Kenneth Roman (born September 6, 1930 in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts
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)
is an American author and advertising executive.
Roman graduated from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...
in 1952, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the undergraduate daily newspaper.
Roman joined
Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based advertising agency, agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging wit ...
in 1963 and served as Chairman from 1985 to 1989. In 1989,
WPP plc
WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It was the world's largest advertising company, as of 2019. WPP plc owns many compan ...
, a British advertising
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
, acquired the Ogilvy Group for $864 million, which, at the time, was the most ever paid for an advertising agency. David Ogilvy initially resisted the sale, but eventually accepted the title of WPP honorary chairman, a position he relinquished in 1992.
After 26 years with Ogilvy, Roman joined
American Express in a senior communications role before becoming a consultant, board director, and author. After his departure Graham Phillips became the chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide.
Roman is the co-author of two influentialbusiness books – ''How to Advertise'' and ''Writing That Works'' and the author of a 2009 biography of
David Ogilvy
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
entitled ''The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising''.
He lives in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
with his wife.
Bibliography
*2009 – ''The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising''
*2003 – ''How to Advertise, Third Edition''
*2002 – ''Writing That Works, Third Edition''
*1997 – ''How to Advertise, Second Edition''
*1992 – ''Writing That Works, Second Edition''
*1992 – ''The New How to Advertise'', with
Jane Maas
*1981 – ''Writing That Works'', with Joel Raphaelson
*1977 – ''How to Advertise'', with Jane Maas
References
External links
www.kennethroman.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman, Ken
1930 births
Businesspeople from Boston
American marketing people
Living people
Dartmouth College alumni
20th-century American businesspeople
American chief executives
American advertising executives
American business writers
20th-century American biographers
21st-century American biographers