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Alex Faickney Osborn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born May 24, 1888(1888-05-24)
Bronx, New York, USA
Died May 4, 1966 (aged 77)
Nationality American
Occupation advertising manager, writer, creativity theorist
Known for co-founder of BBDO
Spouse Helen Coatsworth
Children Katharine, Joan, Marion, Russell, and Elinor
Alex Faickney Osborn (May 24, 1888 – May 4, 1966) was an advertising manager and the author
of the creativity technique named brainstorming.
Early Life
Osborn was born in the Bronx and spent his childhood in New York. He was a graduate of Hamilton College, where he had worked for the school newspaper.
Upon graduation, Osborn attempted a career in journalism in Buffalo, New York, and worked at the Buffalo Times and the Buffalo Express, though he was fired from the latter due to a supposed lack of aptitude . Osborn then worked a variety of jobs, which included working for a milling company as a statistician , doing publicity for the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce and working as a salesman for the Hard Manufacturing Company.
He then joined the E. P. Remington agency in Buffalo, an in-house advertising agency for a patent medicine maker, where he was appointed as new business manager. While working there, he did teaching jobs on the side , including lecturing on psychology for Ford Motor Company, and on advertising at the YMCA.
Founding of BBDO
In 1919, Osborn joined with Bruce Fairchild Barton and Roy Sarles Durstine to form the BDO advertising agency. Osborn acted as manager of BDO's Buffalo branch.
He was largely responsible for the 1928 merger of BDO with the George Batten Company to create BBDO.
After years of success and having survived the Great Depression, BBDO underwent a crisis in 1938, losing many of its clients and key personnel. Osborn commuted to New York City and eventually saved the company by securing the Goodrich tire account. In 1939, he became BBDO's executive vice president after Durstine resigned. Osborn was crucial in recruiting many top employees, including Ben Duffy, who eventually became the president of BBDO.
Creativity Theorist
Osborn became increasingly active as an author, and published several books on creative thinking. In 1948, Your Creative Power was published, in which Osborn presented the technique of Brainstorming, which had been in use for many years at BBDO. Eventually, Osborn's writing career overtook his work in advertising, and in 1960, after more than forty years, he resigned from BBDO’s board of directors.
In 1954, Osborn created the Creative Education Foundation, which was sustained by the royalties earned from his books. Along with Sidney Parnes, Osborn developed the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process (commonly referred to as CPS). He co-founded the Creative Education Foundation's Creative Problem Solving Institute, the world's longest-running international creativity conference, and CPS has been taught at that conference as well as year-round in other venues for more than 50 years.
Notable advertising work
General Electric
Armstrong Cork
Chrysler
General Baking
Royal Crown Cola
American Tobacco
BF Goodrich
Du Pont
Wildroot Hair Tonic
Books
1921 A Short Course in Advertising, C. Scribner’s sons.
1942 How to "Think Up", McGraw-Hill.
1948 Your Creative Power, C. Scribner’s sons.
1952 Wake Up Your Mind, C. Scribner’s sons.
Osborn, Alex (1953). Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Problem Solving. New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 978-0023895203.
1955 The Goldmine Between Your Ears, C. Scribner’s sons.
Osborn also contributed frequently to trade publications such as Printer’s Ink..
Family Life
On September 5, 1916 he married Helen Coatsworth, the daughter of a wealthy Buffalo lawyer. They had five children: Katharine, Joan, Marion, Russell, and Elinor. He died of a blood deficiency in 1966.[1]
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