Most New Yorkers believe New York is the center of the universe. The same holds true for advertising. But you don’t need to be a New Yorker or work in advertising to know that the center in question is Madison Avenue – that stretch between Madison Square at 23rd Street to the Madison Avenue Bridge at 138th Street.     

According to The Emergence of Advertising in America*, by the 1860s there were twenty major advertising agencies in New York City.  A full century later, Madison Avenue’s reputation as the epicenter of the world’s advertising had been secured and by the 1960’s, the avenue had become synonymous with advertising. 

In recent decades, however, many agencies have left the Avenue, with some moving further downtown and others moving west.

Just South of Madison opened up just a bit further South, in a little borough called Coconut Grove, Florida.

Its founder, William Berenson, spent several years living at Madison Avenue’s little Library Hotel while serving in the leadership of Young & Rubicam, a revered Madison Avenue agency.

A New Yorker by birth, Berenson is a consummate marketing and communications executive who was raised in Europe and advises clients around the world. He has also served in the leadership of Landor Associates, Interbrand and several private marketing, advertising and venture capital firms.

Today, Just South of Madison is located in downtown Miami, with current and past clients in consumer packaged goods, luxury, fashion, media, travel and hospitality, food export, commercial real estate, law, technology, logistics, automotive, aviation, mining and renewable energy. It's clients are located in Miami, New York, Toronto and Geneva.
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* The Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850 - 1920 (EAA) presents over 9,000 images, with database information, relating to the early history of advertising in the United States. The materials, drawn from the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University, provide a significant and informative perspective on the early evolution of this most ubiquitous feature of modern American business and culture.