Fingers crossed, plus trailblazing women in advertising & copy resource of the week

Hey, hi, howdy, and welcome to Issue #43 of The Subhead, a bi-weekly newsletter about copywriting, marketing & media, and a look at some of the women who make it great.

In today’s edition:

✨ This week in freelancing

✨ Trailblazing Women in Advertising: Caroline Jones

✨ Copy Resource of the Week: Comprehensive Copywriting Guide, with Templates: Proven Copywriting Techniques That Can Transform Your Marketing

✨ Just for Fun

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This week in freelancing

This week I completed two articles for my healthcare client; one on the benefits of the MIND diet (a diet that supports brain health and potentially reduces the risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease), and the other on dynamic versus static stretching, and which you should do when.

And now I know there are at least two different kinds of stretches, used for different purposes. Who knew? (I guess plenty of fit people who regularly stretch before and after exercise, that’s who.)

Otherwise, I worked on something related to an opportunity that I hope materializes. Can’t share the details yet, but fingers crossed!

I’ll share more as soon as I find out if it’s a yay or a nay.

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Trailblazing Women in Advertising: Caroline Jones*

(*I originally shared this mini-profile in The Subhead #4, in November 2023. It’s been edited and updated for this issue.)

“Caroline R. Jones broke race and sex barriers in advertising to become one of the most prominent black women among agency executives.” – The New York Times

In the early 1960s, Jones became the first African American to work as a copywriter at one of the nation’s leading ad agencies, J. Walter Thompson, when she was just out of college.

In 1968 she became co-founder, vice president and co-creative director of Zebra Associates, a black owned full-service agency, and one of the first African American owned advertising agencies in the U.S.

Think about that – how rare it was in the Mad Men era for an African American woman to found and run an ad agency. It’s not even that common today, in the year of our Lord, 2025.

Other career highlights:

:: Jones was the first black female Vice President of well-known ad agency BBDO from 1975-77. 

:: While working for the Campbell Soup Company in the 1970s, she advised that the messaging focus on people’s emotions rather than simply highlighting the products. (So smart!)

(This reminds me of something I shared about ad agency exec Laurel Cutler in a previous issue – Cutler advised Chrysler to stop aiming its ads at car dealers and instead talk directly to consumers. Again, of course this is what you should do!)

:: Jones’ agency ads “used African American models to show how the soup fit into the lives of everyday families. The campaign was so popular among Black consumers that Campbell's decided to adapt it for its national campaigns (in the process replacing the Black figures in the ads with white models).” [YIKES]

:: Her agency developed the KFC slogan, “We Do Chicken Right!” which KFC began using in all of its national ad campaigns.

:: Her other clients included McDonald's, American Express, Anheuser-Busch, Prudential, Toys ''R'' Us, and the Postal Service. 

Jones passed away in 2001.

Learn more about Caroline Jones here, here, here, and best of all, in her own words, here.

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Copy Resource of the Week: Comprehensive Copywriting Guide, with Templates: Proven Copywriting Techniques That Can Transform Your Marketing

Every business or project needs persuasive copy for the numerous online assets clients, customers, or supporters see – emails, website copy, newsletters, landing pages, sales copy, and more.

If you have copy to write for any of those assets yourself, this extremely comprehensive guide, no opt-in required, could be very beneficial.

Even if you don’t need it right now, add this to your copy resources file for when you do.

The Backlinko Copywriting Guide shares proven copywriting techniques and valuable lessons such as:

:: What Is Copywriting?

:: Lesson 1: Essential Components of Great Copywriting

:: Lesson 2: How to Understand How Your Target Audience Talks

:: Lesson 3: How to Write Headlines That Get Clicks

:: Lesson 4: How to Write a Great Lead

:: Lesson 5: How to Write Copy That Converts

:: Lesson 6: Copywriting Templates for Different Formats

Templates include:

· Email Newsletters

· Landing Pages

· Blog Posts

· Sales Letters

There’s also a detailed breakdown of each template, with a clear explanation of each template element, plus real-life examples. So helpful!

:: Lesson 7: Advanced Copywriting Tips

:: Use Copywriting to Grow Your Business

Check out The Backlinko Copywriting Guide here.

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Just for Fun

Landon Bryant’s New Book Is a Hilarious Field Guide to the Southern Drawl, Y’all

How @landontalks, a Mississippi art teacher turned internet star, became a noted keeper of Southernisms

Landon Bryant never set out to go viral. The former art teacher and native of Laurel, Mississippi, just had a knack for spinning a good yarn—and a wife who was tired of being his only audience. “We’ve known each other since second grade,” Bryant says of his wife, Kate. “She’s heard all my stories. One day she goes, ‘Why don’t you just tell the internet?’” So he did.

Click on the link above to learn more about Bryant’s book, or check out his hilarious YouTube channel. (I’m a Southerner, so I can relate to a lot of his insights, but I don’t think you have to be from the South to enjoy his humor, I do declare.)

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That’s it for this week, my friend.

As always, thanks for reading, I appreciate you!

Be well. Stay curious. See you again in two weeks, on June 8.

Warmly,

Kimberly