Adventures in places, brands and place brands

jeremy@jeremyhildreth.com

Selling yarns

"Seven pintucks on either side of the four-button front placket"

"Seven pintucks on either side of the four-button front placket"

Everybody drives in Los Angeles.

Everywhere.

Always.

Except if you’re 13, as I was in 1987 the year the free copywriting lessons started. Then you walk home from school (Paul Revere Junior High, in my case) to find on your doorstep a catalog from a new clothing company called J. Peterman — a catalog with watercolour images of the garments (no photos!) and long copy so extraordinary, so captivating, that 19 years later it leads you to a mountain town high in the Ecuadorian Andes just to see if they were telling the truth about the “Otavalo Mountain Shirt,” made by the villagers of that town.

Claimed Peterman (then as now), this shirt’s “tiny wrinkles and creases…guarantee that you will look neither starched nor disheveled. You will look merely at ease.” Men, in particular, “will look broad-shouldered, brave, and secretly kind. Their female friends will encourage them to go without shaving for a few days.” At long last, then, on a summer market day, for $5 each and using the broken Spanish I learned at Paul Revere, I purchased three of the fabled camisas.

Shortly, I discovered that even the line about the shaving turns out to be absolutely accurate. But that’s for a different blog. Now, go get your own free copywriting lessons. Poke around J. Peterman online — make a cup of tea first, and allow a good half hour.

(Note: I posted this first to Saffron’s website.)

1 Comment to Selling yarns

  1. Tuesday, 25 November 2008 at 16:45 | Permalink

    Good day,
    I trust I find you well… I am the Director of Marketing for The J. Peterman Company. In my daily trolling around the internet I stumbled upon you article above. I thoroughly enjoyed your post about our company. If I had a pair of Himalayan Walking Shoes for every post I’ve read about our inspiring copy I’d be able to shoe a tribe in Myanmar… Our copy is a product in and of itself we believe. The telling the story is our romance our personality. I’m so glad you’ve found a connection with us. Again, thank you for the kinds words.
    We’ve recently embarked on a new journey here at J. Peterman… Peterman’s Eye. Our community for curious mind. J. Peterman is blogging. A daily brief about opinion and curiosity on all topics. Same great copy without the products. When you have a chance I’d love for you to hop over and take a look and let me know what you think. We’re quite proud of Peterman’s Eye.
    http://www.petermanseye.com
    Have a great holiday.
    Cheers,
    Jonathan
    Jonathan Sexton
    Director of Marketing | The J. Peterman Company
    jsexton@jpeterman.com
    Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/jonathansexton
    Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/JPeterman
    jpeterman.com
    petermanseye.com

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Where are you from?

And for a brand, or for a place itself, what does that mean emotionally and commercially?

In the contexts of image, identity and marketing, dealing with these questions superbly is crucial in today's globalized, short-attention-span world.

Jeremy Hildreth, an adviser to companies, tourist departments and investment bureaus, aims to inspire and enlighten those who deal professionally with provenance and place of origin.

This website, then, is about brands *from* places (MADE IN X) and the brands *of* places (COME TO Y, OPEN AN OFFICE IN Z) -- and helping you understand and make the most of all that.

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