Happy 100 Years Grey (Valenstein & Fatt)!

The best way to mark 100 years in the industry, according to Grey who are currently celebrating their centennial, is to hold a week’s worth of activities and events.

Last night, the celebrations began at New York's Whitney Museum followed by a special dinner in Madison Square Park, which 200 global network leaders attended to listen to the group’s global CEO Jim Heekin honour the occasion and review the agency’s legacy.

At dinner, Heekin revealed Grey’s new logo (pictured, at top), based on the imagination and manpower of its employees. By scanning 5,000 workers’ minds through a brainwave-monitoring headset while they tackled client briefs, the technology was able to transform their efforts into colourful art pieces.

These Brain Portraits were taken from offices as far reaching as Australia, Brazil, the UK and South Africa.

“Our new logo represents the power of our diverse and colorful minds and the people whose ideas have made Grey into a leader in creativity,” says Grey’s global president, Michael Houston.

Grey was formed in 1917, when young Lawrence Valenstein (below, right) borrowed money from his mum to rent a room and start his direct marketing company. Arthur Fatt, who’s often thought as the agency’s co-founder, joined in 1921 to help grow the business, changing its name to Grey in 1925 – inspired by the colour of the agency’s walls.

Earlier this year, the agency changed its name to Valenstein & Fatt for 100 days to commemorate its Jewish founders – who felt they would be discriminated against if they used their Jewish-sounding surnames. The campaign was launched to celebrate the diversity that currently exists within the agency’s walls, something that has only been strengthened with the recent appointments of the London branch's female leaders, Caroline Pay and Vicki Maguire.

To find out more about the agency's plans for celebration and about its history, visit the Grey centennial page.