Forget the Ad Degree, Watch Mad Men Instead.
When the heart of good advertising can be captured succinctly and brilliantly in a three-minute YouTube video, it kinda makes you wonder about the actual value of spending four years sleeping through advertising classes.
And kinda makes me glad I didn't bother.
One of my favorite bloggers, Edward Boches (http://edwardboches.com) posted a link to one of the greatest moments in television history. Nope, not James Harrison's 100-yard interception return. Although that definitely could qualify. But of all the moments in TV history that I could watch over and over and still need a Kleenex the 50th time I see it, an episode of AMC's Mad Men takes the honors.
What made this clip such a great moment was how it took a critical (and oftentimes forgotten) advertising philosophy and executed it in a way that reminds me why I got into advertising in the first place. It's about getting to the truth and communicating what's real. It's about connecting with the consumer at the deepest level. It's about not just getting into the consumer's head, but also into their heart. And when the stars align, into their soul.
I've seen both creative and account people get lost in a sea of analytics, deadlines, billable targets, and executional mandatories and forget what really matters. What makes advertising matter. When we do our job right, we can turn a simple product or service into an emotional experience.
As advertisers we add a magical ingredient that no tangible product could ever have on its own. We tell a story that makes a connection. We help the consumer see value beyond the price tag. It's no longer something they can own, it's something they can live. We take a product that exists in the outer world and make it a part of their inner world. As humans we're driven to define ourselves through association, and we begin to LOVE the products we choose, because they fulfill our need for identity.
As advertisers we help inanimate objects and everyday services gain entrance to a special place in the consumer's heart and mind where the identity lives. We help build a consumer's "brand family," the group of products and services a consumer is connected to, has an emotional bond with, and will have a hard time abandoning.
I love how Mad Men demonstrated so eloquently the difference between agencies that create advertising and agencies that build that amazing connection. The difference between agencies that build powerpoints and agencies that build evangelists.
We all want to make a difference in our world and sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the value of what we do. Thanks to Edward for digging up a reminder that as advertising "inventors" we bring something powerful and beautiful to the table. What we do doesn't just create revenue and profits. We don't just create ads and reports and powerpoints.
We create MEANING.
Watch the YouTube clip of Don Draper's presentation to Kodak. It's three minutes well-spent.
And kinda makes me glad I didn't bother.
One of my favorite bloggers, Edward Boches (http://edwardboches.com) posted a link to one of the greatest moments in television history. Nope, not James Harrison's 100-yard interception return. Although that definitely could qualify. But of all the moments in TV history that I could watch over and over and still need a Kleenex the 50th time I see it, an episode of AMC's Mad Men takes the honors.
What made this clip such a great moment was how it took a critical (and oftentimes forgotten) advertising philosophy and executed it in a way that reminds me why I got into advertising in the first place. It's about getting to the truth and communicating what's real. It's about connecting with the consumer at the deepest level. It's about not just getting into the consumer's head, but also into their heart. And when the stars align, into their soul.
I've seen both creative and account people get lost in a sea of analytics, deadlines, billable targets, and executional mandatories and forget what really matters. What makes advertising matter. When we do our job right, we can turn a simple product or service into an emotional experience.
As advertisers we add a magical ingredient that no tangible product could ever have on its own. We tell a story that makes a connection. We help the consumer see value beyond the price tag. It's no longer something they can own, it's something they can live. We take a product that exists in the outer world and make it a part of their inner world. As humans we're driven to define ourselves through association, and we begin to LOVE the products we choose, because they fulfill our need for identity.
As advertisers we help inanimate objects and everyday services gain entrance to a special place in the consumer's heart and mind where the identity lives. We help build a consumer's "brand family," the group of products and services a consumer is connected to, has an emotional bond with, and will have a hard time abandoning.
I love how Mad Men demonstrated so eloquently the difference between agencies that create advertising and agencies that build that amazing connection. The difference between agencies that build powerpoints and agencies that build evangelists.
We all want to make a difference in our world and sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the value of what we do. Thanks to Edward for digging up a reminder that as advertising "inventors" we bring something powerful and beautiful to the table. What we do doesn't just create revenue and profits. We don't just create ads and reports and powerpoints.
We create MEANING.
Watch the YouTube clip of Don Draper's presentation to Kodak. It's three minutes well-spent.
Labels: advertising, branding, Mad Men, YouTube
posted by Michelle Tripp at
8:57 AM
4 Comments
