The award-winning TV series Mad Men (2007-2015) immortalised the first ‘golden age’ of advertising. Don Draper, Peggy Olsen, Roger Sterling and Joan Harris worked in an analogue era in the 1960s, long before computers, the internet and data revolutionised the advertising industry.

But what can writers working in today’s digital age learn from them and their famous fictional pitches?

Write for people’s emotions and senses

Data informs and shapes how we write about products and services today, whether that’s market research, web analytics or Google search trends. These are fabulous, insightful tools, but don’t forget the power of a simple emotional connection.

Think of Don Draper’s ‘big ideas’ – most are rooted in emotion and feelings, memory and nostalgia, senses and impulses. Essentially, what it means to be alive. Take the Kodak campaign from season one episode The Wheel (2008). The client wants to call the projector ‘The Wheel’ – and why not? It’s cylindrical. It spins. But Don insists on ‘The Carousel’.

Why does it work? Because in a single word – carousel – the mind fills with nostalgia: fair rides, candy floss, cold winter nights, laughter. The feeling of being in motion while also being suspended in time, on the carousel of memory and life. As Don tells the client, “this device isn’t a spaceship, it’s a time machine. It takes us to a place where we ache to go again.” Choose words and phrases that capture that sentiment.

Get to the point with clear, concise copy

The best creative copy is short and to the point – whether a headline, a strapline or body copy. The broad principles are clear: Strike out any word that doesn’t add to your message. Write with strong verbs and nouns. Use short, everyday words and avoid long sentences.

Pitching for Heinz ketchup in the season six episode To Have and To Hold (2013), we see the power of concise copy: ‘Pass the Heinz’. It does it all in just three words – ‘pass’, a strong action verb, ‘the Heinz’, the proper noun everyone knows.

In formal speech you may have said ‘please, can you pass me the ketchup’. But around an informal dinner table, among friends, such niceties give way to hunger, happiness and contentment. There’s no need for airs and graces, here. ‘Pass the Heinz’ sums it up perfectly.

Always read back your sentences and ask – does this word or phrase need to be here? Does it add anything? Is it essential? If the answer’s ‘no’, strike it out. Be brutal. Your message will be clearer for it.

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Understand what a brand means to people, historically

A good copywriter understands the brand they are writing about. Why? Because it determines what you can get away with. Big brands with long, rich histories and instant recognition occupy a unique ability to reassure.

The world is always changing. The concerns of early 1960s America, the era of Mad Men, were JFK’s assassination and the Cuban Missile Crisis, among others. Whether today or in 1963, people crave comfort and reassurance.

The Mad Men and women channel this with a Heinz Beans campaign in season five episode At The Codfish Ball (2012). These beans had always been there, a part of family life as people moved from childhood to adulthood. So, when Don and Megan come up with the strapline ‘Some Things Never Change’ it works. Why? Because everyone knows exactly what it means.  During turbulent times you can always count on Heinz Beans to taste the same.

Use cultural and topical events to tell your stories

‘Every ad tells a story,’ says Don to tee-up Peggy Olsen ahead of pitching to Burger Chef the day after the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landings in the season seven episode, Waterloo (2014). Peggy goes straight into a dreamy monologue about the astronauts’ journey into space.

The client – and Don – looks confused until Peggy pulls it back round to the collective experience of millions watching the shuttle launch on television at home, right beside the dinner table. She talks about ‘hunger’ on different levels – for dinner, for adventure, for spiritual growth. The client is captivated.

It is a masterclass in tying a brand to a wider cultural event, something people have bought into, have an interest in, or feel emotional about. You must be subtle here as a writer, as you can’t talk about specific branded or trademarked terms, but being cute and talking around the subject is often sufficient to tap into the mood.

Don’t be afraid of the abstract

To wrap up, I wanted to switch to a real-life ad campaign, one of the 20th century’s most celebrated – VW’s Lemon ad. A photograph of a VW Beetle sits above the small, single-world headline – Lemon – and some far-out body copy.

What’s that got to do with cars? Nothing. Why’s it so weird? So abstract? Whatever, it catches your eye. ‘That’s absurd,’ you may have chuckled at the time, but you’d still be thinking about it the next day. And that’s all a copywriter is trying to do with their words, whether they’re working on Madison Avenue in the 1960s or Leeds in the 2020s.

If you want to learn more about polishing your brand’s copy and content with techniques that are both old-school and high-tech, drop us a message at KINESSO.