Brian Palmer, an advertising executive who wrote the first commercial for British television, has died aged 96.
Palmer made a name for himself by writing the commercial for Gibbs SR toothpaste, which aired in 1955 when ITV debuted as Britain’s first commercial television channel.
He held senior positions at Young & Rubicam and Doyle Dane Bernbach and co-founded Kingsley, Manton and Palmer, which enjoyed a pioneering reputation in its 1960s heyday.
William Eccleshare, a former Y&R executive and friend, described Palmer as “one of the key figures in the history of British advertising” who inspired “countless” people to embrace agency life.
Palmer was born in Dublin in 1929 and grew up in London. After national service he started in the advertising world at CF Higham, where he met his future wife Brenda.
He joined Y&R as a copywriter in 1952 and was given the task of writing the first TV commercial “by luck,” as the network selected the ad by selecting brands “pulled out of a hat.”
The black-and-white ad showed a toothbrush and Gibbs SR toothpaste in a block of ice and described it as being “as fresh as ice.”
Decades later, in a 2007 interview with Campaign, he recalled wanting to get involved in television advertising from the early days, even though his then-direct boss at Y&R believed he was “crazy” and that it would “never be a major media outlet.”
Palmer said: “I really enjoyed the combination of words, sound and images. You could talk to people in their own homes. I was only 25, and at that age you don’t think about global things -” You’re thinking about how you’re going to pay the rent and whether you’re going to get a promotion.
“It really impressed me because I became the head of Y&R’s television business, and television was the bulk of our billing. Then I rose through the ranks and became joint creative director. In 1961 I became the youngest board member ever, so I really got on the fast track.”
Palmer even appeared in a Gibbs SR ad because the art director “wanted a ‘normal looking guy’ for a press ad” and “why pay for a model?”
After more than a decade at Y&R, he founded his own agency, KMP, in 1964.
The creative shop enjoyed a pioneering reputation because it was one of the first agencies to advocate for fees instead of just commissions and to introduce an independent media department for planning and purchasing.
“Back then, the entire agency business was surrounded by restrictions and protections” and the KMP launch was “full of adrenaline,” Palmer said in a 2017 interview with advertising creative Dave Dye’s website.
KMP won clients such as Cunard, Texaco and the Salvation Army and debuted on the stock market at a time when London’s advertising industry was booming and other start-ups such as Cramer Saatchi, the forerunner of Saatchi & Saatchi, were preparing to launch.
In 1973 he moved to drinks company Young’s as wine and spirits director before returning to the agency industry as managing director of DDB from 1979 to 1982.
Palmer was known for his pastoral approach to leadership and disliked some aspects of the corporate side of the advertising world. He was said to have had mixed feelings about his time at DDB.
His last major industry task was founding the marketing consultancy New Solutions.
Palmer later attended art school as a mature student. He attended St John’s Cass Art School and his work was exhibited at the Royal Academy, remaining active into his nineties.
Eccleshare described Palmer as a “very special man”, “true friend” and “mentor”.
He said: “Brian embodied the best of advertising. He was brimming with ideas, endlessly curious and had a joyful optimism that made every encounter quite exhilarating.”
“He was always so generous with his time and his infectious enthusiasm encouraged me – and countless others – to join agencies to see if we could have a little of what Brian had loved so much.”
Palmer died in December.
He and Brenda, who died in 2003, had three children, all of whom worked in the advertising and media industries.
Sarah Palmer worked at Ogilvy & Mather and BMP and founded an insights and research consultancy, Big Green Door. She died in 2018.
Lizzie Palmer worked at agencies such as O&M and BBH before taking on marketing roles at Capital Radio, Discovery Channel and Orange. Today she is a trainer and leads the Agency Leadership Program.
Alasdair Palmer is an author and worked at The spectator And The Telegraph.
