AMC uses nostalgia to draw marketers
— -- Cable network AMC's new TV series about 1960s Madison Avenue is successfully using a time-honored ad tactic to woo viewers and advertisers: nostalgia.
Mad Men, AMC's first original series, began July 19 and tells the tales of the ruthless, promiscuous employees of a fictional New York City ad agency.
AMC's efforts to evoke advertising's "good old days" for ad buyers and viewers include:
•Sixties swag. Among promotional gifts for potential ad buyers is one touting the era of three-martini lunches. Oversized "lunch boxes" hold three martini glasses and swizzle sticks that tout Mad Men as a "stirring new drama."
•Trivia teasers. Relevant historical trivia is inserted into the hour-long show's two four-minute ad breaks to hold viewers' interest. For example: "First cruise line to advertise on network TV: Carnival," and then a Carnival ad follows.
"If you're viewing on a DVR, you're going to stop and check it out, rather than (fast-forward) through the advertising," says Charlie Collier, AMC's general manager.
•Your period product here. Show sponsor Jack Daniel's also has been integrated into the storyline. For instance, characters will order the brand by name, and bottles are among the props on the set.
AMC is open to more such placements if the tie-in is "authentic," says Collier. "It has to be something that was around in the '60s and that the producers would find comfortable in the show."
•Ad "legends." Starting with Thursday's new episode (10 p.m. ET), 30-second videos with industry "legends" will be sandwiched into ad breaks.
The first features Jerry Della Femina, CEO of agency Della Femina Rothschild Jeary and Partners, who broke into advertising in 1961. Della Femina — named one of the most influential ad people in the 20th century by trade magazine Advertising Age— tells of feeling like "a star" on commercial shoots.
Upcoming vignettes include Martin Puris, who helped position BMW as "The Ultimate Driving Machine," and George Lois, who created the "I Want My MTV" campaign. The clips urge viewers — and potential Mad Men advertisers — to go to amctv.com to learn more about the "legends" and the show.
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