Mad Men: Let's Party Like It's 1965!

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 surprisng 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.

Article Author: Hank Wasiak

Hank Wasiak is a communications industry leader and co-founder of the creative hot shop, The Concept Farm. Hank is a best selling author, teacher, motivational speaker and three time Emmy award winning television host. Hank and Dr. …

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