This is Mike Hughes. He's president of the Martin Agency. They do some pretty great advertising. You'd do well to get a job there.Mike Hughes tells the story of his first job in advertising. For his first assignment, he took out his typewriter (yes, a typewriter), and wrote 1000 headlines in one night.
1000.
I guess that's just one of the reasons why he's the president of one of the most awarded agencies in the country today. Fast Company did an article on them last month.
Do you think you could do that? Without the typewriter, I mean.
My friend Jim tried to when we were first semester advertising students. He actually numbered them. I'm not sure if he ever made it to 1000. I don't number my headlines. But if I were to take a guess, I'd say I average 500 per assignment. I could do much better. I don't think I've ever broken 1000.
So do you think you could do the Mike Hughes challenge? Art directors, you can play, too. Just do them in layouts.
We won't be checking this in class. But let me know if you ever reach 1000.