The times have changed, but Mad Men themes still hit home

Posted by: MaryHelen Votral, Senior Project Manager Sep 02, 2008 0 Comments

AMC’s original hit series Mad Men has become quite the talk around many marketing firms, Rock Creek included. The intriguing characters, their subtle relationship dynamics, and the authentic vintage setting have everyone buzzing on Monday mornings. Around here, we’ve been talking about how the characters’ approach to advertising and marketing is so limited by the media they were just beginning to understand (this season they’re exploring television’s potential).

I can relate to their excitement and optimism for new ways to reach customers and offer solutions to their needs and wants. Today we’re just realizing the power of Web 2.0 and new media conversations, reversing the mass communication mantra that one-to-many is the best way to deliver a message. Marketing is now about delivering value at the precise moment it is needed, not about carpet-bombing the market 365 days a year with meaningless noise.

But despite Mad Men’s raw entertainment value, and insightful perspective on the industry during the 1950s and 1960s, there are still a few similarities between the fictitious agency of Sterling-Cooper and the modern-day marketing and design firms.

Client service

Good clients are hard to find—anyone in the industry will tell you that. But in a recent season two episode, Sterling-Cooper decides to dismiss a current client to try to win business from the client’s much larger competitor. Taking a risk for a greater opportunity? Sure, who can fault them for that! Sometimes we have to put current business on the line to grow the agency in a new direction—and sometimes we even need to “divorce” clients that erode our revenue. But I shared Sterling-Cooper creative director Don Draper’s inner pain when he was told to “break up” with this good client, and his smugness when Sterling-Cooper lost the pitch and was left without the former client or the prospective one. Decisions about the clients we pursue are made on a case-by-case basis, but relationships remain a driving force behind many decisions in advertising today.

Technology

At Sterling-Cooper, it was a very busy day when the new photocopier arrived. It was also a big deal where this behemoth technological innovation would be situated! The gadget was the wave of the future, streamlining efficiency. Today, technology continues to revolutionize how the advertising industry operates. Once e-mail came on the scene, it was only a short time until the Blackberry took “working around the clock” to a whole new level. And here at Rock Creek, we’ve gone to great lengths (by tearing down a wall) for a state-of-the art digital printer, one of only 40 in the world, that will help us respond more efficiently to our clients’ needs.

Socializing

Long gone are the days of smoking while you work or pouring a colleague a whiskey before a 9 a.m. meeting. And gone are the days of aggressive and pervasive sexual discrimination of women in the workplace. Mad Men depicts an office environment where gender clearly distinguishes one’s role in the corporate structure: with a few exceptions, women are secretaries and assistants; men are sales people, creative contributors, leaders, and decision makers.

The show capitalizes on the mystique and glamour that has surrounded the advertising industry for decades. Just as it was back in Sterling-Cooper’s hey-day, advertising is still exciting and fun. It’s a thrill to work with clients, contribute to creative teams that produce stunning works of art, and create campaigns that change the way consumers see the world. The fantastic mix of business-minded professionals and talented artists and thinkers was—and still is—quite alluring to those seeking a career where the only constant is change.

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MaryHelen Votral

Senior Project Manager

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