Incredible Shrinking Role of Women in Top Ad Jobs

A peculiar thing is happening to some of the most powerful women in advertising: They’re disappearing.

* Charlotte Beers, the most influential woman in advertising and chief executive of the Chicago agency Tatham RSCG, abruptly announced that she was resigning 10 days ago.

* Renee Fraser, one of the West Coast’s top female ad executives, was fired in November as managing director of the Los Angeles office of Bozell.

* Mary Wells Lawrence, widely regarded as one of the most powerful women ever in the advertising industry--and a founder of the prestigious New York agency Wells, Rich, Greene--left the business in 1990.

All three agency leaders were replaced by men.

At a time when industry recruiters insist that more women are actually working their way up the ranks in the ad business, three of the industry’s top female role models--in the nation’s three largest ad markets--are no longer running major agencies.

“The paucity of women running advertising agencies is shocking,” said Jean Craig, president of the Los Angeles agency Kresser/Craig. “The irony is, women are the purchasers of most of the things that are advertised.”

The situation is particularly unsettling in Los Angeles. Among the 25 largest agencies here, only one woman ranks as her firm’s top local executive: Rona Pashkin-Boyer, who last July was named managing director of McCann-Erickson.

“When I got into the business 25 years ago, I was told by the agency that hired me, ‘We don’t hire women as TV producers; go be a secretary,’ ” Pashkin-Boyer said.

But she said she believes that gender has played no role for her in obtaining recent agency posts.

There are some very powerful women running agencies nationwide.

But executives estimate fewer than 2% of the top slots are filled by women. The recent management changes nationally--and the rather lopsided situation locally--however, do raise questions about how the dynamics of ad agencies are affected when women are not at the helm. At the very least, some key role models have disappeared.

The recent management shifts come at a time when there are more women in the advertising field than ever. There were 133,500 female ad professionals in 1990, compared to fewer than 80,000 10 years ago, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And while women made up less than half of the ad work force a decade ago, today they account for nearly 56%. The bureau does not keep statistics on how many advertising women have reached top management.

Is there any inherent difference between agencies with women at the top--and those without? Such generalities are very risky.

But Craig, arguably the top female ad executive in Los Angeles, believes that the difference can ultimately show up in the advertising that consumers see.

“Female humor is often from the wit and whimsy school, while male humor is harder-edged,” she said.

Of her agency’s 14 vice presidents, six are women. And her partner, agency Chairman Bob Kresser, is outspoken on the issue of women at the helm.

“There is a dynamic that an agency doesn’t have if it is dominated by males,” he said. “Women are usually more innovative and more open minded. And unlike most men, they bring a perspective of heart and soul.”

Certainly, Charlotte Beers was the soul of Tatham since she was named chief executive 10 years ago. But she has kept mum about her future plans since announcing her upcoming departure.

Beers, who was the first female chairman of the powerful American Assn. of Advertising Agencies, said last week that while women might not be running many agencies right now, the pendulum will soon swing the other way. “I’d say within four years, you’ll see a lot of top men being replaced by women.”

Although a man is replacing her at Tatham, she is quick to point out, “there are three senior women partners right behind him.”

Perhaps less optimistic about the near-term prospects for women in advertising management is Renee Fraser, who was fired in November from Bozell’s Los Angeles office.

“Some women find their contributions aren’t recognized at the level they expect,” said Fraser, who is now a consultant. She suggested that female ad managers cultivate other women for top management.

As for Mary Lawrence, who for 24 years ran one of New York’s most successful agencies, the decision to retire from Wells, Rich, Greene two years ago was clearly based on her desire to get away--permanently--from the grind of Madison Avenue.

“The fact that I am a woman has never been anything but an asset to my advertising career,” said Lawrence in an interview with The Times on the day of her announced resignation.

Although she has declined all interviews since then, a spokeswoman said Lawrence--who keeps homes in Texas, the West Indies and France--rarely makes trips back to New York.

“She’s just having a great time,” the spokeswoman said. “And she has finally learned to relax.”

Briefly . . .

The Los Angeles office of Foote, Cone & Belding has won the estimated $4-million to $6-million ad business for Mattel Inc.’s games division. . . . Salvati Montgomery Sakoda of Costa Mesa has wrested the $6-million-plus Pactel Cellular/Los Angeles advertising account from Wakeman & deForrest of Irvine. . . . Moiselle Advertising and Marketing of Los Angeles has won the ad business for Glendale-based Continental Culture Specialists. . . . Anita Santiago Advertising of Santa Monica has picked up the general market and Spanish language ad business for Ontario-based G&S; Foods, maker of cookies and pastas. . . . Upper Deck Co. of Carlsbad is expected this week to name an agency to create its NBA basketball card ads. . . . MCI today will unveil two giant billboards in Los Angeles--with continuous digital counting--that will show in bright lights that consumers saved more than $1 billion using MCI instead of AT&T.; . . . The Advertising Center, a Los Angeles training center for ad enthusiasts, quietly closed earlier this year. . . . March has been proclaimed “Advertising Month” in Los Angeles by Mayor Tom Bradley. . . . “L.A. Means Business” is the slogan for a campaign promoting the advantages of doing business in Los Angeles. It is to be unveiled Wednesday by the county’s Economic Development Corp.