J.Walter Global

Though advertising agencies might tilt about car-rental rankings, there is no argument over the No. 1 in their own profession. Meeting in Chicago last week, directors of Manhattan-based J. Walter Thompson reported that the 102-year-old company had easily maintained its place at the top. During the past year, the agency added ten domestic accounts, signed up 65 overseas clients, and received enough additional business from blue-chip accounts, which include Ford, Eastman Kodak, Pan American and Kraft Foods, to bring total billings up to $580 million.

Thompson's newcomers include such groups as American Machine & Foundry, the American Gas Association, Rolex watches, a line of Mennen Co. deodorants, talcum and after-shave lotion, and Carte Blanche credit cards. In a joint post-meeting statement, Chairman Norman H. Strouse and President Dan Seymour noted that the No. 1 agency in the U.S. is also assuming global proportions. "We have added new business this year," they said, "in every part of the world." And so they have. Combining Yankee know-how with local offices, the agency will now promote Gillette, Listerine, Singer, De Beers diamonds and Dunlop tires abroad.

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