Advertising is all about telling stories, says Don Draper.The last we saw of Don Draper, he was pulling outside a dilapidated corner house in Pennsylvania. The crumbling, wooden house stands in the shadows of the surrounding hulking blocks of apartments, like a lost childhood dream dwarfed by adult realities.
“This is a bad neighbour-hood,” one of his three children pipes up.
“This is where I grew up,” Draper replies. Then he stares into the distance, looking impossibly beautiful, as Both Sides Now by Judy Collins starts playing.
And that’s an apt song to judge Mad Men by. Because the hit television drama does have two sides. The first is that it is all a beautiful lie. Despite the historical accuracy of costume and set, Mad Men remains a fiction drama. It’s an unrealistic series of situations where men are handsome and have perfect teeth, women are glamorous, and the best ideas come while in the deep throes of a hangover.
The second side, however, is closer to marketing truth. Admittedly, there are few people in the industry who, like Don Draper, come up with a brilliant tagline just by sipping their drink. And yet, Mad Men can teach us a lesson or two about pitching and selling ideas. So, let’s pay a visit to the Sterling, Cooper and Partners offices.
It’s who you know
It’s a basic human tenet that people prefer to do business with those they know. There’s nothing wrong about such associations – after all, would you rather plan the growth of your business with a stranger or with someone you know and trust?
It’s important to build personal relationships with your existing or potential clients. At Sterling, Cooper and Partners, the account executives wine and dine with their clients, even after hours. Of course, don’t overdo it like they do. Instead, invest time in your clients – treat them to lunch, show genuine interest in their personal affairs, and remember their birthdays. The key is to show them that you care about them and not about their account.
Moreover, remember that loyalty is never a bad policy. Never drop a client with whom you’ve worked for a long time, in favour of a new client, even if the latter has a bigger budget. True, in the short-term, the financial gain might be bigger – however, you might be endangering your firm’s reputation.
Sell products not advertising
In a verbal duel with Duck Philips, who is about to assume control of Sterling Cooper Advertising and is planning to increase profits by limiting the role of the creative department, Don Draper emerges victorious by saying, “I sell products not advertising.”
That is one of the most important marketing lessons you can ever learn. There is no advertising for advertising’s sake. Rather, advertising is there to serve a purpose – selling your client’s products and services. If an advert isn’t translated into leads and sales, then that advert, however good it is, is worthless. Remember that your client’s needs are your top priority.
Telling stories
Advertising may have come a long way since the 1960s. Nowadays, messages are more immediate, capture a larger audience, and you can immediately analyse the return on investment. However, the basic function of advertising is still the same – telling stories.
Successful campaigns are not just about selling a product – they are about selling an experience. And they do that by stoking your aspirations and an emotional response.
Don’s wife, Megan, comes up with the perfect tagline for Heinz Beans: “Some things never change.” Just four words that manage to evoke childhood dreams, family meals and wholesomeness. You cannot but yearn for a plate of beans. Another perfect slogan is, “Finally, something beautiful you can truly own”, which Don coins for Jaguar. It’s a slogan which brings our hand closer to the grasp of beauty.
Be original, be personal
True, anyone can post a comment on social media and call it marketing. But it’s not, because it lacks its narrative element and doesn’t have a conversation with potential clients. It lacks anything which makes it appealing orengaging.
Of course, that doesn’t stop anyone from doing exactly that – finding a spare five minutes during lunch break to do some promotion on the side.
And all that does is increase the barrage of messages that potential clients are exposed to every day. But by having a cunning plan, being original, and telling a compelling, personal story, you can attract potential clients’ attention.
A winning team
It’s Don Draper who gets the best ideas – fair enough, given that Mad Men is all about him. And yet he’s not afraid of collaborating with his fellow creatives. He has unfaltering trust in Peggy and when his wife Megan comes up with the tagline for Heinz Beans, he is the first to give her credit.
In the real world, good content has many parents. Your creative process might be personal, but in order to translate ideas into good content, you need to work as a team.
Smooth operator
Have you ever seen Don Draper sporting the just-out-of-bed look? Of course not. Even in the toughest of times, he is as sharply dressed and dashing as ever.
Take cue from Don and always be the smartest one in the room. Being impeccably dressed shows that you are successful and that you are in control. And it shows that you’re confident in your ideas – which is the best way to sell them.