Alex Faickney Osborn (May 24, 1888 – May 5, 1966) was an American advertising executive and the author of the creativity technique named ''

brainstorming Brainstorming is a creativity technique in which a group of people interact to divergent thinking, suggest ideas spontaneously in response to a prompt. Stress is typically placed on the volume and variety of ideas, including ideas that may seem o ...

''.

Founding of BBDO

In 1919, Osborn joined with

Bruce Fairchild Barton Bruce Fairchild Barton (August 5, 1886 – July 5, 1967) was an American author, advertising executive, and Republican politician. He represented Manhattan in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1937 to 1941. In 1940, he ran for election to t ...

and

Roy Sarles Durstine Roy Sarles Durstine (December 13, 1886 – November 28, 1962) was an American newspaper reporter, author, and advertising executive who co-founded BBDO and since 1939 was president of Roy S. Durstine, Inc. Early life Durstine was born on Decemb ...

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 BBDO is a worldwide advertising agency network, with its headquarters in New York City. The agency originated in 1891 with the George Batten Company, and in 1928, through a merger with Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BDO), the agency became Batten, B ...

. After years of success and having survived the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, BBDO underwent a crisis in 1938, losing many of its clients and key personnel. Osborn commuted to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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 Creativity is the ability to form novel and valuable ideas or works using one's imagination. Products of creativity may be intangible (e.g. an idea, scientific theory, literary work, musical composition, or joke), or a physical object (e.g. a ...

. In his 1942 book ''How To Think Up'' he presented the technique of ''

'', 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 A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

. In 1954, Osborn set up the Creative Education Foundation, sustained by the

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

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 for more than 50 years.

Notable advertising work

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

* Armstrong Cork *

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

* General Baking * Royal Crown Cola * American Tobacco * BF Goodrich * Du Pont * Wildroot Hair Tonic

Books

* ''A Short Course in Advertising'', London, New York: Sir I. Pitman & Son, 1921. * ''How to "Think Up"'', New York, London: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1942. * ''Your Creative Power'', Scribner, 1948. * ''Wake Up Your Mind: 101 Ways to Develop Creativeness'', New York, London: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952. **Translated into Japanese by Kazuo Kuwana ''想像の翼をのばせ : 創造力をきたえる101の方法'' Tōkyō : Jitsumu Kyōiku Shuppan, 1968 * '' Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Problem Solving'' New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1953. **Revised edition, New York, Scribner, 1957 **3rd ed. New York C. Scribner 1963 **French translation by Georges Rona and Pierre Dupont, ''L'Imagination constructive. Principes et processus de la Pensée créative et du Brainstorming'', Paris, Dunod, 1959. **Chinese translation by Ikkō Shō, 応用想像力 Taipei : Kyōshi Kōgyō Sōsho Shuppan Kofun Yūgen Kōshi, 1965 Osborn also contributed frequently to trade publications such as ''

Printers' Ink ''Printers' Ink'' was an American trade magazine launched in 1888 by George P. Rowell.Mierau, Christina B. (2000). ''Accept No Substitutes!: The History of American Advertising''. Twenty-First Century Books, It was the first national trade magazi ...

''.

Family life

On September 15, 1916, he married Helen Coatsworth, the daughter of a wealthy Buffalo

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. They had five children: Katharine, Joan, Marion, Russell, and Elinor. Osborn died of cancer May 5, 1966, in

Roswell Park Memorial Institute Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is a cancer research and treatment center located in Buffalo, New York. Founded by surgeon Roswell Park in 1898, the center was the first in the United States to specifically focus on cancer research. The ...

, where he had been a patient since April 1, 1966. He was 77 years old. He was cremated and his ashes are in a niche at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York.

Sources

''Bruce Fairchild Barton, Roy Sarles Durstine, and Alex Faickney Osborn'', Joan Vidal, João Lins.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborn, Alex Faickney 1888 births 1966 deaths Creativity researchers American advertising executives Businesspeople from Buffalo, New York Hamilton College (New York) alumni 20th-century American businesspeople