🪙Pick the brains of these 6 advertising legends

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Hope your weekend was awesome, Inbox Hackers. 

As the week gets rolling, I’ve got some great insights from six of the greatest advertising minds you’ve never heard of. That’s today’s Main Thing. Good stuff to give you ideas and ways to ramp up your creativity when your tank’s running low.  

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The Main Thing

Get in the Minds of All-Time Great Advertising Pros

What got me on the trail of legendary advertising people who are not household names?

A book about Volkswagen’s success. Great product, but the ads are what made Americans give the oddball little car a chance versus Ford and Chevy and Chrysler.

It takes great minds to make great ad campaigns. Not just one lucky ad that struck gold, either. I’m talking year after year of successful ads. What’s the secret formula?

One key is not being scared to stand out. But there are a couple of examples below where the marketer believed in a more low-key approach. 

That’ll give you a look at both sides of the coin. So, you can create ads that grab attention, hold it, and ramp up sales.

Let’s get after it.

#1 George Lois

Known for his epic magazine covers produced for Esquire. Also saved MTV from Chapter 13! He was a big believer in taking risks, being controversial. Risks weren’t something to dabble in, either. 

He thought creative marketing folks had to take risks with every campaign. No risk and you can bet your ad is invisible, was his thinking. 

However, the quote below shows that risky marketing business comes with trouble.

"The more creative you are, the more trouble you're in for." ~George Lois

#2 Lee Clow

Dude was the creative spark behind Chiat / Day. He made a point of not looking like a Madison Avenue suit. Flip-flops on the feet and the key idea that ads should be smart, beautiful, and fun. 

This guy didn’t believe what most marketing gurus today believe — that you gotta dumb things down for consumers. People are not idiots, in other words. They can understand smart ads.

Maybe his most vital belief was if a brand did things right, their customers would be their greatest evangelists.

"What I've always loved to do is build a brand that's so cool that you want to wear their T-shirt." ~Lee Clow

#3 Mary Wells Lawrence

The first woman to run a major ad agency (Wells, Rich, Greene, 1966). Brought a theatrical flair to advertising. Entertain and surprise was her philosophy, which is better than today’s world of recycled hooks that Carl Consumer can spot a mile away and don’t surprise anyone anymore.  

This lady also believed in Charlie Munger’s principle of learning from the best minds outside of your arena. She felt her God-given talent and brilliance weren’t enough. 

She stretched herself. Read books on subjects she knew nothing about, traveled to places she’d never heard of, and sought out a variety of people to chat with.

"The idea of advertising is to leave you just a little bit nervous that if you don't try a product or service, maybe you are missing something that is better." ~Mary Wells Lawrence

#4 Tom McElligott

Agency was Fallon, McElligott, Rice. Now, was he confident as Don Draper? Hardly. More like the great NBAer, Bill Russell, he’d throw up before client presentations from nervousness.  

McElligott approached advertising like a lawyer crafting an argument. He understood that great advertising required both left-brain logic and right-brain intuition. Smart marketer who let nothing get in the way of “the work.” Not politics, not ego, not fear.

"If you break the rules, you're going to stand a better chance of breaking through the clutter than if you don't." ~Tom McElligott

The final two advertising legends on our list took a quieter approach to advertising.

#5 Rosser Reeves

He was single-minded. Had no use for cleverness for its own sake. Rosser believed each ad should drive home one clear promise. A true one, no hype.

This guy had no use for awards or ad critics who couldn’t sell ice to a bar owner. What he wanted was measurable success - sales - from ads. I’d say him coming up with “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands” was and is a measurable success story for M&Ms.

“What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it.” ~Rosser Reeves

#6 Helen Lansdowne Resor

One of the first female copy chiefs in history (at J. Walter Thompson). She was one of the first to use straightforward language aimed directly at women. 

Best-known for the Woodbury Soap campaign: “A Skin You Love to Touch.” How’d she build trust with people who saw her ads? By making the ads feel like advice from a friend, instead of a sales pitch from a carnival barker. 

She gets a lot of credit for making use of casual tones in her messaging instead of jargon that sounds smart but gets ignored by smart consumers.

Two Bonus Legends

The founders of Walmart and Hershey’s were too well-known to make the list above.

And they weren’t strictly advertising people. Still, we can learn from both.

Sam Walton: He didn’t try to glamorize shopping. He kept hammering his message about low prices instead of creating a fantasy land about buying stuff. 

Milton Hershey: Believed if you had a quality product, all you had to do is make it widely available. It’d sell itself. 

Now, on to Monday Marketing News.

Please share Inbox Hacking with a fellow marketing go-getter or business owner. I appreciate you reading & sharing.

Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin

“People will sit up and take notice of you if you will sit up and take notice of what makes them sit up and take notice.” ~Harry Selfridge