Lessons From a Real-Life 'Mad Woman'
Wisdom from advertising legend Jane Maas.
Wisdom from advertising legend Jane Maas.
At the Association of National Advertisers Annual Conference in Phoenix, AZ, I had the amazing honor and pleasure of seeing Jane Maas. I was truly moved and amazed by her talk and inspired by her life. Why was I so blown away from hearing Jane speak? Well, she’s 79 years old, traveled all the way from New York to Arizona to share her wisdom, and demonstrated a rare level of passion and authority.
What’s more, everything she said about effective advertising is as true today, in the high engagement digital marketing environment I work in, as the traditional media world she started out in 1964. Her wisdom and approach is timeless and much of what she said has proved out time and time again in the online tests we do on banners, search ads, and landing pages. And I wanted to share some of these nuggets of wisdom.
First, some background about Jane Maas, the real life embodiment of Peggy Olson, a character in “Mad Men.” Jane ascended through the ranks of the 1960s’ ad world to become a creative director, starting her career as a copywriter at Ogilvy & Mather in 1964 and working directly for David Ogilvy. There she rose to creative director working for General Foods, Lever Brothers, S.C. Johnson, and American Express. In 1976 she moved to Wells Rich Greene where she was the creative force behind the iconic “I Love New York” campaign. From there she became president of the New York office of Earle Palmer Brown.
Jane is also an accomplished author. Her books include her biography, “Adventures of An Advertising Woman,” and “How to Advertise,” which has been translated into 17 languages. She is publishing “Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the ’60s and Beyond.” Jane serves as chairman emeritus to Earle Palmer Brown advertising and public relations and consults for major corporations. So clearly Jane knows a lot about advertising and life.
So now for some of her nuggets of wisdom mixed with her elements of effective communication. Her advice is truly timeless and applies to all creative.
What really struck me about her advice is that it is media agnostic. And while her advice was about brand building, it is still the kind of best practices that would make even the most direct marketing/response driven/measurable online programs perform.
Thank you, Jane, for this knowledge!
Oh, one more thing. The first chapter of Jane’s new book is titled, “Sex in the Office.” She took our cards and said she would email it to all of us. I cannot wait to read it.