As an avid viewer of Mad Men, I have an ongoing love-hate relationship with the hit series’ main character, Don Draper. One episode I’m critical of his womanizing, demoralizing behavior and the next I’m in admiration of his creativity and uncanny ability to command a situation. 
This intended roller-coaster effect has left me drawing parallels between back-in-the-day and modern-day techniques of advertising and PR.
Granted, we don’t have free-flowing booze at the Buchanan PR office and our windows do not gaze upon the streets of midtown Manhattan, yet there are many similarities – of the positive sort – that exist between our team and the gang at Sterling Cooper Draper Price.
- Creativity—Ideas are born out of a process of collaboration and reiteration. Each failed idea lends itself to a lesson learned about what may work better. You never know when a good idea may strike, and you shouldn’t settle for something sub-par (you’ll come to regret it later when the client chooses your least favorite tagline option). So when Don Draper saves the day by coming up with the best way to brand Hilton Hotels after his team relentlessly reinvents the wheel, it’s no different than a modern-day agency-wide brainstorming session to determine the best way of telling a story or positioning a client to their target audience. By the way, have you ever noticed that Don always presents his ideas by telling a story? Yet another similarity between advertising and PR. But creativity is about more than developing effective messaging. When Don turns the table on former client Lucky Strike by writing and miraculously placing (without a PR practitioner in sight!) an op-ed in The New York Times about why he quit tobacco, he makes it seem as though Sterling Cooper left Lucky Strike and not the other way around. This bold action attracts the attention of prospective clients along the lines of the American Cancer Society. We can all appreciate this reminder that even when you’re down, you’re not always out.
- Client Service—This is a staple on the show – the bread and butter of how Sterling Cooper operates. If ever there is an issue with an unsatisfied client, leave it to Roger to swoop in and smooth things over. Sometimes this involves schmoozing the client into agreement with Don’s advertising campaign, and other times it involves convincing Don that the client is always right. As my colleague Emily DiTomo mentioned in her recent blog post, The Lost Art of Customer Service in Public Relations, the need to provide a high level of client service remains critical.
- Chasing Big Fish with Small Fish—(*Spoiler Alert for those who don’t regularly watch the show*) In a recent episode, Don learns that Sterling Cooper is going up against its main competitor—another mid-sized agency—in a pitch to win a hefty piece of business from Chevy. Recognizing that their chances of winning the business separately are slim to none, Don proposes a partnership between the two agencies, which later leads to a merger. This risky move pays off and the two agencies gain the business. This episode just goes to show the best ideas don’t always come from the biggest agencies. And what may appear to be a competitor may actually offer a valuable, complementary skill set. This trend exists today for mid-sized agencies such as Buchanan. Especially in our ever-evolving digital era, we continually find ourselves seeking out partners to offer more diversified service offerings.
Love him or hate him, there is much to be learned from watching Don Draper swindle, cheat and steal his way through Mad Men. Aside from the entertainment value, I enjoy watching how closely the advertising world of the 60s aligns with the PR world of today.