I truly love the series Mad Men, however, there is one scene in particular, which was the grand finale of season one, that has kept with me throughout the development of the ROUNDMAP.
In this particular scene Don Draper (John Hamm) makes a most compelling case in front of his client, Kodak, to provide a name for their ‘soon to be released’ wheel projector:
The scene is a brilliant piece of storytelling, one of the reasons this series has won so many Emmys.
It’s worth to look at the entire conversation:
Kodak: “We know it’s hard but wheels aren’t exciting technology, even though wheels are the original”.
Don Draper: “Well, technology is a glittering lure. But there is the rare occasion where the public can be engaged on a level beyond flash. If they have a sentimental bond with the product.”
This is the prelude to what might be one of the most compelling cases ever presented to a client:
Don Draper: “My first job, I was in the house at a fur company, with this old pro-copyrighter, a Greek named Teddy. And Teddy told me the most important idea in advertising is ‘new’. It creates an itch. You simply put your product in there as a kind of calamine lotion. He also talked about a deeper bond with the product. Nostalgia. It’s delicate but potent.”
Starts projector.
Don Draper: “Teddy told me that in Greek, nostalgia literally means the pain from an old wound. It’s a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn’t a spaceship. It’s a time machine. It goes backward, and forwards. It takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It’s not called the Wheel. It’s called the Carousel. It lets us travel the way a child travels. Around and around and back home again. To a place where we know we are loved.”
Emotions are what drive customers to bond with a brand or product: it can be nostalgia, or pleasure, or success. In any case, it goes much deeper than the ‘glittering lure’ of the product: ‘it is a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone’.
And this is precisely why I’ve created the ROUNDMAP – to provide you with a deeper understanding of what it is that advances your customer carousel.
“Good luck, at your next meeting.”
