Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1962)

OUR RESPECTS to Sigurd Stanton Larmon Advertising— a 'useful function' in modern society A tale of two Presidents' tribute to an elder statesman of the advertising business who formally retires from his agency on January 1, 1963, was enacted Tuesday (Dec. 11). The occasion was the final Christmas meeting of Sigurd S. Larmon with employees of the New York office of Young & Rubicam when President Eisenhower, in a specially prepared five-minute film, paid tribute to Mr. Larmon. President Kennedy sent a personal telegram. Though retiring as chairman of the board at Young & Rubicam, he'll still be active in public life. The 71 -yearold executive intends to maintain actively his concern of many years with public and community service. Long distinguished on the advertising scene, Mr. Larmon in a personal sketch was once described as "Iowa-born . . . trim, round-faced (with the map of Sweden on it . . ."). He also was credited in that piece as the man who conceived and developed the Primer for Americans. Widely reprinted and in plain prose, the primer defines what being an American means, especially the rights and individual responsibilities. The statement originated with a speech Mr. Larmon made in Chicago in 1949 at an Audit Bureau of Circulations' meeting. It eventually was put into printed form and distributed by Y & R. A Philosophy ■ On the eve of retirement, Mr. Larmon answered inquiries about himself and his plans. But naturally the discussion drifted toward his ideals and philosophy on advertising. Advertising, Mr. Larmon says, is a useful function in the modern economic society and one he considers a necessity in the democratic way of life, and essential in the normal flow of trade and economic goods. Mr. Larmon said while advertising may be the subject of considerable criticism, he is proud to have been in it. He speaks of clients as investing in advertising rather than just spending money. He notes the new sophistication of clients for whom the testing of ideas has taken on an added importance. Mr. Larmon explains that a belief in thoroughness typifies Young & Rubicam. The agency was one of the first to establish a merchandising department and a research department and in recognition of the increasingly important role of research, at least 10% of Y & R's personnel is now in full-time research. The relationship of employer and employee is of special interest to Mr. Larmon, under whose aegis pensions, profit sharing and bonus plans were effected. Mr. Larmon can be homespun: he says an agency really has only two assets— people and ideas. A Slice of Americana ■ The Larmon career takes in a grand-sized chunk of Americana. It encompasses growing up in a small town (Stanton, Iowa, with 1,100 population), an early move to Omaha, enrollment in Dartmouth and a blind date with Katherine Steen (a student at Rogers Hall, a finishing school) to whom he was married in June 1916. Upon graduation in 1914, "Sig" Larmon sold and managed for Western Clock Co., and later managed its office in the United Kingdom. In 1925 he joined N. W. Ayer as an account executive. In 1929, he came to Y & R, then a new agency operated by John Orr Young and Raymond Rubicam. In 1942 Mr. Larmon was named president and chief executive officer and in 1944 added the post of board chairman. Earlier this year, he designated George H. Gribbin as chief executive officer, the latter having been picked as president by Mr. Larmon in 1959. Broadcast Leader ■ The leadership imprint of a Larmon in broadcasting is difficult to closely define. In the year of the quiz scandal, Mr. Larmon sought a possible path of united action by the tv networks and in November 1959, privately called together the network presidents to talk things over. Y&R's Larmon Proud to be an adman As he recalls the radio era, Young & Rubicam played a pioneering role. Many of today's top names in media, programming and networking were developed by Y & R — "We got top-notch young men and trained them." As for tv, right from the beginning he believed in it, that it would become important. Consequently Y & R early placed money and facilities in the medium— initially operating in the red. But, as tv progressed, the agency went along with it, producing programs in tv's flowering years and continuing today to keep abreast of tv's development. Mr. Larmon, though conservative in his manner, has contributed over the years to something of a "Larmon Legend." Each day Mr. Larmon wears a fresh carnation, a habit he formed many years ago. A good golfer, Mr. Larmon has the distinction of having scored a hole-inone that received more than usual attention in the press as one of the foursome was President Eisenhower, then in the White House. He's a close friend of Ike's and often a golfing companion. Mr. Larmon will continue actively in public service in such organizations as the U. S. Advisory Commission on Information; a trustee and member of the executive committee, U. S. Council of the International Chamber of Commerce; trustee of the Committee for Economic Development, a member of the advisory council of the Graduate School of Business, Columbia U., and a trustee of New York U. Medical Center. Governmental Activities ■ He was Mr. Eisenhower's representative (with rank of Ambassador) in 1957 at the inauguration of the President of Honduras; member of the President's Committee on International Information Activities in 1953. He is a past chairman of the American Assn. of Advertising Agencies (in 1946-47). The Larmons have a son and a daughter and are grandparents. The son, Jay Stanton Larmon, is president of the Ka-Bar-Company of Olean, N.Y. The Larmons' homes are in Cape Cod, Mass., and at Sutton Place in New York City. As a climax to an active career in advertising, he was recently named recipient of the advertising Gold Medal Award by Printers' Ink as the outstanding advertising man of 1962. Formal presentation will be made at a dinner on Feb. 14, 1963. BROADCASTING, December 24, 1962 77