{"title":"Roldós y Compañía, the oldest operating advertising agency in the world","authors":"Carolina Serra Folch, Cristina Martorell Castellano","doi":"10.1108/jhrm-07-2023-0028","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Purpose</h3>\n<p>This paper aims to review the history of Roldós y Compañía, one of the oldest advertising agencies in the world and the oldest currently operating. This research aims to highlight the importance of this agency and its founder, Rafael Roldós Viñolas – the first documented advertising agent in Spain to this day – in shaping the emerging Spanish advertising industry at the end of the 19th century.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\n<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>\n<p>The methodology used in this paper is based on a review of period and contemporary literature, as well as on newspaper sources and documents from the private archive of Roldós, S.A.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\n<h3>Findings</h3>\n<p>In its early years, the agency’s participation in two of the most significant events for the modernization of the city of Barcelona, the Universal Exhibition of 1888 and the International Exhibition of 1929; as well as the ideation and implementation of several urban projects with the aim of finding new formulas and advertising media are factors that make it one of the most important in the country. In 1929, the alliance Roldós-Tiroleses, S.A. de Publicidad, the first great merger of advertising agencies in Spain, which lasted three years, was led. The outbreak of the Civil War and the subsequent post-war period marked a few years of business irregularities and advertising silences that gave instability to its activity. During the last third of the 20th century, the agency was immersed in the generalized advertising euphoria around the world. With the arrival of North American agencies in Barcelona and the consequent business movements, Roldós, S.A. specializes in the processing of advertisements and media planning. The 21st century began with important changes in the media planning sector, and the agency was forced to restructure its services and organizational structure. In 2022, it celebrates 150 years of uninterrupted activity, recognized by the country’s business sector.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\n<h3>Practical implications</h3>\n<p>This research aims to internationalize the history of the Roldós y Compañía agency, so that it can be studied together with other names of Anglo-Saxon advertising pioneers who were contemporaries of Rafael Roldós.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\n<h3>Originality/value</h3>\n<p>Scientific research on the history of advertising agencies, especially in Spain, is scarce, so this paper aims to help fill this gap.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->","PeriodicalId":44447,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Historical Research in Marketing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Historical Research in Marketing","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jhrm-07-2023-0028","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the history of Roldós y Compañía, one of the oldest advertising agencies in the world and the oldest currently operating. This research aims to highlight the importance of this agency and its founder, Rafael Roldós Viñolas – the first documented advertising agent in Spain to this day – in shaping the emerging Spanish advertising industry at the end of the 19th century.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used in this paper is based on a review of period and contemporary literature, as well as on newspaper sources and documents from the private archive of Roldós, S.A.
Findings
In its early years, the agency’s participation in two of the most significant events for the modernization of the city of Barcelona, the Universal Exhibition of 1888 and the International Exhibition of 1929; as well as the ideation and implementation of several urban projects with the aim of finding new formulas and advertising media are factors that make it one of the most important in the country. In 1929, the alliance Roldós-Tiroleses, S.A. de Publicidad, the first great merger of advertising agencies in Spain, which lasted three years, was led. The outbreak of the Civil War and the subsequent post-war period marked a few years of business irregularities and advertising silences that gave instability to its activity. During the last third of the 20th century, the agency was immersed in the generalized advertising euphoria around the world. With the arrival of North American agencies in Barcelona and the consequent business movements, Roldós, S.A. specializes in the processing of advertisements and media planning. The 21st century began with important changes in the media planning sector, and the agency was forced to restructure its services and organizational structure. In 2022, it celebrates 150 years of uninterrupted activity, recognized by the country’s business sector.
Practical implications
This research aims to internationalize the history of the Roldós y Compañía agency, so that it can be studied together with other names of Anglo-Saxon advertising pioneers who were contemporaries of Rafael Roldós.
Originality/value
Scientific research on the history of advertising agencies, especially in Spain, is scarce, so this paper aims to help fill this gap.
期刊介绍：
Launched in 2009, Journal of Historical Research in Marketing is the only quarterly, peer-reviewed journal publishing high quality, original, academic research that focuses entirely on marketing history and the history of marketing thought. Pedagogical and historiographical / methodological essays are also welcome as long as they are grounded in a marketing and historical context. The essence of an historical perspective is a thorough, systematic, critical awareness of the changes (or continuity) in events over time and of the context in which change or continuity occurs. In addition to regular full length research articles, the Journal occasionally features material under the following sections. Explorations & Insights includes invited commentaries about marketing history and the history of marketing thought. These tend to be shorter (three to six thousand words) than the full articles that run in each issue. Sources of Historical Research in Marketing includes short essays introducing unexplored and novel archives and other primary historical resources, their contents and relevance to marketing history. Archivists or library professionals who believe their collections might be of interest to marketing historians are invited to submit essays to contribute to this section. JHRM also invites historical review essays that focus on historically important marketing books under the section Forgotten Classics. Examples of these historical reviews can be found in past issues of the Journal and those suggest an approach for potential submissions. Authors are advised to check with the editor about the suitability of a book title before submitting a Forgotten Classics review for consideration.
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