Griffin and Bacal: Seeing The Forest Through the Trees
I was saddened to learn that Joe Bacal and Tom Griffin had recently announced their retirement. I was lucky enough to work for them for almost six years, and I have yet to meet anyone in our industry who has cared more about their clients, their agency and their employees.
For some, the news of their retirement may be a tree falling silently in the woods. However, for those of us fortunate enough to have worked with them, the noise is deafening.
Judd Harner
Senior partner
Ogilvy & Mather, New York
Yiddish and Hispanic Media, a Historic Parallel
J ack Feuer’s column about the Hispanic market hit home [Art & Commerce, Dec. 18].
Since 1919, my company has been working in the Jewish media market. It may be hard to relate, but until 1940, any discussion of Jewish media meant using Yiddish print and radio. Sure, there were many bilingual people and those conversant only in English. But the only vehicle for reaching Jewish people on Jewish subjects was Yiddish-language media.
After World War II, Yiddish media started to dry up as the vast majority of Jews spoke English as their first language.
Fortunately, a large number of Jewish publications in English were born to provide news of interest to Jews. These new publications left the “regular” news to the daily papers and concentrated on providing what was not available in the general media. This allowed the brands that had invested in this market to continue developing the loyalty of new generations in an uninterrupted way.
Today, there are more than 200 publications aimed at Jewish families. Some are owned by Jewish organizations, like Hadassah and B’nai B’rith; some are owned by local Jewish federations in cities across the country; and, of course, many are privately owned. Even a few Yiddish publications—as well as some in Hebrew and Russian—still exist.
The main reason for this vibrancy is not language—it’s the eternal interest in Jewish affairs by the majority of Jewish people.
Richard A. Jacobs.
Chairman
Joseph Jacobs Organization
New York
For the Record: The producer of Gateway’s “Fountain” ad was Judi Nierman [Best Spots, Dec. 18].
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