How Don Draper “Broke” The Internet (For Me)
I recently finished watching the classic TV show Madmen for the second time, and I found myself left with a strong feeling of nostalgia for advertising’s golden age.
No, not for the golden color of the scotch and whiskey that flowed so copiously into glasses in that era. Rather, I find myself envying and missing the days of the big, grandiose creative idea that drove national success.
As a 30-year plus veteran of the advertising-marketing world, I’ve been through many technological and business changes. But I can’t help but compare the big idea of Don Draper’s world of advertising with the smaller, fast-paced and niche-targeted pitches of our digital marketing world today.
I’m fully aware of the benefits of precise message targeting and metrics that were unavailable in Madmen’s day. There are less wasteful, more individually-targeted, more response-based mediums today.
But it’s the romance of a great concept expressed in the most artistic way that forms an emotional connection. Benefit meets customer need. Art meets commerce.
As Don Draper famously said, “You feeling something…that’s what sells.”
In Draper’s world of ‘60’s advertising, and also today, technology is the glittering lure. But it’s the deeper bond with nostalgia that motivates and leaves us with a feeling of emotion and permanence.
Consider a Few Innovative Campaigns
Kodak Carousel—Draper uses memories and nostalgia to sell the innovative Kodak slide projector as a time machine. “It’s called a carousel. It lets us travel as a child travels, around and around and back home again—to a place we know we loved. It’s all about nostalgia,” he says.
Acutron Watch—The big concept is that an Acutron watch improves your life by elevating your social status. Owning this watch make you more interesting. “It’s not a time piece. It’s a conversation piece,” so says the campaign pitch.
The Scope is the Difference
Advertising’s golden age was all about the big idea with a grand execution in a larger than life medium that inspires—the exciting new world of television.
In the 60’s, there was an excitement to the “big event” TV shows where much of the nation would gather around the tube in the tribal ritual of watching their weekly show, from Bonanza to MASH to Mission Impossible.
And the TV commercials were sometimes the most creative and entertaining part of that viewing experience.
A Classic Case of Form vs. Function
Don’t get me wrong, the Internet is the perfect information medium for our time. Digital media’s targeting, specificity and traceability has never before been equaled.
By its very nature, we focus on the more personal approach in a smaller medium, and craft a personal message to reach a particular persona. More effective perhaps, but somehow less fun and impressive.
When I say “broken the Internet,” I mean it lacks the charm of the days when TV was the undisputed king of media and folks waited all week to see the new shows…and new commercials.
Perhaps other than Super Bowl TV commercials, I think TV does not sit on the same royal throne as it did in advertising’s golden age.