Cannes Lions will present the lifetime achievement award, the Lion of St. Mark, to Mary Wells Lawrence in 2020. Mary Wells Lawrence, who founded New York advertising agency Wells Rich Greene in 1966, was the first woman to found, own and run a major agency, as well as the first female CEO of a company traded on the Big Board of the New York Stock Exchange.

Within its first year, Wells Rich Greene had 100 employees and $39 million in billings. By 1976 it had billings of $187 million and a client roster that included Procter & Gamble, Trans World Airlines, Miles Laboratories, Philip Morris, Bic Pen, Ralston Purina, Midas, White-Westinghouse Electric and Sun Oil. The New York Observer said that the agency was responsible for creating ads that “etched indelible phrases into the public’s imaginations”.

Mary Wells Lawrence’s career has included resurrecting New York City’s deteriorating image with the now iconic I ♥ New York slogan, as well as the branding of Braniff Airways into the recognised airline of the jet set with the The End of the Plain Plane, a campaign that injected a cultural mood of excitement and vitality with airplanes painted in pastel colours and the airline’s hostesses dressed in Pucci designed uniforms.

She said of the campaign, “It was the end of the plain plane. Airline advertising and marketing and design would never be the same. There were groans from other airlines. They complained that the paint made the planes heavy – every airline that told that silly story is now flying fleets of painted planes.”

Original caption: Mary Wells, President of Wells, Rich and Greene Advertising Agency, says new the advertising approach reflects youthful, sophisticated, affluent and skeptical US consumer market. (Copyright Bettmann/Corbis / AP Images)

Throughout her lifetime, Wells Lawrence has directed a host of notable campaigns. Her work for Alka Seltzer, in her words, saw them plotting and scheming “to develop advertising that would seduce every man, woman and child of every age into watching Alka-Seltzer advertising – in fact, to make them look forward to watching it.” Through campaigns like Plop plop, fizz fizz, I can’t believe I ate the whole thing, and Try it, you’ll like it, Alka Seltzer shook its ageing image, and instead it became smart to be seen taking it.

In 1971, Lawrence was named Advertising Woman of the Year by the American Advertising Federation, and in 1999 she was inducted into the American Advertising Hall of Fame. Her autobiography, A Big Life (in Advertising), was published in 2002.

Philip Thomas, chairman, Cannes Lions, commented, “Mary is an extraordinary woman with a drive, passion and talent to burn. Cannes Lions campaigns for creativity as a force for business but Mary was ahead of the game – she already knew this 50 years ago. Her ability to inject entertainment and creativity into her advertising saw her transform the reputations and revenues of many a struggling brand, and she has earnt huge respect and admiration from the industry as a result. We’re thrilled to be presenting a true legend with the Lion of St. Mark.”

Lawrence stated, “Awareness of the time you are in is at the core of any business of persuasion, but I think my particular strength is my belief in passion – caring obviously and emotionally about how IMPORTANT what I am selling is. I want to leave you FEELING about it – nervous if you are doing something else. Like falling in love.”

Lawrence will be honoured as The Lion of St. Mark through the LIONS Live platform on Friday, June 26. LIONS Live runs June 22-26.