Friday, July 9, 2010

The Use of Postcards in my Past

While sorting my postcards over the weekend, I came across a series of postcards that had been sent to me when I was a big cheese at an ad agency, from a young man just out of college who was desperate to get into advertising.  I liked him a lot, thought he would be a fantastic account executive, and would have given him a job on the spot, had I had one at the time.  However, any position he might be hired for was working for somebody who worked for somebody who worked for somebody who worked for me, and all I could to was serve him up as a candidate.  As I recall, he came in second three times, which was, understandably, increasingly frustrating for him.

I had suggested to him when he first interviewed that he send me postcards as a way to keep himself "top of mind" if and when an available and appropriate for him position arose.  He did just that. 

Below are the postcards he wrote, the pictures almost irrelevant, the messages transitioning from frustration to desperation and at last to victory.  With every card and every message he reinforced why he was a great candidate - clever messages, quotations from a range of literary figures or references to contemporary culture, and a variety of types of cards sent.

He was ultimately hired by an ad agency, although not mine and has been successful as an advertising and marketing professional since he wrote the last card.  Told you so!
 









13 comments:

  1. Great post with a nice tale. I liked his quite adventurous choice of cards (he was sending them to a Big Cheese) and stamps. These sent a message too: on the first six always the young, inexperienced Bambi untill the last one, then president Harry S. Truman. It must have been fun corresponding with him.

    Happy PFF! And by the way, did you get my mail?

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  2. What a wonderful young man. I'm sure he's still doing well.

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  3. Mary,
    Great story and wonderful way to stay in touch and at the front of the line (so to speak). I really enjoyed this post. Happy PFF!

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  4. Saatchi & Saatchi? Big time indeed!!! These make for a very interesting series! Happy PFF!

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  5. I just love his perseverance! Not easy to forget someone like this, is it?

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  6. I will have to tell my management students about this!

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  7. Wow, thanks for sharing this very entertaining "postal assault" with PFF! I enjoyed his quotes, they are ones I will write down in my own daybook, esp. the Castaneda. And the Buddhist "go forth joyously and participate in the sorrows of the world." What a great perspective.
    Thanks to Bob of Holland for pointing out the stamps, I missed that completely.

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  8. Saatchi & Saatchi??...one of the biggest cheeses out there! he was clearly a very focussed young man whose persistence paid off eventually albeit elsewhere! thanks for sharing...happy PFF!

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  9. He had good taste in postcards and a sense of humor.

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  10. Great post, great story! It makes me want to post stories, too, about "such & such" subjects...:)

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  11. That is quite wonderful-I love the story and the postcards are amazing.

    Happy PFF!

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  12. Aman DaroJuly 17, 2010

    I am the guy who wrote those postcards to Mary 17 years ago. I don't have any copies, so it's nice to see them again! I wanted to add a few notes to Mary's post.

    First, everything Mary said was true: she worked her butt off for me (I still don't know why), and I did get a job at another agency. The thing she didn't mention is that that job didn't last long, and I was back, knocking on her door. That's when she put me in touch with a co-worker who was moving to the New York office, and amazingly enough, I came with him. I worked at the Saatchi New York office for 3 great years, and in complete honesty, it taught me everything I know. So I thank (and sometimes blame :) ) Mary for where I've gotten in this world.

    Second, a little juicy tidbit. While I really enjoyed this "campaign," it also got me black listed. I sent the same version of these postcards to about 25 top people in SF ad agencies, each one identical -- but each written by hand. In the second to last postcard I quoted Karl Marx, "Philosophy is to the real world what masturbation is to sex." I got a call from the head of HR at another agency telling me it was inappropriate for business correspondence and that I wasn't welcome to contact them again. What's even stranger is that, through a series of mergers, I ended working for that exact company many years later.

    Anyway, I still reference this postcard campaign to friends starting out in the business. It could be impactful, so I hope someone else picks it up (sans quotes from Karl Marx, of course).

    Thanks again to Mary, any all the commenters, for the kind words.

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  13. This is a great example of what it takes to make it. In today's world I am convinced that such strategy would have even more impact. I checked the dates at which the cards were sent and it looks like a schedule was being followed. That added to the stamps shows that there was a clearly defined strategy which makes it all even better!

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