Dentsu is getting ready to to rebrand its London agency and kill off CDP. The famous Collett Dickenson Pearce name fade away to be come under a new banner of Dentsu London in 2009.
Brand Republic notes that the move is “-part of a wider plan by Dentsu to boost its profile in the global market, including rebranding its offices in the US and Europe.”
This is the end of an era in British advertising. CDP was an upstart, rule breaker, pushing new ideas on clients. By the 1970s, they were heavyweight, but glamorous, influential, desired. The agency was the Crispin of the times. The infamous worked in its offices including Sir Frank Lowe, Sir Alan Parker, John Hegarty, author Indra Sinha <bCharles Saatchi and Ridley Scott. His iconic ad for Hovis featuring Antonin Leopold Dvorak’s New World symphony is above. Clients included Benson & Hedges, Fiat, Hamlet Cigars, Harvey’s Bristol Cream, Ford and Heineken.
Leading the CDP cru was Colin Millward who was often described as a tyrannical, brilliant and inspirational creative director. He’s been cited as one of the reasons that Britain has long been considered a leader in the advertising field for his tenacity in harnessing the power of television to pairing teams of creatives together. Millward was the one you can thank for your bigger than average pay check, too. He was sort of like Yankee’s owner, George Steinbrenner, busting pay scales to steal the best talent and figuring how to make clients pay for the work of his creatives. In 1962, Millward set out a constitution for designers, which later became the Designers and Art Directors Association. He was its president in 1976.
In the 80s and go-go 90s, the agency began to falter. Collett Dickenson Pearce was bought by the Dentsu group in 2000, which watered down the famous name by attaching to existing agency, Travis Sully. The new name, CDP-Travissully London, was the beginning of the end.
And now, it’s really game over. R.I.P CDP.