Toops Scoops: Mad Men Branding in a Web 2.0 World

One of my favorite TV shows is AMC’s Mad Men, that paeon to the advertising industry of the early 1960s, when (mostly) men smoked and drank and came up with concepts to brand businesses and sell products. Last season, several episodes revolved around Sterling Cooper’s launch of a television department. At first, they’re not sure what to do with it. The department head is overworked, underpaid and disrespected. When he can’t keep up the pace, agency brass tries to fob off script reviews to the curvaceous office manager. And top dog Don Draper sometimes has a tough sell persuading clients of the importance of adding television to their media mix. Sterling Cooper even makes a point of hiring a couple of young guys to keep up with the new cool medium.

This sounds familiar, if you replace “television department” with “social media.”