History
Mothers of Invention was launched in 1989 by a guy from Jersey, marketing veteran Robert Rosenthal. Dubbing it a “parallel universe for marketers,” Robert set out to create a marketing shop that made a substantial difference.
The original business plan had two lines that ring as true today as they did back then: “Treat each client’s money as if it were our own” and “Tell clients what they need to hear, not simply what they want to hear.”
So confident was the fledgling agency, it boldly bet three national advertisers that their work would earn bigger profits in split-run tests. Wagering $5,000 to each, we offered to create new advertising free of charge. Although none of the companies accepted, the story became national advertising news.
An advocate for measuring advertising from his days as an undergrad marketing major, Robert named his fledgling shop Rosenthal Direct. Early clients ran the gamut from consumer businesses like Together Dating Service to B2B players along Route 128’s Technology Belt.
In early 1989, Softbridge signed on, and results were nothing short of spectacular. One campaign to rented direct mail lists pulled as high as a 16% response rate. In 1990, Softbridge was listed in an industry newsletter as America’s fastest-growing software company. Soon after, the agency teamed with another technology rocket: Object Design. It was ranked #1 in 1994 on the Inc. 500 list. The client list continued to grow.
The lion’s share of the early portfolio was print and postal mail. And it was consistently effective: During the first four years of the agency’s existence, no direct mail campaign pulled under 2% on at least one test panel.
When Web marketing took off, clients asked the shop to leverage its direct marketing expertise – initially in banner ads, landing pages, and microsites. Subsequently, the agency was among the first to run conceptual ads in HTML email. Again, results were exceptional. The shop’s campaigns were regularly showcased in advertising and direct marketing journals like Adweek, Advertising Age, and Direct Marketing.
By the late-1990s, the work had changed dramatically: More than 50% of revenues were derived from online marketing. The agency was renamed Passaic Parc, after a park where Robert played basketball with an eclectic mix of inventive individuals during his formative years.
The 2000s were a stellar time for the agency and its clients. The decade began with innovative work for white-hot Internet startups Be Free and HomePortfolio. For both, we slashed by more than 80% the cost of new customer relationships.
The agency continued to lead the way in email advertising, turning the medium into a productive channel for lots of marketers, including Bright Horizons, Cognos, MIT Technology Review, Practising Law Institute, and Simmons College.
We continued to rack up record-breaking campaigns for clients including EFD, Harris Connect, Iron Mountain, Monster, Personnel Decisions International, New England Journal of Medicine, RSA Security, Unica, and the Webby Awards.
In 2006, we renamed the shop Mothers of Invention. (Yes, Robert was a Frank Zappa fan.) And we continued to shatter marketing records. One strategy, known as the clutter-buster, achieved a stunning 51% meeting rate for Boston photographer Chris Beaudoin. We even managed to create a campaign for none other than Donald Trump – one that beat earlier advertising by a large double-digit margin.
Mothers of Invention keeps propelling the marketing industry forward, with an innovative business model and amazingly diverse team. The agency launched the largest direct marketing group on Facebook, What I Saw at the Direct Marketing Revolution, with nearly 2,000 members. And a popular blog, Freaking Marketing. In addition to helping businesses monetize social media, it’s leading the way in marketing automation, search marketing, Web video, and other new media content.