Janet Wolff¿s leadership as one of the first female advertising executives is legendary. For 15 years at J. Walter Thompson Co. in New York, as the youngest vice president and creative director, she spearheaded the transition from print and radio campaigns into television for many major advertisers including Ford, Draft, Scott and Lever.
Wolff served as executive vice president and director of creative services at William Esty. During this time, William Esty, an operation with billings of more than $600 million, experienced its hottest period of growth, and many classic campaigns by a talented staff were born, including Datsun¿s "We are Driven"; Irish Spring Deodorant Soap¿s "The manly soap that women like, too"; Nabisco¿s "American Cookie Jar"; Noxema Shave Cream¿s "Take it off, take it all off" and Vaseline Intensive Care¿s "dry leaf demonstration."
As a respected adviser to many company presidents and CEOs, Wolff led the way to success in both new products and new product positioning. She is the author of eight books. Her first book, What Makes Women Buy (McGraw Hill), is a perfect example of her determination to seek out the purchase motivation for any product or service. Her interest in children and young people led her to co-author a series of six books, published in 1960 by Dutton, designed to teach pre-school children how to think imaginatively. In 1988, she co-authored Lifetrends: The Future of Baby Boomers and Other Aging Americans (Macmillan), which evaluates the sociological and marketing implications of the exploding 50+ population.
Wolff¿s contributions to the advertising community include serving on the American Association of Advertising Agencies¿ Committee for Improving Advertising, serving as a member of the council of judges for the Advertising Hall of Fame and conducting workshops for Advertising Age. She has taught advertising classes at the New York¿s New School and at Boston¿s Northeastern University. She also served as a board member for the Riverdale Neighborhood House, prepared brochures and releases for numerous local charities and was active with the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Boys Clubs.