Pioneers

These are copywriters who had a major influence on the modern advertising industry, particularly during its formative years.

  • Earnest Elmo Calkins (1868–1964), a pioneer of the soft sell
  • Robert Collier (1885-1950), a pioneer of direct mail and self-help
  • Stan Freberg (1926-2015), a pioneer of satire in advertisements
  • Claude C. Hopkins (1866–1932), a pioneer of direct marketing
  • Albert Lasker (1880-1952), a pioneer of radio advertising and political campaigns
  • John Emory Powers (1837-1919), the world's first full-time copywriter
  • Rosser Reeves (1910-1984), developed the idea of the unique selling proposition
  • John Salmon (1931-2017), British advertising executive

Founders

These are copywriters who went on to found major multinational advertising agencies.

  • David Abbott, founder of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
  • William Bernbach, founder of DDB Worldwide
  • Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet founder of Publicis
  • Leo Burnett, founder of Leo Burnett Worldwide
  • Jay Chiat, founder of Chiat/Day
  • Fairfax M. Cone, founder of Foote Cone & Belding
  • Harry McCann, co-founder of McCann Erickson
  • David Ogilvy, founder of Ogilvy & Mather
  • Alex Osborn, co-founder of BBDO, and inventor of brainstorming
  • Raymond Rubicam, co-founder of Young & Rubicam
  • Charles Saatchi, co-founder of Saatchi & Saatchi
  • Dan Wieden, co-founder of Wieden+Kennedy

Award winners

These are copywriters or former copywriters who have been inducted into a hall of fame or received a lifetime achievement award, sometimes posthumously.

  • Ted Bates, 1982 Advertising Hall of Fame inductee
  • Charles H. Brower, 1982 Advertising Hall of Fame inductee
  • Phil Dusenberry, 2003 Advertising Hall of Fame inductee,
  • Bernice Fitz-Gibbon, 1982 Advertising Hall of Fame inductee,