Toops Scoops: 7 Business Lessons I Learned from “Mad Men”

Insurance – advertising. At first glance, it doesn't seem as if these two industries have a lot in common. But since millions of viewers and I spend an hour every Sunday night immersed in the 1966 world of ad man Don Draper and his compatriots on “Mad Men,” it's inevitable that the doings at SCDP should teach us some lessons about modern business.

Because your independent insurance agency actually does have some very basic things in common with SCDP. For starters, both are built upon the vision and leadership of their founding partners. Roger, Bert, Don and Lane may not have a lot in common, but collectively they represent the business DNA, the brand of the agency. Both SCDP and your agency succeed by developing intimate customer relationships in which you must know everything about the inner workings of your customer's business. And both ad agency and insurance agency rely on a team of professionals with very distinct disciplines to deliver the final product.

With that in mind, here are some business tips that could have been imparted by Don Draper himself:

1. Roll with the changes. Whether it's the civil rights movement, the sexual revolution or the British Invasion, history changes business, from the inside out and the outside in. When the “Mad Men” series opened in the year 1960, the agency's principals and creative staffers were all male and all white. By 1966, SCDP's employees include a female copywriter, a Jewish creative and a black secretary–a pretty big deal for the time. Change may not be easy, especially in a risk-averse business like ours, but it's the only way to succeed in any industry.
2. Technology doesn't sleep. From the introduction of the IBM Selectric typewriter to embracing television as a powerful advertising medium, SCDP recognizes the need to stay on the cutting edge of technology. Insurance may have been a little behind the curve in this area, but with the boom over the last several years in social media and real-time technology, that's changing quickly.
3. Understand what's best for the customer. SCDP client Heinz may have wanted the Rolling Stones to sing “Heinz is on our side” for a commercial, but “you can't always get what you want.” Smart ad (and insurance) professionals know they need to do a deep dive on the customer's business operations and come up with the best, most creative answer to their needs.
4. Share the credit. Up-and-coming partner Pete Campbell has made a lot of enemies among his coworkers this season by taking excessive credit for landing the Mohawk Airlines account. Don't make the same mistake. The agency principal may be the face of the business, but it's the producers, underwriters and CSRs who burn the midnight oil to deliver the goods.
5. Empower everybody. Peggy Olson started out as Don Draper's secretary being bossed by the formidable Joan. But Don was smart enough to recognize potential when he saw it. He promoted Peggy to copywriter, and she's now one of SCDP's top creative talents. Roger Sterling promoted Harry Crane to head of media after Harry demonstrated the growing importance of TV ad placement, which eventually became a huge part of SCDP's business. Empowering employees makes the whole organization stronger. 
6. Embrace both youth and experience. Pete Campbell's ongoing feud with elder statesman Roger Sterling is proving to be very disruptive to the agency (and when was the last time one of your executive meetings ended in fisticuffs?). Although Pete thinks of Roger as a has-been, Roger's extensive network of war-vet pals and skill at schmoozing prospects over three-martini lunches is a large part of  SCDP's success. Everybody recognizes the importance of young blood, but smart Mad Men don't underestimate the value of seasoned vets.
7. Always keep an electric razor, clean white shirt and a bottle of scotch in your bottom desk drawer. Because you never know.