Lunch with a Side of Identity Crisis

Dear Local Café, I think you guys are really nice. Like, the other day, you didn’t even give me a single dirty look when my one-year-old kept crawling behind the counter. Or when the three-year-old who accompanied us left sticky strawberry ice cream handprints on the table. (Okay, maybe that last one was my fault.) […]

“Books You Don’t Need in a Place You Can’t Find”

I saw this on a bumper sticker a few weeks ago and have been thinking about it ever since. There are so many things right about this seemingly wrong tagline for the Montague Bookmill that it’s hard to know where to start. Can’t you almost hear the objections that would surely arise as it was […]

When It Comes To ROI, Don’t Be a Mad Man: Part 2

Missed Part I? Read it here. So what is the new wave of development when it comes to generating and measuring ROI? Capitalizing on behavioral targeting. (Yeah, I’m talking to you, Facebook.) Despite these advances currently being challenged by consumer privacy advocates, there’s a major force working against it: The shift in privacy expectations — […]

When It Comes To ROI, Don’t Be a Mad Man: Part 1

We love guest posts from our pal at King Fish Media, Gordon Plutsky, especially when he writes about our favorite show. Take it away, Gordon … At the end of July, the AMC show Mad Men returns for its fourth season. The world of media and marketing has changed since the early 1960s advertising heyday. […]

Taglines: The Good, the Bad and the Totally Offensive

Yesterday I had a last-minute tagline project for Microsoft. They needed a tagline that convinced graduates from elite colleges to come work for them instead of, well, who do you think? Google or Apple. Tough competition. And as just about everyone knows, Microsoft has a bit of an image problem. People see them as stuffed […]

Things That Make You Go Hmmm …

If you’re one of the thousands of loyal readers of this blog, you know we never cite irresistible dance/pop confections unless the topic is of the utmost importance. (Remember our post entitled “Pump Up the Jam,” about the challenges Smucker’s faced in marketing its smoked-ham preserves?) Well, today we have good reason to dust off […]

Use Sex as a Weapon, But Not in Your Subject Lines

Just because your email makes it into your client’s inbox doesn’t mean it’ll get opened. In fact, chances are it won’t. I know what you’re thinking: “But Anna, I wrote a seriously amazing email with a seriously amazing offer I know they’ll want. There’s no way they’re going to delete it!” Sorry to be the […]

We Always Around

The other week I found myself stuck in traffic behind a delivery truck. I can’t remember what they were delivering since I was too focused on their motto. In big letters they declared, “WE ALWAYS AROUND.” Then in very small letters between the “WE” and “ALWAYS,” they had painted a little arrow and the word […]

Dispelling a Few Choice Copywriting Myths

One of the random gems I’ve stumbled across in recent years is RainToday.com. It’s an offering of Wellesley Hills Group, a “management consulting, marketing, and lead generation firm focused on helping professional services firms grow.” (btw, The Hired Pens has no relationship with Wellesley Hills Group, so I have no ulterior motive here.) Anyway, I […]

Stop whatever you are doing and watch the Comfort Wipe infomerical now

Since Slate.com is my home page, I’m not sure why I haven’t stumbled upon Slate’s brilliant “culture blogger” Seth Stevenson before. But after reading his post “Don’t Believe the Wipe” (about the new “Comfort Wipe”), I need to check in more regularly. I really don’t feel comfortable telling you what Comfort Wipe does, but maybe you […]