Article first published as Don Draper – Master Of Creative Deception on Blogcritics

My accounts are bigger than yours. If you can’t outspend them, fool them.

In the last episode, Pete Campbell’s maneuvers with his father-in-law turned a potentially devastating loss of Clearasil (due to a rather loosely defined conflict with Pond’s) into a full-blown big win for more of the company’s business. A $6 million dollar account that would strengthen Pete’s partnership role at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and also set him and Roger up for a conflict. SCDP was on the move; everyone was working hard to pull in more new business; the partners were staking out their turf and tensions were high. For Don, this also meant that he had to continue flexing his creative muscles and keeping his creative reputation in high gear. All of these dynamics were brought into play with SCDP’s entrance into the pitch for the Honda motorcycle account.

The stage was set when Don received a call from the NY Times reporter asking his reaction to rival agency Cutler Gleason and Chaough landing the Clearasil and Jai Alai accounts. “Every time Don Draper looks in his rearview mirror, he sees me,” the reporter quotes CGC’s Ted Chaough as boasting. “I’ve never heard of him,” Don replies. Then Don finds out that SCDP would be up against this agency in the Honda pitch. Let the games begin.

Back then the real life reporter for the NY Times was the legendary Phil Dougherty. You always took his call, he asked direct, fair questions, and you gave Phil straight answers. Just about everyone in the business had great respect and affection for Phil. I am sure Don Draper would have felt the same.

New Business – Beating The Odds

The soliciting and winning of new business was and still is the lifeblood of the agency business. The quest for new business was shifting into high gear in the ‘60s and ‘70s. It was becoming an art and creating its own theater. The road to a new business win was a long one and the odds of success were not great. First an agency had to make it on to the consideration list (usually about 10 agencies), then be selected as a finalist (3-5 agencies), and ultimately the agency had to prevail in the final pitch. On average in any given year, an agency would perhaps convert two out of ten new business pitches into client wins. Often the same 5-6 agencies would go up against each other, so the rivalries were pretty intense
Every so often one or two agencies would break out of the pack, get hot, and go on a new business winning streak. Sometimes that happened with the larger, more established agencies, but it was usually more prevalent with the new, up and coming companies. In the ’60s and ‘70s agencies like Carl Ally, Norman Craig & Kummel, Wells Rich Green, Papert Koenig Lois, and Delahanty, Kurnit & Geller, were some of the ones to beat. For Don Draper and SCDP, Cutler Gleason and Chaough seems to be emerging as their prime competitor. The pitch for the Honda account would be the next meeting of their creative minds.

Much More Than A Presentation

The final presentations of a new business pitch were all-out, full blown battles in which campaign ideas, agency reputations, showmanship, and one-upmanship were on full display. It was, and still is, an exhilarating and intensely competitive game and many stellar careers were launched on successful performances in new business pitches. The clients set the specifications as to what would be presented, the ground rules on formats and levels of finish, and sometimes would provide a small fee to cover out of pocket expenses. These fees were token amounts that would not come close to covering expenses but would usually mean that clients would be able to keep the ideas presented to them. (The ad business gives away an astounding amount of ideas and IPs on “spec” in the pursuit of new business — that’s a story for another time.) In the Mad Men days most agencies played by the rules and production of finished commercials was rarely part of a final presentation. As time progressed, production of finished commercials became the norm and the level of finish and depth of work has grown substantially. Today, it is not unusual for agencies to spend $200K to $500K+ in out of pocket expenses pitching big new accounts. Don Draper would have been salivating to have that kind of money to play with. In the case of Honda, the ground rules were no finished commercials and the compensation was $3000.

It’s Not Just Business…It’s Personal

Despite Roger’s outrageous behavior with the Honda client, SCDP was still technically in the pitch, but everyone recognized they didn’t stand a chance. Don followed his creative instincts and urged his partners to break the rules, spend their own money, and produce a finished commercial that would win the day. “Fireworks.” Unfortunately, the finances at the agency wouldn’t allow for that. That’s when Don’s personal competitive need to win kicked in, and he decided to play head games with his upstart creative competitor. He used some inside industry information and part of the agency’s $3000 payment from Honda to dupe the other agency into thinking SCDP was breaking the rules and producing a TV spot. Of course, Ted Chauogh had to one-up Don. Don would use that as a way to make an impression of honor and redeem the agency with Honda. It worked. As it turned out, Honda motorcycles stayed with Grey and the pitch was a smokescreen for the upcoming car account pitch. SDCP was in and Don, Pete, and Lane all basked in the success.

The dynamics of this situation reflected what often happened in new business pitches. Things weren’t always what they seemed to be on the client side — agencies would do whatever it took to get intelligence about the competitors’ campaigns, personalities slugged it out, and the egos often met each other in the lobby coming in and out of the presentations. The head games were classic and the art of second guessing was elevated to new levels. Probably one of the best at all of this showmanship and a great creative leader was Jerry Della Femina. His agency turned out great creative work, and Jerry was a master of head games and using the power of the press. Jerry was a great friend of my mentor and partner, Shep Kurnit, and Shep always had a story to tell about his antics. Jerry wrote a wonderful book about his exploits in the Mad Men days, From Those Wonderful People Who Gave You Pearl Harbor. It’s just been reissued. I recommend you pick it up. You won’t be disappointed.

Oh, and by the way, it looks like Don may be embracing research at the agency and attending a few more focus groups now that he’s found out that Faye is single. Let’s see.

Article first published as Mad Men: Let’s Party Like It’s 1965! on Blogcritics.

Don Drinks (A Lot). Pete Pulls A Six Million Dollar Rabbit Out Of The Hat.

1965 was off to an eventful start for SCDP and episode four is chock full of the drama, tensions, and challenges prevalent at that time. Coincidentally, this particular episode takes place in February 1965, the very month that I started my first job at Benton & Bowles. Fortunately for me, the most drama and excitement that I had in my initial few months on Madison Avenue was getting used to 12-hour work days, being wined and dined by media companies, and sharing a cubicle with Eric von der Lieth — a rather colorful guy who never stopped telling stories. Eric (Duke to his friends) and I are still great friends today and we see each other often in Los Angeles. Nothing has changed — except we traded our cubicle for a golf cart.

New Year, New Billings

Back to Mad Men. The start of the new year on Madison Avenue was a time to wipe the slate clean and begin a new cycle of business. January 1 marked the start of a new contract year with clients, media rate cards were adjusted, a new clock started ticking on annual volume discounts for media, and perhaps most importantly, new advertising strategies and campaigns were being developed. The pressure was on in all departments but the creative department was under the most pressure. The campaigns they turned out in the first few months of the year would determine the agency’s success, creative standing, and reputation. Another truism of the agency business—that an agency or creative team is only as good as its last ad or test score—was in evidence everywhere. So, it’s not surprising  that Don took his end of year drinking up a few notches in the first few months of the new year.

The Focus Group

Probably two of the most dreaded words a creative director could hear. Focus groups were very much in vogue with clients and, at best, were a mixed blessing for creative directors. Don’s meeting with Faye and Peggy regarding the Pond’s Cold Cream campaigns being put into focus group testing is classic. Getting the most out of a focus group required a great deal of preparation by the creative and account teams as well as the moderator. Peggy and Faye understandably were very interested in whether a skeptical Don had read the research hypothesis and looked at the work. Don let them know that there was no need to… he had already made up his mind which direction was best. Nevertheless, the focus group went on without Don’s input, using some of the secretaries at SCDP. Agencies often tried out ideas with internal personnel, but most of the time the research was conducted in outside facilities with “typical consumers” recruited from the general population.

Researchers and focus group moderators were hand picked for their interviewing expertise and special interpretive skills. Some became sought after personalities. Over the years I was lucky to work with some of the best including Faith Popcorn, Paula Drillman, Eleanor Holtzman, and Shoi Dickinson. The skill and expertise that these researchers and moderators employed to bring out the emotional truth from the participants was critical to the success of the focus group. So when Faye broke through that emotional barrier on Pond’s she knew she would get at the answers they wanted. On the other side of mirror, Freddy and Don watched intently and they had a different view of it all. Freddy lamented, “It is frightening to think that our future is the hands of a group of emotional 22-year-olds.” Don’s retort: “Not mine.”

Anyway, according to the focus group, Freddy’s instincts were right. Faye informed Don that the women rejected Peggy’s “indulge yourself” concept and that ads should link Pond’s to matrimony. Don scoffed, “Hello, 1925” and Freddy smiled and said, “All women care about is getting married and they’ll buy anything that helps.” Including Pond’s.

Client Conflicts – One Agency’s Loss, Another’s Gain

It is accepted practice that an agency cannot work on directly competitive products. Coke vs Pepsi, Nestle vs Hershey, Crest vs Colgate. The logic of these direct conflicts is not disputable. However, many clients also demanded agency dedication and allegiance to their products that went beyond not working on competitive products. Very often agency employees were not allowed to use or consume competitive products at the agency and some of the stories about how far management would go to enforce these rules are legendary. From clients and agency principals inspecting ashtrays in conference rooms for telltale competitive butts to inspecting trash cans for candy bar wrappers and soft drink containers, the “conflict police” were ever-present. You could feel the walls shake from the shouting if anyone at Coke’s agency McCann-Erickson was seen with a can of Pepsi at their desk.

The real sticky business problems arose when the boundaries of what constituted a conflict began to spread and conflict lines blurred. Direct product conflicts spread to category conflicts, to corporate conflicts, then to consumer segment conflicts, and sometimes to plain and simple personal client prejudices. That was evident in the Pond’s/Clearasil conflict at SCDP. They were not directly competitive, but as Roger said, “The Pond’s client has a bug up his ass about Clearasil so we’ll have to resign the account.” Thanks to Pete Campbell’s fumbling sense of timing and bravado, SDCP was able to turn the resignation of an account into more new business. That didn’t happen very often, if at all. But, hey, this is TV.

Account Men Bury The Hatchet

The agency business is highly competitive and that spirit often spilled over into personal relationships. Pete Campbell and Ken Cosgrove were friendly internal rivals at Sterling Cooper, but now they’re unfriendly competitors at rival agencies. Over a lunch arranged by Harry, Ken accused Pete of backstabbing and Pete apologized for any perceived slights. Once that tension was lifted, they both let their guards down and commiserated over the issues each of them faced at their respective agencies. They had a laugh over Ken’s description of life at McCann as the “worst agency I’ve ever been at. You all may be slaves to to Draper but it’s better to be a slave to creative than to an old fart who poured the last drink.” This was emblematic of an attitude shift that was happening at that time. Creative agencies were seen as the cooler, more liberating places to work versus the more established agencies that typically were run by older, well-heeled account people. McCann-Erickson was emblematic of that kind of agency.

This interchange between Pete and Ken had a particular resonance with me since I was CEO of an agency that was acquired by McCann in the early 1980s. Our agency, Geers Gross, was absorbed into McCann and I found myself in a situation similar to Ken’s. Fortunately, by that time McCann had evolved into a much better agency and place to work and I had a great experience in my two stints at the agency. However, when I arrived there still were some vestiges of the Mad Men McCann days… especially the agency’s “boys club” culture and locker room mentality. Oddly enough, during my time at McCann I had the opportunity to work with Nina DiSesa, one of the best creative directors of that time. Nina is a smart, savvy, creative woman who mastered the art of navigating the macho waters of advertising and delivering great creative work for her clients. I admire her a great deal. Nina recently wrote a book about her exploits which I highly recommend. Seducing The Boys Club reveals her uncensored tactics on how she got to be a very successful Don Draper of later years. You will enjoy it.

It will be interesting to see how Don and the boys at SCDP deal with this evolving female dynamic in future episodes.

1965: A year of kinder, gentler Mad Men?

Article first published as Mad Men 1964: A Magnificent Year on Blogcritics.

SCDP celebrated its first Christmas with a mix of holiday cheer and consternation. A veteran creative returned with a new client attached, business was okay but not great, finances were tight, and the agency’s marquee talent, Don Draper, was struggling with self-doubt and drinking a bit too much, even for Don. Everyone was looking forward to the start of a new year, some big creative home runs, and an influx of new business.

An LA State Of Mind

The episode opened with Harry Crane, head of TV programming, asking Don to meet with a TV executive at the Brown Derby in Los Angeles (Don was headed off to Acapulco for some R&R with a very important stop in LA to see Anna and get more depressing news.) Lane joined the conversation and made a remark about Harry’s “fiddling about” in Los Angeles…a not so subtle reference to his West Coast expense accounts. Back then, trips to LA were viewed as one of the perks of the job.

In the 1960s the major agencies were expanding with branch offices and just about all of them had an outpost in LA. Initially these offices were set up as satellites to handle the production of television commercials, work with independent commercial production companies and directors, and liaise with the studios and television network executives. In addition to the agency’s TV programming executives jetting out to LA, the creative teams and account people welcomed the decision to produce the next TV campaign on the “coast.”

This usually meant that the creative team, agency producer, and the account person (and sometimes the client) would spend a week in LA overseeing the production. It involved, casting, pre-production, shooting, editing, and, of course, nights on the town. A welcomed week out of the office with most of the expense built into the production estimate and the rest covered by the agency’s 17.65% mark-up on outside production costs.

The account person was usually there to hold the client’s hand, keep the expenses under control, and help mediate any disputes that would arise. My first LA production was for a four-day shoot of Benton & Bowles’ legendary Mr. Whipple campaign for Charmin toilet tissue (see my earlier article for more about that). While I didn’t do that much, I can still remember it vividly. Even today when I visit a Concept Farm production I am always impressed with how much time, talent, and attention to detail goes into  shooting and finishing these thirty second spots.

Male Bonding, Mad Men Style

The last day of SDCP’s first year also saw the beginning of an understanding between two agency adversaries…the free-wheeling, big spending, living large Don Draper and the cautious, fiscally conservative, live-within-your-means Lane Pryce. There was a natural tension between creative directors and finance. Creative directors wanted to hire the best (and most expensive) creative teams available, they ran their departments with a more casual attitude about policies and procedures and did their best to foster an atmosphere of creative freedom. Also, the creative department payroll is most critical and usually the largest in the agency so it came under the most scrutiny. Naturally, Lane was always looking over Don’s shoulder.

When Don and Lane found themselves to be the only two people in the office on New Year’s eve, they put aside their differences and were brought together by their lonliness and need for some familiar, albeit awkward, companionship. Perhaps the pivotal moment in establishing this connection came when Lane let his guard down and made this comment to Don: “Not withstanding that we are still in a precarious  situation financially, it has been a magnificent year.” A recognition that Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce had made a bold move, overcame some difficult circumstances, and indeed had a lot to be proud of.  It will be interesting to see if this newly formed bond between Don and Lane survives the day-to-day pressures of the business and if it bodes well for the new agency.

SDCP’s first meeting of the new year started with the key players assembling in the agency’s conference room. Joan very calmly asked…”Gentlemen, shall we begin 1965?”

Happy New Year?

SCDP’s Christmas Potpourri: A 2 Million Dollar Gift. A Party Dilemma. A Troubled Don Draper.

Article first published as Mad Men Christmas: Reality Bites on Blogcritics.

The first episode of season four gave us a glimpse into the beginnings of a new advertising agency with a familiar cast of characters and a few new faces. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce seems to be off to an acceptable but not spectacular debut. While starting a new ad agency might have been relatively easy, building a successful, enduring agency was far from a walk in the park. The need to do whatever it takes to keep the doors open while showcasing and enhancing the agency’s creative reputation was, and still is, the essential driving force in building an agency. Bert reminded everyone how fragile this can be when he announced that one client, Lucky Strike, accounted for 71% of the agency’s revenue. While it was not unusual for an ad agency’s fortunes to be in the hands of one, two, or perhaps three clients, this level of dominance was particularly troubling…and it was with a client that was coming under increased regulatory pressure.

Don’s New Reality

The struggle to get new clients and the urgent need to keep the existing ones happy was very real and it put new pressures on everyone. Additionally, these high powered Mad Men were now operating in a radically different environment than Sterling Cooper. The agency was much smaller, with fewer resources, leaner expense accounts, a compacted hierarchy, and dependent on codependent relationships. Leadership, visible, talked about work, risk taking and creative reputation mattered more than ever. At a critical moment Don rose to the occasion. He decided to step up and step out by declaring himself the “voice” and personification of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Don’s move created a new level of expectations by which he would be judged (by himself and others) and it set the stage for a whole net set of office dynamics and politics. Here’s how some of this played out in episode two.

A New Client With Some Strings Attached

There is a truism in the agency business. Clients hire agencies but the business is built on the relationships with the people that do the work and deliver the goods. Sometimes these people relationships become more important than the agency. When key people change jobs or strike out on their own clients occasionally will move with them. While this still happens today, it was more prevalent in the Mad Men days. The Freddy Rumsen,  Ponds cold cream scenario that unfolded in this episode is revealing in a few ways. When Freddy dangled the two million dollar Ponds account in front of Roger Sterling he was welcomed back to the new agency as a reformed man. But, he had some very specific conditions. No Pete Campbell as the account person (payback time), he would be the creative front man, and he wanted to work with Peggy. Given the agency’s tight financial conditions, money trumped loyalty

The dynamic between Freddy and Peggy is interesting. Peggy is passionate about doing great creative work that will get the agency noticed. She also knows that Freddy is a “hack” (she called him old fashioned) and that he would only push the work he knew the client would buy. All the rest would be window dressing. So much for creative reputation building. Hopefully we will get to see the campaign they develop and sell.

Enter The Shrinks

The Mad Men days also saw the beginning of a new creative wave in advertising. Fact heavy, demonstration driven, before and after advertising was beginning to give way to softer, more emotionally driven approaches. To better address these needs agencies started to employ motivational research as part of their creative development process. Initially, most of the creative people viewed this with great skepticism and saw it as a distraction. The conference room scene in which Dr. Faye Miller introduced these new techniques to the agency team captured the attitude and dynamic brilliantly. Many of the researchers in this field were women and they had to work very hard just to command the attention of advertising’s macho boys club. Also, their research was based on “touchy feely” findings and attitudes that the Don Drapers of the business simply could not grasp or relate to. It was an uphill battle and Don’s abrupt exit summed it up well. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Dr. Miller.

The Ups And Downs Of Christmas

The Christmas holidays were hectic and demanding in the agency business. There usually was a heavy workload leading up to the holidays that had to be balanced with the obligations of client entertainment and attention. It was expected. Christmas parties definitely were the highlight of the year…not only at the agencies but also with the vast array of media companies, printers, production houses, and other suppliers who courted agencies for their business. Some of these outside parties were legendary for their extravagance and wild and crazy times. We had clients that would plan an entire holiday week around attending them and it was the responsibility of the account team to make sure that every base and expense was covered.

Keep It In The Family

Most agencies preferred to do their client holiday entertaining at private lunches and dinners where they could spend some quality, relationship-building time. Agency parties were more like internal family affairs, each with their own style and tradition. We let our hair down, celebrated, and got to know each other better. When times were good the parties were bigger. When times were lean they were scaled back. But there was always a party. We tried to avoid having clients at office Christmas celebrations for some good reasons. The prospect of multiple, socially lubricated clients gathered in one place comparing notes about the agency was a risky recipe. There was always the possibility of embarrassing and potentially relationship-ending incidents. Expectations were higher so it cost more. And, it also meant that the key agency management would be taking care of clients rather than celebrating the agency and its people.

This was cleverly brought to life at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce when the Lucky Strike client (Mr. 71% of the agency’s business) announced he was in town, wanted to attend the agency’s party and was expecting a Madison Avenue great time. Suddenly, Roger had to up the ante for the party and “change the rating from convalescent home to Roman orgy.” He was also subjected to a lecture from Lane about the importance of controlling expenses and reining in his “bottomless pocket of money” management style. Then, the client forced Roger into donning the Santa Claus suit and took pictures with staffers sitting on his lap. Ho! Ho! Ho! Humiliating.

The next day Roger met Don at the office and made this classic statement that summed up his attitude about the party. “ My father used to say that this is the greatest job in the world except for one thing — the clients.”

Clients. Without them there wouldn’t be any Mad Men.

(Article first published as Starting An Ad Agency the Mad Men Way on Blogcritics.)

Don Draper, Creative Director, Steps Out Front And Center

Season four of Mad Men is off to a great start with the birth of a new Ad Agency. Episode 1, “Public Relations” provides a glimpse into some of the challenges and drama that were part of starting these new ventures in the Mad Men era. In looking at the show I have to remind myself that Mad Men is not a documentary about advertising in the ‘60’s. It is, however, a wonderful period piece soap opera that brilliantly captures the essence and psyche of the advertising business back then. Mad Men is TV at its best so there is an expected degree of exaggeration, hyperbole and caricature. While some of the situations depicted are a bit over the top, overall Mad Men captures the reality and raw emotions of the business that resonate with me. Here’s a look behind the scenes that will add some texture and context to what the folks at the new Sterling, Cooper, Draper & Pryce are going through.

Fire Us! Please

When Mad Men closed out Season 3, the key principals of Sterling Cooper decided to, pick up, pack it up and set up a new agency. Admittedly, the reality of such a move wasn’t as simple as Mad Men portrayed it….an abrupt walk out of the key players, moving a client on the spot, and an overnight clean out of all the files. It took a lot more maneuvering, carefully choreographed discussions, managing 90 day client termination agreements, negotiating employment contract exits, etc. But, this definitely was the time for a liberated generation of Mad Men to rise up and shine, flex their creative muscles, and boldly declare their independence. The cult and culture of the creative personality emerged with a new look and a powerful passion.

Season 4’s first episode captured the dynamics of this culture shift when it opened with Don’s botched interview with an Advertising Age reporter and closed with Don’s assertive Wall Street Journal redemption. (On the subject of the Ad Age interview, Rance Crain, one of the great business journalists and long time editor-in-chief of Ad Age wrote a nice piece on how these types of  interviews were really conducted.)

Names On The Door: “Who is Don Draper?”

Advertising agencies in some part modeled themselves after other service businesses like accounting and law firms. So, having the company name embrace and identify the principals was nothing new. From some of the oldest names in the ad business (McCann-Erickson N. W. Ayer & Son, Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborne, Leo Burnett, Young & Rubicam) to some of the newcomers of the 1950’s (Doyle Dane Bernbach, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather ) names on the door helped create an feeling of personal attention and responsibility. Then, in the late “50’s and early ‘60’s creative geniuses like Bill Bernbach and David Ogilvy lit a new spark of creativity with breakthrough campaigns for Volkswagen, Alka-Seltzer, Hathaway, Schweepes and others. Suddenly, clients and industry executives were more interested in the people behind the ads than the company names in front of them. Energized by this new attitude and bolstered by the fact that advertising was (and still is) a low cost of entry business (a vision, ideas, “pads&pencils”, confidence and salesmanship) many of the creative people behind those campaigns decided to strike out on their own…. and they did so in record numbers.

Most often it was the creative principal who was the face, voice and soul of the new company….a huge responsibility. So, in this episode when Don took a “modest’, low profile approach to the agency’s big PR shot and the Advertising Age article described Don Draper as a “handsome cipher,” it got everyone pissed off. It prompted Roger Sterling to complain, “You turned all the sizzle from Glo-Coat into a wet fart.”. Bert Cooper put it a bit more diplomatically when he said “Turning creative success into business is your work, and you’ve failed.” When your name is on the door you have to make it matter.

High Risk. High Reward. Even Higher Tensions

The 1960’s spawned a wonderful new breed of Mad Men. These were brilliant creative people with the talent, passion and “balls” to trade on their creative reputations and start a business with nothing, or perhaps the “promise” of an account or at best one client. They inspired a cadre of trusted talent to take the plunge with them and launched creative boutiques that kicked the creative revolution in advertising into high gear. Some set up shop in hotel suites, others camped out in borrowed office space and some found enough money to rent space. They gave up the trappings, staff, space and security of established companies for a much leaner, meaner business environment in which they could flex their creative muscles and do great work. The stakes were high, the energy even higher and the potential for fame and fortune or failure was equally present and lurking around the corner every day. These new business were fragile and the loss of one account could shutter the agency. The pressure to do whatever it took to attract and keep clients was sometimes in conflict the creative leader’s desire to stand up for his or her creative principles.

That natural tension showed up in this episode during the agency’s pitch for the Janzten swimwear account. Don refused to compromise on the creative approach, unceremoniously asked the clients to leave and decided then and there that it would be his voice and his creative vision that would lead the company. In the final scene, the Wall Street Journal reporter leads with this question. “There is always a name in every agency partnership who defines who they are. In the case of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce would you say that is Don Draper.?” Don’s answer…an emphatic Yes! Just like the great real world creative agencies, the new Mad Men agency  will be defined by its creative leader…Don Draper. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in future episodes.

Who Were Some Of These Mad Men?

Most of these bold new creative leaders of the sixties grew up under Bill Bernbach, David Ogilvy, Leo Burnett and others. Even, McCann-Erickson, one of the oldest established agencies, got into the act when they spun off an elite, creative think tank, Jack Tinker & Partners in 1964. Some of the real Mad Men of the ‘60’s who lead the way and inspired my generation were George Lois, Shep Kurnit, Jerry Della Femina, Mary Wells, Leo Greenland. They started what Jerry Della Femina called the “swinging agencies”…..Wells, Rich, Greene; Delehanty, Kurnit & Geller; Smith/Greenland; Daniel & Charles to name a few.

After my initial stint at Benton & Bowles from 1965 -1970 I was lucky enough to spend my next 10 years working with some of the best creative stars that emerged from this era. First at Doyle Dane Bernbach working with Dave Ryder, Bill Taubin, Bob Levinson, Roy Grace and Evan Stark. Then as a partner at Delehanty Kurnit & Geller (later named DKG) where Shep Kurnit and Neil Calet took me under their wings and we were named Agency of The Year by Ad Age in the mid ‘70’s.

Finally, here’s an interesting coincidence. In the last scene of this episode with the WSJ reporter, Don abandons modesty and says, “Last year, our agency was being swallowed whole and I could die of boredom or holster up my guns. So I walked into Lane Pryce’s office and I said, ‘Fire us.’ Within a year, we’d taken over two floors of the Time-Life Building.” Our offices at DKG were on the 38th floor of the Time Life Building. Go figure. I spent 7 years at DKG and never ran into Don in the elevator.

Stay Tuned.

Season three of AMC’s Mad Men ended with a bang, break-ups (a marriage and an agency), and the promise of new beginnings. So, while Mad Men fans everywhere are having hiatus withdrawal and anticipating what Don will do next, Mad Men Confidential is a special series that looks at the show from a different perspective… from the inside out.

I’ll be bringing you commentary and discussion about the Mad Men episodes from fellow real Mad Men insiders. Frank talk about what life was like on (and off) Madison Avenue — colorful behind the scenes accounts about how ad campaigns were created, client meetings happened, office politics played out, the three-martini lunches and after hours hijinks that are the fabric of the Mad Men TV series. And, just for fun, some of today’s brash and bold Mad Men and Women will join in for interesting conversation, lively banter, and creative one-upmanship — a provocative “then and now” look at Madison Avenue that’s guaranteed to make sparks fly over the martinis and Merlot!

Who Are These Guys?

Mad Men is an Emmy Award-winning phenomenon that has also succeeded in popularizing the advertising business of the 1960s. Well, I am one of those ad guys lucky enough to have started my advertising career in the Mad Men era and fortunate to be still at it today. In the ‘60’s, Madison Avenue was synonymous with creativity, style, panache, and power and was seen as the trendsetting arbiter of American values. It was considered a glamorous business and an elite occupation populated with A-type egos who either decided to skip medical school, leave after the first year of law school, wanted no part of Hollywood or didn’t like the downtown vibe of Wall Street. So, we took our MBAs and English Literature degrees uptown to Madison Avenue to make our mark at one of New York’s legion of advertising agencies.

Mad Men Roots

My first day on the job was February 15, 1965 at Benton & Bowles (B&B), one of Madison Avenue’s top tier “white shoe” ad agencies. I started in the Media Department working under some legends of the business: Lee Rich, Bern Kanner, and Merrill Grant. Starting pay, $100 per week… $20 more per week than they were paying at McCann or Grey. After a few months I was promoted to be one of those account men you’ve come to know at Sterling Cooper. Rather than Peter Campbell or Ken Cosgrove, my mentors were Roy Bostock and Tom Griffin, smart, savvy guys who set me on the right path and went on to assume leadership roles in the Industry. The Don Drapers who put me through the creative wringer were Whit Hobbs, Joe Bacal, and Sid Lerner, who created some of the classic advertising of the period. The executive suite at B&B was populated with a trio of the classiest Mad Men in the business: Ted Steele, Jack Bowen and Vic Bloede. Inspiring role models.

I stayed at B&B until 1970 and from there went on to work at other great ad agencies on an array of some famous and not so famous accounts, and a seven-year stint on the client side. (We’ll save that story for another TV series.) Fast forward 45 years, and I’m lucky to still be at it working with today’s new breed of Mad Men… and Women. Over the past five decades I’ve seen it all, including being vice chairman of the largest global agency network, McCann-Erickson, and had the pleasure and privilege of working with some of the biggest, coolest, craziest people in the business.

It Was A Special Moment In Time

Mad Men depicts a time when men in suits and ties literally defined the way regular people lived their lives. Way before PCs and Macs, the Internet, Facebook, and Twitter, Mad Men used the growing power of television, radio, magazines, and outdoor advertising to conjure up and deliver images that endured and still define our culture today. From Aunt Jemima to the Marlboro Man, to Mr. Whipple, Speedy Alka-Seltzer, “soaps” and soap commercials, the VW Beetle and “Look Ma, no cavities” these Mad Men showed us who we wanted to be and told us what to buy. And we loved it!

Meet The Real Mr. Whipple

My big break at B&B came when I was promoted to be the account executive on P&G’s Charmin toilet tissue account. We were riding high on perhaps one of the most successful ad campaigns in history featuring Mr. Whipple — a grocery store owner obsessed with keeping people from “squeezing the Charmin” (because it is so soft, of course).

Mr. Whipple was brilliantly brought to life by the great character actor Dick Wilson. I was about to go to LA for my first Charmin TV production and to meet Dick Wilson. I was invited to a meeting to discuss potential PR around the shoot with Sid Lerner, the creative director, and the agency’s director of public relations whom I’d not yet met. When the meeting started Sid said, “Hank, meet the real Mr. Whipple,” and he introduced me to George Whipple who was the charismatic PR Director of the agency. The creative team that originally developed the campaign a few years earlier borrowed George Whipple’s name for their obsessed grocer. B&B paid George a buyout fee of $1 for the use of his name. A 1978 newspaper poll named George Whipple the third best known American behind President Nixon and Billy Graham. Not bad for a dollar.

The Big Picture Of What’s On The Small Screen: My Take

I often get asked if Mad Men is an accurate reflection of what it was really like. How realistic, or perhaps not realistic enough, is the life of the ad men being portrayed on the show. Mad Men is TV at its best so there is an expected degree of exaggeration and hyperbole. While some of the situations depicted seem a bit over the top, at its essence and in large part what is portrayed on Mad Men rings true with me in many ways. The attention to detail, staging, and casting is wonderful and almost mesmerizing. Sterling Cooper is eerily similar in tone and texture to Benton & Bowles. The client situations, office dynamics , meeting banter and, of course, the drinking, sex, and smoking are pretty much on the mark. Except, when I arrived, most of us were smoking something a lot more stimulating than Lucky Strikes. I’m sure as the show moves forward, the nature of what gets inhaled will progress accordingly.

Work Hard — Play Harder

Then, as today, advertising was a high pressure business that demanded hard work, long hours, personal sacrifice, and a flair for the dramatic. In the 1960s the “work hard, play hard” ethic was in full force, especially on Madison Avenue. No, it wasn’t all about martinis, misogyny, and mischief, but there’s no doubt that these ingredients were part of the play hard culture that also crossed over into personal lives and relationships. Hell, we practically had no choice but to indulge. Given client entertainment “duties,” lunches, dinners, parties, and boondoggles hosted by media companies, printers, production houses, and other suppliers you could virtually pick your party and your pleasure every day — for free. Remember, these were the T&E glory days of anything goes expense accounts and these extracurricular benefits helped us survive and thrive on salaries of $100 per week.

On the work hard side, Mad Men also nails it pretty well. The pressure to perform and stay ahead of the game was relentless. One of Roger Sterling’s lines from a season one episode sums up the pressure very well. “The day you sign a client is the day you start losing them.”

The stakes were high and the tempers and temperatures of many of the agency meetings ran even higher. Another creative director at Benton & Bowles, Dick Anderson, always had a wonderful way of putting all this angst and antics into perspective. One day he saw that I was a bit frustrated by how difficult it was to actually get advertising created, produced, and on the air. The office politics, endless meetings, ego battles, and the amount of client “handling” required could sometimes seem endless. I’ll never forget what he said to me. “Remember this. You’re working with some of the brightest creative people on the planet who spend most of their time smoking, drinking, and selling soap to each other. Relax. Enjoy it.” I can’t say that I spent the rest of my career relaxing but I certainly did enjoy the journey… and still am. In the next installment of Mad Men Confidential we’ll be taking a closer look at the final episode of season three, “Close The Door and Take a Seat,” an episode that hit all too close to home with me 20 years later.

Stay tuned.

If you are a fellow real Mad Man with a story to tell or would like to be interviewed for this series please attach a comment or e-mail me at hank@conceptfarm.com.

AMC’s Mad Men has captured our attention and struck a responsive chord with millions of viewers. The Madison Avenue lifestyle of the ’60′s  is front and center. The style and  lifestyle of what was viewed as a exciting and glamorous business.

I was interviewed recently by Kenya McCullum for an Examiner.com piece about the show. The Season 3 finale had just aired and Examiner was closing out its coverage of the season with a look ahead. Not at the next season. Today. Kenya is a great interviewer and we had an interesting and provocative chat about the show. She asked the question,  Would he still like the advertising industry if he took a time capsule and saw what was to come? My answer was no, mainly because he would not be the Master of The Universe as he was in the 1960′s.

Examiner also conducted a poll asking a similar question. Looks like 75% of respondents agreed with my belief that Don would not like it on Madison Avenue today. Hope you enjoy the article and take the  poll.