Nationality American Name Alex Osborn | Role Author Education Hamilton College | |
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Born May 24, 1888 ( 1888-05-24 ) Bronx, New York, USA Occupation advertising executive, writer, creativity theorist Children Katharine, Joan, Marion, Russell, and Elinor Spouse Helen Coatsworth (m. 1916) Organizations founded BBDO, Creative Education Foundation, Creative Problem Solving Institute, BBDO New York Books Applied Imagination, Your Creative Power, Unlocking Your Creative, A Short Course in Advertising, How to Become More Cre | ||
Life of Alex F. Osborn - Founder of BBDO & Inventor of Brainstorming
Alex Faickney Osborn (May 24, 1888 – May 5, 1966) was an advertising executive and the author of the creativity technique named brainstorming.
Contents
- Life of Alex F Osborn Founder of BBDO Inventor of Brainstorming
- Founding of BBDO
- Creativity theorist
- Notable advertising work
- Books
- Family life
- References
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 (Barton, Durstine & Osborn) 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 his 1942 book How To Think Up he presented the technique of "brainstorming", which had been used 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 set up the Creative Education Foundation, 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
Books
Osborn also contributed frequently to trade publications such as Printer’s Ink.
Family life
On September 15, 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 Buffalo on 5 May 1966. He was cremated and his ashes are in a niche at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo-NY).