Notable Women in Advertising: Phyllis Robinson
Phyllis Robinson was born in 1921 and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in sociology from Barnard College. After WWII, she moved to Boston from NYC and started working at Grey Advertising where she wrote fashion ads for Bresnick & Solomont. She was a chief copywriter for DDB in 1949 and was the first ever woman to hold this roll.
“Freedom is only part of the answer. Freedom is the atmosphere. A lot goes on within that freedom. The respect, first of all, of one human being for another—a respect for his ideas, his opinions, especially if they differ sharply from your own.”
-Phyllis Robinson
Phyllis Robinson was born in 1921 and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in sociology from Barnard College. After WWII, she moved to Boston from NYC and started working at Grey Advertising where she wrote fashion ads for Bresnick & Solomont. She was a chief copywriter for DDB in 1949 and was the first ever woman to hold this roll. Phyllis was a true creative that had a writing style that was witty and conversational. She fostered outside of the box thinking for herself and her team. As a pioneer that led the creative revolution of her time, she was inducted into the Copywriters Hall of Fame in 1968. She passed away at 89 years old and left the world a better place than it was when she came into it for women in America.
Women’s History Month: Erma Perham Proetz
Erma Proetz was the first woman to be inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame. She was a copywriter, account executive, director, creative vice president and executive vice president, who spent most of her advertising career at Gardner Advertising Company in St. Louis. She received multiple awards for her advertisements in the 1920’s.
Erma Proetz was the first woman to be inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame. She was a copywriter, account executive, director, creative vice president and executive vice president, who spent most of her advertising career at Gardner Advertising Company in St. Louis. She received multiple awards for her advertisements in the 1920’s and in 1935, Fortune Magazine named her in the top 16 most outstanding women in American Business. For the time, this was quite a feat and a step in the right direction for women’s rights, well before the equality movement in the 60’s. She became the president of the Women’s Advertising Club of St. Louis in 1936 and served as chair(wo)man of the Council of Women’s Clubs of the Advertising Federation of America. Needless to say, she was quite the powerhouse during her time before she passed in 1944. Quite an impressive resume for the time she was alive as a woman living in a man’s world before women had equal rights. She was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame in 1952.