{{Short description|American author and advertising executive (1930–2026)}} {{Multiple issues|section=| {{Sources|date=April 2026}} {{Notability|Bio|date=January 2026}} }}
'''Kenneth Roman''' (September 6, 1930 – April 22, 2026) was an American author and advertising executive.
==Life and career== Roman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on September 6, 1930.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/details.asp?aID=10492& |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603172106/http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/details.asp?aID=10492& |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 3, 2013 |title=SO WHAT DO YOU DO, KEN ROMAN, OGILVY BIOGRAPHER? |publisher=Mediabistro |first=Matt|last=Van Hoven |date=April 15, 2009 |accessdate=December 2, 2014 }}</ref> He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1952, where he was editor-in-chief of the undergraduate daily newspaper.
He joined Ogilvy & Mather in 1963 and served as chairman from 1985 to 1989. In 1989, WPP plc, a British advertising holding company, acquired the Ogilvy Group for $864 million, which, at the time, was the most ever paid for an advertising agency. David Ogilvy initially resisted the sale, but eventually accepted the title of WPP honorary chairman, a position he relinquished in 1992.<ref name=Rothenberg89>{{cite news |title=WPP's Bid Is Accepted By Ogilvy|author=Randall Rothenberg |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/16/business/wpp-s-bid-is-accepted-by-ogilvy.html |work=The New York Times |date= May 16, 1989 | accessdate=3 September 2015}}</ref><ref name="Roman-190">{{harvnb |Roman|2009| p=190 }}</ref>
After 26 years with Ogilvy, Roman joined American Express in a senior communications role before becoming a consultant, board director, and author. After his departure Graham Phillips became the chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide.<ref name="Roman-192">{{harvnb |Roman|2009| p=192 }}</ref>
Roman was the co-author of two influential business books – ''How to Advertise'' {{ISBN|0312318596}} and ''Writing That Works'' {{ISBN|0060956437}} and the author of a 2009 biography of David Ogilvy entitled ''The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising''.<ref name="tkoma">{{cite book |first=Kenneth |last=Roman |title=The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising |date=2009 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4039-7895-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/kingofmadisonave00roma/}}</ref>
He lived in New York City with his wife. Roman died in Manhattan on April 22, 2026, at the age of 95.<ref>[https://www.ogilvy.com/ideas/remembering-kenneth-roman-beloved-leader-lifelong-ogilvy-champion Remembering Kenneth Roman: A Beloved Leader and Lifelong Ogilvy Champion]</ref>
==Bibliography== *2009 – ''The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising''<ref name="tkoma" /> *2003 – ''How to Advertise, Third Edition'' *2002 – ''Writing That Works, Third Edition'' *1997 – ''How to Advertise, Second Edition'' *1992 – ''Writing That Works, Second Edition'' *1992 – ''The New How to Advertise'', with Jane Maas *1981 – ''Writing That Works'', with Joel Raphaelson *1977 – ''How to Advertise'', with Jane Maas
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.kennethroman.com/ www.kennethroman.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100223055303/http://www.kennethroman.com/ |date=2010-02-23 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman, Ken}} Category:1930 births Category:2026 deaths Category:Businesspeople from Boston Category:Dartmouth College alumni Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:American chief executives Category:American advertising executives Category:American business writers Category:20th-century American biographers Category:21st-century American biographers