed to the representative of the companies to GWA (for most of this series, they are kept in the correspondence folders); and Chefbriefe, intended for the executive managers of the companies and are occasionally marked confidential. The series also documents annual comparisons of different companies in the industry (Betriebsvergleich); the annual award for exceptional advertisements (the Effie); meetings of the industry leaders; communications between the industry and politicians and with European and American trade organizations; attempts to standardize the industry; and the reorganization of the not-for-profit GWA (Gesellschaft Werbeagenturen) into the profit center GWA (Gesamtverband Werbeagenturen) in 1985-1986.
The Writings and Speeches series collects speeches and presentations by members of JWT as well as outsiders. The topics of the writings range from reflections on multi-national advertising; how to get more out of an advertising agency; trends in the advertising of alcoholic beverages; and JWT company presentations. About three quarters of the articles are in English, the rest in German.
