N. W. Ayer & Son

The company started to decline in the 1960s and, after a series of mergers,[1] closed in 2002 with its assets sold to the Publicis Groupe.

Harry Oppenheimer of De Beers and Ayer president Gerold M. Lauck discussed a marketing campaign in 1938 that would change the falling price of diamonds at the time.

The idea of engagement rings decorated with diamonds wasn't very popular in Europe, but interest in diamonds was high in the U.S. Because of this, Oppenheimer decided to promote the idea in the U.S. and told Lauck that, if Ayer's plan was successful, De Beers would have Ayer become the exclusive agency for its American interests.

Ayer was motivated to propose that its campaign should move the American spending demographic towards larger and more expensive diamonds.

To successfully achieve its goal, Ayer suggested a reinforcement of the relationship of diamonds with love and romance.

[9] In 1906, Ayer was commissioned by the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York to create an advertising campaign for AT&T Corp. Ayer's successful campaign began with the AT&T ad Twenty million voices, appearing in June, with four more appearing in the following months.

[11] Ayer created the slogan Reach out and touch someone, one of AT&T's most successful ads, coined in 1979 by Tony Galli and Stanley Lomas; music was composed by David Lucas.

In the late 1960s, Ayer faced challenges from industry changes as smaller agencies began creating ads appealing to targeted groups of consumers.

This campaign benefited the army's recruitment goals greatly, and also faced negative responses toward the Vietnam War and low enlistment.

[15] Bcom3 Chairman and CEO Roger Haupt said, "Retiring the venerable N. W. Ayer name wasn't easy ....