Shirley Polykoff was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 advertising

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

 executive whose "Does She... Or Doesn't She?" tagline

Tagline

A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product...

 for Clairol

Clairol

Clairol is a personal care products division of Procter & Gamble. The Clairol company was started in 1931 by Lawrence M. Gelb and wife, Joan, who named their enterprise after a hair-coloring preparation they found while traveling in France....

 dramatically increased sales and earned her a place in the Advertising Hall of Fame.

Born in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, she started her career in magazine and retail ad sales before taking a position at Foote, Cone & Belding

Foote, Cone & Belding

Draftfcb is one of the largest global advertising agency networks. It is owned by Interpublic Group and was formed by the 2006 merger of Foote, Cone & Belding and Draft. Although the merger of the two agencies is fairly young, the origins of Draftfcb date back to 1873, with the opening of Lord &...

. In 1955 she took over the Clairol account, and her line helped take the hair color category from $25 million to $200 million annually, with Clairol holding a 50% market share

Market share

Market share is the percentage of a market accounted for by a specific entity. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 67 percent responded that they found the "dollar market share" metric very useful, while 61% found "unit market share" very useful.Marketers need to be able to...

.

She was #24 on the Advertising Age

Advertising Age

Advertising Age is a magazine, delivering news, analysis and data on marketing and media. The magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930...

100 people of the 20th century and is very likely the model for the character Peggy Olsen in Mad Men

Mad Men

Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...

.

External links

• Shirley Polykoff via Advertising Hall of Fame
• Shirley Polykoff profile
• Shirley Polykoff via Advertising Age
• Art Directors Club biography, portrait and images of work