Jack Morton Worldwide
Jack Morton Worldwide is an American multinational brand experience agency. It is a subsidiary of The Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG). The company’s current chairman and CEO is Josh McCall.[1]
 | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Branding agency |
| Founded | 1939 |
| Founder | Jack Morton |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Josh McCall, Chairman and CEO Julian Pullan, Vice Chairman, President International Bill Davies, CFO Ed Scott, President North America Sharon Crichton, Chief Production Officer Craig Millon, Chief Client Officer Shelley Elkins, Chief Creative Officer Melissa Rose, Chief People Officer |
| Products | Branding & identity Consumer insights Design Digital Marketing Customer events/conferences Tradeshows/exhibits New market introductions Experiential/consumer engagements |
Number of employees | 600 |
| Parent | Interpublic Group of Companies |
| Website | www |
Conference & Incentive Travel Magazine ranked Jack Morton Worldwide as the number one agency based upon 2016 event-based turnover.[2] In 2016, Event Magazine named them the top brand experience agency.[3]
Company history
Jack Morton Worldwide, as it is known today, was named after its founder, Irvin Leonidas "Jack" Morton who was born in 1910 on a tobacco and cotton farm in Newport, North Carolina.[4] Morton eventually earned his high school diploma at the age of 22 and moved to Washington D.C. and enrolled in The George Washington University while supported himself by working at Western Electric dispatching sound engineers to movie theaters.[5]
While attending George Washington, Morton joined a fraternity, became a member of the interfraternity council, and soon began booking bands for fraternity dances. The bands then asked Morton to represent them in other venues in Washington. Morton printed up business cards for Jack Morton Orchestras, using the fraternity house payphone and his Western Electric office for messages.
After a short stint as a refrigerator salesman, Morton started booking bands to fraternities and sororities in Washington under the name of Jack Morton Enterprises (later changed to Jack Morton Productions). He later began booking orchestras in hotels, resorts, and night clubs in the Washington area.
1940s
After World War II the business expanded beyond the Washington area with the opening of additional offices in New York and Chicago. Large corporations were now looking to redesign their conventions to attract and entertain customers and employees, not just to do business. The new hotels now had banquet and meeting facilities with sound systems that were ideally suited to host the conventions that trade and professional associations. During this time the modern business convention was emerging and large corporations began to see conventions as a good place to do business. American businesses would expand the scope and scale of the events they organized for their customers and employees with world class entertainment from radio and Hollywood. Jack Morton Productions produced events and trade shows for corporations like Johnson & Johnson, General Motors and industry associations like American Trucking Association using entertainers such as Lawrence Welk, Bob Hope, George Burns, Jack Benny, and Red Skelton.
1950s
Starting in the 1950s, Jack Morton Productions expanded to produce entire conventions and promotional events in major cities around the United States. The American Trucking Association was his first big convention client and the trade group stuck with Morton for 35 years;[6]
1960s
In the early 1960s, William I. "Bill" Morton, the son of Jack Morton, joined the company and helped to expand the company into the area of audio-visual productions and changed the name of the company to Jack Morton Productions (JMP). It was during this time when JMP became a full-service corporate communications agency, producing entertainment programs, training programs, audio-visuals, and video conferences for a variety of corporations and trade associations.
1970s
By 1977 Bill Morton had become Chairman and CEO, with offices opened in San Francisco (1972) and Atlanta (1976). During this time, the company grew to include capabilities including planning, exhibits and environments, themed attractions and multimedia.
1980s
Offices opened in Detroit (1987), Los Angeles (1987), Boston (1990) and Minneapolis (1990) and the company began to shift its focus from an entertainment production company to a full service creative agency.
1990s
In April 1998, the holding company, Interpublic Group, bought Jack Morton Company[7] for a stock transaction that according to the Wall Street Journal was likely worth more than $50 million.
2000s
In 2000 Jack Morton acquired about 40 percent of rival Caribiner International, Inc. assets, paying $90 million for its events and communications division, which included the staging of sales meetings, events, and exhibits.[8]
Later in 2000, Jack Morton Company renamed itself as Jack Morton Worldwide rather than take on the Caribiner name.
Bill Morton retired in 2003 after more than a quarter-century of leading the company his father founded.[9]
In recent years Jack Morton Worldwide has added capabilities in areas such as: print, television, digital, public events (Special Olympics, 2004 Summer Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies); exhibits; digital media; content marketing;[10] broadcast design (The Colbert Report, ESPN Sports Center); and more focused markets like Latinos. [11]
Major events
- In 2002 under the supervision of David Zolkwer produced the opening ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England
- In 2004 the company produced the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, becoming the first non-local producer of the ceremonies in Olympic history.[12]
- In 2006, Jack Morton Worldwide produced IBM India's largest live communications event for 19,000 employees in India, including 10,000 in Bangalore and 9,000 linked by satellite at sites in Pune, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. The event was also webcast to the company's 330,000 employees worldwide via the Internet.[13][14]
- Jack Morton Worldwide has been responsible for the Mayor of London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display since 2003.[15] The pyrotechnic display over the River Thames and the London Eye is viewed by millions of people on BBC One in 360 video [16] and live by hundreds of thousands more lining both banks of river.[17]
Fireworks at the London Eye on New Year's Eve.
- Jack Morton's London office conceived, planned, and delivered the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, held in Glasgow, Scotland over 11 days of competition between 23 July to 3 August 2014.[18]
- Jack Morton was chosen to create the opening film and all other moving image content for the Eurobest European Advertising Festival, which took place in Antwerp on December 1–3, 2015.[19]
Recent awards
- 28th Annual PRO Awards, 2018 Platinum PRO Award for Best Overall Campaign for "CoverGirl Rantin’ & Raven"[20]
- MVPro Award for the most award winning campaigns for multiple brands. Jack Morton won for: Charmin, CoverGirl, Liberty Mutual Insurance and Royal Caribbean Cruises[20]
Offices
Jack Morton has offices in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Princeton, San Francisco, London, Düsseldorf, Munich, Dubai, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Melbourne, and Sydney; as well as an affiliate in São Paulo; and field offices in Alpharetta, Naperville, Thousand Oaks, Danbury, and Irving.
References
- "About Jack Morton Worldwide". Ad Age Look Book. Advertising Age. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- Harwood, Susie (2017-07-11). "State of the Industry 2017: The Agency Landscape". C&IT (Conference & Incentive Travel). Retrieved 2017-07-11.
- "Top 30 brand experience agencies: Jack Morton Worldwide". www.eventmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
- Ives, Nat (July 1, 2004). "Irvin Morton, 94; Brought Stars To Corporations' Conventions". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- Morton, Jack (1985). The Jack Morton (Who's He?) Story. Vantage Press. ISBN 978-0533062720.
- O'Neil, L. Peat (1992-07-26). "The Show-It-All". Washington Post Magazine. The Washington Post. p. 7. Archived from the original on 2014-06-11.
- Warner, Judy (20 April 1998). "IPG Purchases Events Planning Firm". AdWeek. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- "Hearts and Minds Jack Morton's Acquisition of Caribiner" (PDF). 2001. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- "N.C. Advertising Hall of Fame". University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- "About Us | Jack Morton". Retrieved 2016-07-23.
- Davis, Matt (2004-08-14). "Athens lights up the Games". BBC SPORT. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
|first1=missing|last1=(help) - Goldblatt, Joe (2007). Special Events: The Roots and Wings of Celebration. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0470144923.
- Kripalani, Manjeet (June 5, 2006). "IBM's India Pep Rally". Business Week. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2013-03-25.
- "Jack Morton creates IBM event for 19,000". 13 June 2006. Retrieved 2013-03-25.
- Parry, Adam (2017-01-03). "Jack Morton Worldwide create the spectacular London New Year's Eve Firework Display". Event Industry News. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
- "360 video: London New Year's Eve fireworks". BBC. Dec 31, 2016. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- Hammond, Natalie (20 December 2012). "Jack Morton works on London New Year's Eve fireworks". Design Week. Centaur Communications Ltd. Retrieved 2013-03-25.
- Mackay, Duncan (14 August 2012). "Glasgow 2014 appoint Jack Morton Worldwide to deliver Opening and Closing Ceremonies. It has been known, however, for employees and their families to exaggerate the events that the company run". Inside the Games. Dunsar Media Company Limited. Retrieved 2013-03-25.
- Parry, Adam (2015-12-01). "Lions Festivals Appoints Jack Morton for eurobest Film". Event Industry News. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
- Odell, Patty (2018-06-19). "Jack Morton Takes Top Honors at 2018 PRO Awards Gala". Access Intelligence, LLC. Retrieved 2018-10-20.