There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise.
- Gore Vidal

According to the above quote, I would like to meet the person responsible for advertisement at the Emerson College in Boston to tell him or her that he or she just wasted a great amount of time and money by creating and mailing an advertisement with absolutely no marketing value. A slap on the back of the head (that seems to be working at NCIS) might be in order, too.

The 6″ x 9″ sized postcard I hold in my hand is nicely designed, and it is filled with a number of (incredibly useless) slogans.

“Discover what makes Ploughshares different” - Okay, but what is it…?

“Finding Tomorrow’s Classic Today” – Classic what? Classic Cars…?

“There’s wonderful stuff [in other journals], but you don’t come up with many surprises. That’s the result of the same people admiring the same things.” – Okay, it’s a journal of some kind…

“Ploughshares’s freshness comes from different people admiring different things.” – Let’s celebrate diversity! Still, what are we talking about…?

Well, my advise to the marketing/advertisement manager at Emerson College in Boston:

First, go to a local Barnes & Noble bookstore and look for a nice book on effective marketing. One of the ground rules is as simple as “A picture tells more than a thousand words.” If you are promoting a printed journal (I can only assume that’s what it is) you should show an image of one of the latest issues.

Secondly, your message is missing! Apparently, you know very well what Ploughshares is, but what about those who never heard of it. I know, I didn’t (maybe it’s just that I am ignorant).

If it takes several minutes of educated guessing to find out what Ploughshares possibly represents, you have lost a potential subscriber, and the free Ploughshares tote bag won’t convince them, either. Yes, I could log on to the Internet and get more information, but, honestly, why should I? You already wasted enough of my time.

Please excuse my sarcasm, but I really do feel bad when valuable resources, i.e. time and money, of a non-profit organization are wasted in such an unprofessional manner.

As always, if you feel inclined to respond, please do so, whether you agree with me or not.