… how to stock my office bar,  tips on merging two firms in 72 hours, the importance of ice  …

OK, I’m a bit late to the series, but I got Mad Men seasons one and two as a Christmas gift and did a marathon viewing of all 26 episodes during the holidays (it was a battle not to take up smoking).  

As pretty much everyone knows, the show satirizes glam ’60s agency life and the post-war American dream and the writing and acting is superb. Watching so many hours of it within a week made me expect to run into a few of the characters on Bloor street.

I know it’s fiction, but here are three lessons in the agency biz I learned from the series:

  1. Don’t be dull. In one episode, the ad men talk about how a boring  Nixon for prez ad must have been created by PR – because all it does is hammer home the same old messages in a quotidian way. Point taken – with PR and social media, we need to ensure the story is meaningful and not a concoction of canned messages; think conversations and visuals (and maybe a little pizzazz). That means video, too.
  2. Never underestimate the power of romance. Here I’m talking about the chase for new clients and how the agency goes all out to woo them by showing off their understanding, creativity, passion and how much they care (about service). It comes down to relationships and boy do the ad guys understand the value of that!
  3. Mixed drinks are good. Mixed personal and professional, not so much. Just ask Pete Campbell who tried to get ahead by bringing  in his father-in-law’s company as a client.  When things go sour at home, work isn’t far behind. That’s even more important today with the blurring of lines betwen our personal and professional lives and the fact that lack of discretion and credibility don’t mix.

What other lessons have you learned from the show?

Now, if you’ll excuse me I have to go shopping for enough white shirts to fill my desk drawer.

About Martin Waxman


Martin Waxman, MCM, is a digital communications strategist. He conducts AI research, leads digital and social media training workshops and speaks at events across North America. He's co-founder of two PR agencies, president of a consultancy and has worked in the industry for nearly 30 years. Martin is a LinkedIn Learning instructor, teaches digital strategy and social media at McMaster University, the Schulich School of Business, University of Toronto SCS and Seneca College. He's a member of the Institute for Public Relations Digital Media Research Center and a past-chair of PRSA Counselors Academy. He has a Master of Communications Management (MCM) from McMaster-Syracuse Universities.