21st century Mad Men

Another beautifully crafted series of Mad Men comes to an end. The only series ever created to accurately capture the atmosphere of an agency, albeit one in the 1960s. (And what a stark contrast to the embarrassment of the recent BBC 'comedy' The Persuasionists which unbelievably was written by an adman. Do see Adam Buxton's hilarious apology for the show.)
Back to Mad Men, It is fascinating to speculate what agency creative chief, Don Draper, would make of today's rapidly changing advertising scene. Somehow I can't see him sitting in front of a computer screen all day (and the ubiquitous glass of Scotch would have to go), yet his basic stock in trade of imaginative creative communication remains as valid today. With the advent of many new online marketing techniques, social media and SEO, good creative thinking will still play the definitive role in marketing (and of course TV) success.

Making Social Media Work

Interesting to hear Martin Sorrell say that whilst social media is fine, you still need advertising to drive people to it. It's certainly a powerful (and largely free) adjunct but people still need to know and care about your products in the first place before they follow them on Twitter. Sometimes the excitement of getting 100 Facebook fans seems to outweigh the actual financial benefits this might bring. At mhm grax we believe in including social media in the marketing mix, but not in using it in isolation. Take Stephen Fry - massive Twitter following, but only sustainable through exposure in other media such as TV and radio appearances.