Cole & Weber United, Seattle's First Ad Agency, Celebrates 80 Years

Cole & Weber United, Seattle's first ad agency, celebrates its 80th Anniversary this month. The agency has played a key role in the growth of the Northwest's most well-known brands both past and present including: Boeing, Alaska Airlines, Weyerhauser, Microsoft, Tree Top, Darigold, Washington's Lottery, Nike, and Westin.

Originally founded in 1931 by Arlyn Cole, Mac Wilkins, and George Weber as Wilkins & Cole Advertising, the founders had the goal of bringing Madison Avenue to the West Coast. A few years later the name was changed to Cole & Weber as the agency grew and spurred its clients' growth. The agency's reputation and work has caught the eye of the industry both nationally and internationally. Its iconic Goose campaign for Wein Air Alaska (Alaska Airlines) has a place at the National Air and Space Museum, a TV commercial they created for Seattle Art Museum is installed at the MOMA Museum, and the International Olympic Committee has enlisted them to create its global youth campaign, which utilizes social media and specifically, facebook, to engage the next generation of Olympic viewers.

Mike Doherty, CEO of Cole & Weber said, "We're proud and excited to celebrate our founders, our heritage and the clients that made it all possible on this momentous occasion. While our founders pioneered marketing in the great Northwest, we aim to honor them by pioneering marketing in the ever-changing ad landscape."

Cole & Weber has evolved beyond traditional advertising to become a full-service creativity company helping clients all over the world build experiences that involve people with their brands.

"I had the pleasure of working with Cole & Weber for nearly a decade," said Saga Shoffner, an executive at Nike, a former client of Cole & Weber. "In that time, we didn't just create ads together -- we created experiences like Nike Goddess that brought new audiences into the brand and programs like the United Countries of Baseball that ignited a conversation among fans -- igniting a movement around Nike baseball fans that hadn't existed for a while."

To commemorate the anniversary, Cole & Weber "celebrated creativity" with several events. The agency staged panels featuring well-known industry creative directors who built their careers at Cole & Weber. Panel participants included Jim Elliot, Chief Creative Officer of Y&R, Tedd Baseler, CEO of St. Michelle Wine Estates, Scott Bedbury, CEO of Brandstream Inc, among many others. The agency also hosted a "Brew ha ha" for employees and industry colleagues at Elysian Fields in Pioneer Square.