The Review Board Records, J. Walter Thompson Company's New York Office's primary mechanism for controlling the quality of its services, span the years 1947 and 1953-1976 (bulk 1956-1974). Senior-level creative, account, and management personnel composed the Review Board. It provided guidance to account teams, which were assigned to manage advertising for particular clients, and ensured that client campaigns reflected the cumulative wisdom of the Company's most experienced employees. Frequent changes in the Review Board system make a brief description of its operations impossible, but generally, five to eight creative, account, and management personnel comprised a Review Board for each advertising account. Clients' different brands might have a separate Review Board for each product. Individual Review Board members usually had responsibility for a dozen or more accounts. The procedures called for meetings at least once a year and every time account representatives considered a major campaign. The records consist of meeting minutes, correspondence, memoranda, and reports. Clients represented include Lever Brothers, Liggett and Myers, Scott Paper Company, Warner-Lambert, Standard Brands, Ford Motor Company, Chesebrough-Ponds, Eastman Kodak and a number of others.
The Procedures Series documents the organization and format of the Review Board over time. Also reflected is a widely held perception that the Review Board system was itself in need of some quality control. Confusion over time about the Board's scope and purpose led to numerous attempts at explaining and refining its procedures. The series is organized into the following subseries: Reports, Domestic Correspondence, International Correspondence, and Chronologies and Lists.
The Meetings Series documents the activities of the Review Board, focusing on advertising campaign strategies for JWT's clients. It forms the bulk of the collection.
The Review Board, an advisory system began informally in 1942 as the "Plans Board," when James Webb Young and Walter O'Meara headed the Creative Department. In 1956 JWT instituted the Review Board as a trans-departmental entity with written procedures and a Review Board Secretary.
In the years 1964 to 1969, Review Board functions were divided into a Plans Board, which reviewed the account team's recommended strategy (i.e., the basic proposition the advertising should made to consumers), and a Creative Review Board, which evaluated proposals for the implementation and execution of the advertising strategy.
