Vinny Warren over at Escapology grabbed some time with ad man Tom Messner. He basically covers then vs. now and his time with Ally & Gargano, a recent infatuation of Warren’s and of course, Mad Men nation. Smart guys talking smart stuff. I threw a question Tom’s way though – more a rhetorical than anything – and his response nicely sums up where things are for people we convince to do stuff. My question had to do with how Mad Men and the real agencies of the time put stock in advertising as a serious profession and craft worthy of wearing a suit every day to do, who embodied push as a way to get consumer attention, and could they survive today? Especially given how the balance of power has shifted to the consumer in terms of how they interpret and counter those messages. I’m not sure they could.
5 comments:
glad you liked. more ally and gargano obsession coming soon! mike tesch no less.
Bill,
I didn't know the Bill Green posing that question was the Bill Green here, Bill Green being a common name here in my neighborhood.
But, the question on Warren's blog seems a bit different from the question here. I would have answered a little differently and used an example of Jim Durfee as someone who adapted to changes and made changes adapt to him as be cut a swath across the advertising business from the 1950s in Detroit to the first decade of the 21st Century with our agency going from suit and tie to jeans and sweater, from Remington Rand to Apple, and from Jack Daniels to Evian.
One in the same.
The way I framed it here was probably closer to what I meant with that set-up. While it could imply that agencies were smarter than the viewer/reader and thought they could get one over on people with a well-written line, Ogilvy seemed to be saying, no, we can’t because we risk underestimating the audience.
Bill,
MORE likely, Ogilvy was demonstrating HIS skill with a "well-written line" to soothe his target audience (potential clients) and, as always, taking a not so veiled shot at his competitors for being charlatans, flim flammers, and ineffective besides.
Tom
@Tom - Thanks for the insight. Appreciated.
Post a Comment