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Gary Burandt BJ '66

Gary Burandt had two reasons for selecting Mizzou as his college choice: It was in-state, so he could afford it, and his mentor, Thomas Sicking, said Mizzou had a very good journalism school. A small roadblock, the School's foreign language requirement, kept Burandt from entering the Journalism School on schedule. It took five attempts to pass three foreign language courses before Burandt was able to enter the Missouri School of Journalism.

As a young college student from Kansas City, he didn't understand why there would be such a requirement. Burandt never anticipated that he would spend the majority of his career working outside of the United States in the global advertising marketplace. Some of Burandt's global advertising experiences include being the managing director of Marstellar Advertising office in Brussels; chief operating officer of Havas Conseil Marstellar in Paris; CEO and founder of Young & Rubicam/Sovero Moscow, the first Soviet-American advertising agency in the Soviet Union; and president and CEO of Dentsu Young & Rubicam in Singapore.

Who do you feel has influenced the profession of advertising the most?
It's not a who. It is a group of people probably: David Ogilvy, Bill Burnbach, Leo Burnett, Ray Rubicam, Ed Ney, and Bill Marstellar.

Is there a common characteristic that resonates with this group?
I think they all had a very high regard and respect for the consumer. They were risk takers. They innovated with the media. Ed Ney is the first guy to have the vision to put advertising and PR and direct and sales promotion and everything under one roof to create a truly integrated offering to clients. Ray Rubicam was the first guy to do a television commercial, to use the medium. Believe it or not, when television was invented everybody thought, "What's it good for?" Now look at where we are.

Why did you want to be the CEO of the first Soviet-American advertising agency in the Soviet Union?
To me, it was the last frontier of advertising and marketing communications or commercial communications in the world. Y&R had a tradition of being the pioneer in the business. They ran the first television commercial and did lots of things first. This was the last thing Y&R could do first and the last place that didn't have advertising.

What were the steps you took to bring advertising to this marketplace?
We had to do a lot of what we call "upstream." For one of our clients, Colgate, we helped them find a Soviet company that would collaborate with them. They formed a partnership, a joint venture. In the Soviet Union, a foreign company had to have a joint venture. We had to find a factory where they could produce toothpaste, a distribution outlet. Advertising was one of the last steps, because first you had to have a client who had products on the shelf. Then we had to convince the media that they should accept advertising.

How has advertising changed in the past twenty years?
When I got out of this school, all of the advertising agencies were independent. In the last 20 years, they have started merging together and taking their merged holding companies to the stock market and making them a publicly held company.

What differences have the mergers created?
What has happened is a lot of the energy and entrepreneurial spirit that was in all agencies when I got out of here has really been dissipated, because the focus of the agency is no longer on the client's business and the client's interest. The focus of the agency is all about Wall Street, earning money so you can post positive earnings in the next quarterly report. That is a shame.

As the Executive Director of ICOM, how would you explain the company's role in global advertising?
At ICOM, we created a network of 80 independent advertising agencies in 61 countries. The agencies are locally focused, and they are run by local people so they understand how everything works in their market. The agencies offer integrated marketing communication services to help their clients connect with their customers effectively. They understand and appreciate the benefit of having an international resource behind them if they want to help introduce their clients into a new market.

Why do you feel independent agencies are important?
Independent agencies are important because they are still entrepreneurial. They don't have to be subservient to Wall Street. The guys I work with, these 80 agencies in 61 countries are still doing it the old-fashioned way where the client's interest comes first.

What is an example of how ICOM works?
If an agency has a client that comes to them and says, "Our business is really going well. We think we want to go to Germany next and sell products there," the last thing a local agency wants is his client to go to Germany and work with a different advertising agency. With ICOM as a resource, the agency can say, "You know what? That is a great idea, and we're ready to support you. Let me introduce you to an old friend of mine in Germany who I have known and worked with for years. I will set up the introduction and make sure when you go to Germany he already knows all about your business." The agency does this because it knows the German ICOM agency is not going to steal the business, it will do a good job, and will be very grateful to have a new piece of business.

You received the Missouri Honor Medal in 1994. What does this mean to you?
It was certainly a terrific honor to be recognized by the School that helped to launch your career. I got it the same year as Molly Ivins, who was a political columnist whom I dearly enjoy reading, and Sam Donaldson. It was nice to be in that company.

If you had to give one piece of advice to a student, recent graduate, or anyone in out in the journalism field, what would it be?
My experience, at least in the advertising business, is success is 70 percent attitude and only 30 percent skill. You learn the skills at the J-School, and they do a very good job of giving you those skills, but success is just more about attitude, enthusiasm, energy, curiosity, and a willingness to take risks.

What is your favorite memory of your time at MU?
Oh, football Saturdays were just the best, and I assume they still are. They started the night before and everybody used to dress up. You wore coat and tie to the games. It was a big deal.

What is it like to come back and visit the Missouri School of Journalism?
The further away I get from this institution, the more I appreciate it. We were pumped full of "This is the world's greatest journalism school." The further I get away, the more I know it's true. The other nice thing about it is every time I come back, it is better than the time before, because it is a work in progress and hopefully always will be.