Legacy is an interesting word. It speaks to great accomplishment over time yet is almost always associated with glories of the past. We know the actual power of legacy is much more. True legacy is about having the ongoing privilege and opportunity to stand upon the shoulders of giants and take their lessons of success forward. In our case, those shoulders belonged to the giants of JWT, who carefully honed innovative approaches to brand advertising that serve us even now.

To Create. To Innovate. To Inspire.
THOMPSON is in the business of inspiration. It’s not a new idea–it is one we’re proud to say emerged in part from our own remarkable agency legacy.

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Commendant

A century-and-a-half before THOMPSON, there was James Walter Thompson. He was many things, including a proud Marine. After being discharged from service, he set about creating what would become the pioneering firm that bore his name. The J. Walter Thompson agency claimed many “firsts” in the field of advertising, including the first Research and Account Planning departments, now seen as necessities for any formidable agency. JWT would not only be acknowledged as the first global ad agency but would accumulate an impressive roster of clients that would prosper under the guidance of Thompson and his innovative experts in the emerging art of brand advertising. Among them, Ford Motor Company, Kraft, and Unilever. And in 1947, a legendary partnership began with the United States Marine Corps–which was a natural fit for one of its own.

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Though THOMPSON is a completely modern agency team designed to help brands prosper in a digital age, we make full use of decades of proprietary learning around what makes success. In fact, there is a set of invaluable differentiators that could only have emerged over decades of experience and evolution: knowledge and wisdom. We put these to work every day for our mainstay client, the United States Marine Corps.

Replete with the backing of WPP and equipped with the enormous firepower of VML, the world’s largest creative agency, THOMPSON brings not only unparalleled resources and knowledge to the Marine Corps brand, but also the incredible passion of a team dedicated to helping recruiters “make mission.” We do that by making the cause and truth of the Marines as meaningful and compelling for the next generation of youth as for the generations that came before.

Interested in joining our team or partnering with us on your next project? Reach out here.

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