You watch Mad Men on AMC every Sunday at 10PM. You love it! There's something Thirty Something about it, in a 60's kind of way. You want more. You go to the web site. There's a blog. Cocktail guide. Facebook Page. An iPhone app. What's missing? It's (maybe not so obvious) bigger impact aka broader influence on its audience.
Mad Men is so wildly popular that's it possible the show could influence how people (not just ad execs) dress up in the office. It could also influence, or maybe it has already, office style. Yet, there's no note of it in the experience of the show off TV, online. And, why not?
It's no secret that the show is one that highly rates next to The Sopranos and other famed cable series. People are talking about Mad Men online, offline, and back online (again). The show isn't getting old. It's only getting better, and more people are watching it now, at least in my personal circles.
Maybe the show's producers are too close to tell, so I'll give it up - media influences, even in the smallest of ways. Media can make a huge impact on the U.S. culture - TV, film, and online I'm referencing, of course.
Look what TV did for the Vietnam war. You can't tell me that TV didn't influence JFK's win over Nixon, right? Rocky, Star Wars, Schindler's List all had cultural impacts on and off of the screen. Now it's Mad Men's turn.
Don't get me wrong. Mad Men will not have the same kind of massive societal influence as did the televised event of the Vietnam war. But, in it's only little way, Mad Men will change (and I believe it already is) the way in which we see ourselves in our work, and at work. And, how our work reflects who we are, at least in part.
My message to the producers of Mad Men?
Leverage it through social media...
Here's some ideas:
1) Furnish online - Partner with a style shop such as Room & Board, which resembles the show's furniture style, and re-create the sets - in their showrooms. Bring people into the stores to sit at Don Draper's desk and take in the real feel of what it's like to be "Mad." Maybe even tie a contest into the recreation of the set design.
2) Create your own office - Take real world photos of Room & Board like furniture and allow visitors of the site to build their own Mad Men office. What could your ideal office look like?
3) Make a suitable wardrobe - Get in touch with Wil Boehlke (one of my former clients) and ask him to guest blog about the latest and most stylish wares for men, on your blog. Give away a private fitting with Wil, photographed of course for posting on Facebook, your Mad Men blog, etc.
4) Run an architectural contest - Maybe Mad Men is thinking about opening a new office, say in LA, what would it look like? Take it to your viewers to decide. Give them the tools to design the LA office, and award the winner an all expense paid trip to a glam hotel in LA.
Where do the producers of Mad Men begin?
Brainstorm.
Hook up your show writers, publicists, with a team of social media strategists, and get cracking on how you can widen your brand awareness online and really touch on the influence that your show is making on your viewers. It will be a win win for both you and your viewers, believe me.
I would love to be sipping scotch sitting at Don Draper's desk. Even if just in a virtual world...
