Known for his grace in writing as well as in professional character, Abbott was a founder of London’s Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO which created famous, award-winning campaigns for clients like Volvo, The Economist, Sainsbury’s, Ikea, Chivas Regal, Yellow Pages and the RSPCA.
He retired as chairman and creative director in November 1998 from the boutique he helped launch in 1978, which went on to become the U.K.’s largest agency group.
Within advertising circles, AMV also came to stand for something more: quality work and a principled approach to agency management. It was a shop that refused tobacco clients and toy manufacturers—believing that children were too young to filter advertising—and tried to stick to a policy of no redundancies during tough economic times.
Abbott, a gifted copywriter, began his career at Mather & Crowther and went on to DDB London. In 1966 he joined DDB in New York before moving back to London and founding French Gold Abbott in 1971.
In 1978 he teamed up with Peter Mead and Adrian Vickers to create AMV, in which BBDO acquired a stake in 1991.
Abbott was well-regarded among creatives throughout the world and was awarded the D&AD President’s Award in 1986.
In 2001,The One Club for Art and Copy inducted him into its Creative Hall of Fame and in 2011 the American Advertising Federation did the same in that organization’s Hall of Fame.
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