Wayne Cranford, the "C" in CJRW, was recently announced as a member of the inaugural class of the Southwest Advertising Hall of Fame, hosted by the 10th district of the American Advertising Federation. Cranford is one of 12 inductees and the only member of the 2008 class from Arkansas.
Cranford founded what is now CJRW with Jim Johnson in 1961 under the name Cranford Johnson Inc.
David Martin, CJRW's current CEO, said Cranford and Johnson's vision for the agency was new to the state.
"They formed the agency with the commitment to bring the same kind and quality of services that could be found on Madison Avenue," Martin said.
Martin said the vision of Cranford and Johnson helped turn the agency into Arkansas' largest and one of the top 3 percent of agencies in the nation, based on billings. The agency reported $82.5 million in capitalized billings last year, topping Arkansas Business' 2007 list of Arkansas advertising agencies.
"We have that future because of the foundation they built for this business," Martin said.
Martin, who worked in the research department at CJRW when his career began, said Cranford had a certain skill that always impressed him.
"He could always spot a typo from 50 yards away," Martin said, noting that mistakes in his work did not go without Cranford's notice.
Cranford said he did not expect the honor. "It was a great surprise, and I was just really thrilled and flattered to hear about it," Cranford said.
Part of the honor was being inducted into the same class as Stan Richards of The Richards Group and Stanley Marcus of Neiman Marcus, who is a member of the national Advertising Hall of Fame. Cranford said he always looked up to Marcus as he was first working in advertising.
A gala honoring the inaugural class will be held this October in Dallas.
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