Spoiler Alert: This article covers key moments
of past episodes in Mad Men season six, including last
week’s episode 11, “Favors.”
With all of the shocking moments we were treated to in last
Sunday night’s Mad Men episode, one that captured my
attention as a branding expert was the deal Don makes with Ted. In
exchange for Ted securing an Air National Guard spot for Sylvia’s
son, Don agrees to finally stop the internal battle he has been
waging with Ted ever since the merger of SCDP and CGC. If their
bargain sticks, this could be good news for the freshly merged
agency, because thus far they have been the poster children for
“what not to do” to engage and align management and employees in a
merger.
Here are some best practice principles that Don, Ted, and
company fail to take into account as they rush headlong into
combining their two agencies:
Have clear goals and objectives.
From the very start, the decision to merge is an impulsive act
of desperation. It is made the night before the Chevy pitch when
Don and Ted suddenly realize that they can never hope to compete
with the big agencies. There are no clear goals or objectives for
the merger other than the immediate need to join forces to win.
It’s clear that they are thrilled with the prestigious new Chevy
account, but they may also be left thinking, “Now what?”
Know who you want to be and what you will stand
for.
When Don and Ted spring the good news on Peggy after they win
the Chevy account, they ask her to write a press release announcing
the merger. When she asks what the name should be, Don tells her to
describe the company that she would want to work for. As we know,
failing to make the decision about the name right away causes a lot
of confusion and questions externally, and makes it hard for
employees to explain. When Jim Cutler gets the letter addressed to
Sterling, Gleason and Pryce, he warns that if the new agency
doesn’t find a name for itself, others will do it for them.
Although Ted sends out a memo explaining that all seven initials
should be used when answering the company phone, nothing other than
that announcement and Peggy’s press release seems to be
communicated to the employees. Letting others define you—whether it
is your copy chief or a random letter writer—is not a strategic way
to communicate your company’s image to the world.
Leadership must be aligned and committed to ensure
success.
Before the Chevy pitch Jim Cutler tells Don and Ted, “I want to
make this clear—unless this works, I'm against it.” Sterling agrees
with him. From what we see, that is the extent of upper
management’s alignment with the plan. Tentative at best, hostile at
worst. Although they are all committed to winning the Chevy account
by merging teams, Jim’s comment foreshadows the lack of clarity
about roles, responsibilities, mission, vision, and strategy that
leaves employees uncertain, confused, and downright paranoid when
the teams actually come together on moving day to SCDP’s offices in
the TimeLife Building.
Communicate the rationale, vision, and strategy for the
merger to all levels and functions.
On moving day, Joan takes command by directing creatives and
executives to their new offices or workspaces. There is no
explanation about why the creatives are all put into one large
room, beyond a veiled threat that that seating assignments could
change (a subtle suggestion of the layoffs that come later). When
Ted’s secretary demands to see the list, Joan doesn’t want to give
it to her at first, in an obvious power play. That day is full of
doubt, worry, and is the beginning of a series of firings. The
communication breakdown is even more obvious when the partners go
after each other for hiding information about lost accounts and a
dying partner from each another. So although the merger is rushed
and redundancies are a stark reality of mergers, the information
that both the SC&P partners and employees receive consists of
omissions, innuendos, and mixed messages instead of straightforward
dialogue and well-thought-out announcements.
Create a team to support—find key influencers and engage
them early.
Unfortunately, at SC&P it has become every man (or woman)
for him or herself rather than a team effort. Without a direction
and a vision for the company, there are no fans of the merger in
the ranks. Don and Ted are at each other’s throats. Pete continues
to worry about being marginalized. Ken is almost killed in an
accident with Chevy execs and the partners barely notice that he is
injured. Jim is looking for any opportunity to cut more former SCDP
employees, like Bob Benson and Ginsberg, from the staff. Joan goes
rogue to pursue the Avon account. Ted appoints Pete head of new
business in a spur-of-the-moment decision. And word on the street,
according to Duck Phillips, is that SC&P has “a lot of chiefs
and very few Indians.”
With everyone either running for cover or taking an “us versus
them” attitude, there is no team spirit. There is as much
dissension at SC&P as there is in the society of 1968. Only Jim
Cutler tries some teambuilding when he misguidedly brings in a
quack doctor to administer speed-laced “vitamin shots” to the team
working the weekend on the Chevy account. But he may redeem himself
a bit in last Sunday’s episode by reminding Ted that “it’s all our
juice” in response to his sparring with Don over whose juice
(Sunkist for Team Don or Ocean Spray for Team Ted) should be the
next potential new client. However, I don’t think we can expect any
positive team building exercises to be part of the upcoming
episodes!
So if you are planning a merger, Mad Men is not the
place to go for helpful tips and tricks.
Image of
Mad Men
, season six, episode 11, courtesy of Jaimie
Trueblood/amc.