Bowles became a copywriter for $25 per week at the Batten Company, an advertising agency in New York City that later became BBDO, the third-largest agency in the US. In 1929, Bowles established the Benton & Bowles advertising agency with William Benton, who was a fellow Batten employee. Despite the difficult economic environment of Great Depression, by the mid-1930s Benton & Bowles was a multimillion-dollar company. Benton & Bowles created the radio soap opera, offering specialized programming to receptive demographic groups. This allowed Benton & Bowles to create advertising campaigns to promote their clients' products to this targeted radio audience.