Adman: Morris Hite's Methods for Winning the Ad Game

MORRIS HITE is a self-educated, selfmade advertising and marketing genius. A native Oklahoman who migrated to Texas and emerged as one of the preeminent advertising executives west of Madison Avenue.
Morris Hite provided the impetus and inspiration that made Tracy-Locke Co. in Dallas one of the ad industry's most successful agencies. An illustrator and layout artist by training, Hite believed that account service, not creative work, constitutes the cornerstone of an ad agency's enterprise. An agency is only as good as its account executives, Hite frequently told his Tracy-Locke troops. He then proceeded to shape his account men in his own image: committed to clients' growth.
In an ad career that spanned six decades until his death in 1983, Morris Hite helped such well-respected marketers as Frito-Lay, Borden and Haggar Co. develop new products and gain market share. He devoted substantial amounts of time and energy to understanding consumers and their purchasing decisions long before market research became an integral part of American business. He disciplined himself to be able to find big ideas - sales messages that trigger consumer response.
Morris Hite also applied his "can-do" business philosophy to civic endeavors. He spearheaded campaigns for the two largest bond elections in Dallas history and he served two years as president of Dallas Chamber of Commerce. The recipient of numerous awards for his marketing prowess and public service, Morris Hite remained a down-to-earth, plain-spoken individual, the antithesis of the fast-talking advertising smoothie.
Morris Hite worked hard and played hard. He would have been the first to admit that all in all, he had a damned good run.