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This posting is not about angry guys. “Mad Men” is a new summer series on US Cable Channel AMC. Because I have Rogers’ super cable I have AMC. This first episode was last Thursday and I watched the second episode last night. Quietly simply it is great TV.

In the age of blogs, podcasting and social networking groups, “Mad Man” proves that content is always king regardless of the medium. And yes, television is not dead it just needs great content. Plus, the executives behind “Mad Man” are smart. You can buy and download each episode on ITunes the day after they premiere on television.

What is “Mad Men”? Set in 1960’s New York ad agency Sterling Cooper, the series follows the lives of various agency employees but focuses mostly on Creative Director Don Draper. “Mad Men” is apparently a term coined by the 1960s’ ad men themselves, at that time, when America (and likely Canada) was obsessed by advertising and glamourized the lives of these ad men/mad men. North Americans were still heady consumers coming off the post-Second World War, 1950s’ buying binge.

The series captures the feel of 1960 perfectly. The American Civil rights movement had not started in earnest, all women were “the girl” regardless of her age and the IBM Selectric was breakthrough technology. In every board meeting, party or bedroom scene the characters are smoking like chimneys. I almost felt myself choking in sympathy.

But the real star of the show is advertising. In the first episode the client crisis is a recent Reader’s Digest report that smoking may be bad for your health. Don Drapper is tasked how to respond on behalf of his client “Lucky Strike”. Last night, the advertising challenge was how to pitch the Gillette Right Guard business - first aersol deteorant can. In a scene alot of time was spent debating the merits of promoting this new “space age” technology to the American male.

Those that planned the actual advertising program for “Mad Men” were pretty smart themselves. During the advertising breaks for the program they link the product being advertised to a fun fact about that category’s advertising or about that specific company’s advertising history. For example, Maytag is an advertiser and prior to showing the Maytag ad they flashed a fun fact about the “Maytag Man” and when he was first introduced to the public before becoming an advertising icon.

“Mad Men” is great TV. It is very clever, extremely well written and works on a variety of levels. As a flashback into the not so past (I worked on an IBM Selectric) we have a come along way baby. Some of the scenes with the Africian American characters make you gasp - they’re not violent - what is more striking is the absolute power of racism that is delivered through mundate, every day human interactions.

But the people behind “Mad Men” obviously love advertising and love the process of developing great advertising. As the Don Draper character says to his team of copywriters, “Gentlemen, what is advertising? Advertising is happiness”.

Based on today’s integrated marketing and communications approach Don would now likely say, “Gentlemen, what is great communications? Great communications is happiness”.

We have tried to embrace our “Change Rules” mantra to heart. Whether it is about promoting condoms use or the latest in computer technology we want to push our clients. Better us pushing them than them saying, “You guys really aren’t challenging us”.

I have been back at GCI now for pretty close to two years and one of the real differences I see this time versus before is that the client is really looking for agency partners that push them and also play well in the sandbox with other agencies be they traditional advertising firms, interactive groups or promotions houses.

Our best client relationships (collaborative, results-driven, respectful, fun) come from working as part of a great team of people. We have been on some interesting journeys over the past year as part of multidisciplinary agency teams. It strikes me that it is alot life a successful marriage or friendship. There are good days and bad days but you hang in and work through the tough stuff and celebrate and savour the great stuff. Luckily for us, we are fortunate to work with some great cross disciplinary agency teams and some of them are really hitting their stride (ie “your idea is better than ours, you do your’s”)

Recently I attended a brand summit with one of our great clients. All the usual suspects were there. As I sat through the meeting it struck me that we were working in the old way. All the agency partners were working in silos and we meet once a year at the summit. For the most part we had little understanding of what was going on with the other agencies on behalf of their client. Conversely, they had no idea what we were doing. This meant that the client was loosing opportunities, possible synergies and truthfully possible budget efficiences.

I spoke to the client afterwards and gave him my two cents on the subject, namely why don’t we work as one integrated team. Easier to manage and a way better outcome. I think he was a little surprised that I would raise it. His response, “Wow”. “Let’s do it”.

Could it mean that GCI might possible loose some portion of its budget to another agency partner in the future? Sure. Conversely, it could also mean more multidimensional, enriching work and a longer term client relationship.

Recently while surfing I stumbled across a great site www.poptech.com. This is the site for Pop!Tech! a “thinkers” conference that happens every September in Camden, Maine. Apparently it is an eclectic (and electric) gathering of technologists, innovators, industry leaders, scientists, artists and educators. A Fortune 500 CEO can be found chatting about solar energy to an artist and according to the site “while an African blogger is deep in conversation with a polar explorer”.

I have now put attending Pop!Tech! on my “life list of musts”.

In the meantime, Pop!Tech! provides aptly named Pop!Casts! on its site. Through Creative Commons, the conference podcasts are available and the list of speakers is amazing - Malcolm Gladwell (”Blink”), Chris Anderson (”The Long Tail”).

For our last GCI book club session, we downloaded Thomas Friedman (”The World is Flat) sharing is argument with Pop!Tech! delegates on the inverse relationship between the price of oil and human rights. Compelling and provocative.

Check out Pop!Tech!. It’s great brain food.

Best wishes all for a Happy Canada.

Recently I took part in a two-day kayaking course at the Toronto Harbourfront. As I paddled furiously, battling sunstroke, I looked up at one point and saw two Muslim teenage girls laughing and gliding smoothly by in a canoe. I was reminded of Canadian historian Pierre Berton’s quote; “A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe.” An amusing and trifle uncomfortable image.

But as I saw them pass, enjoying themselves and dressed in head scarves and jibabs, I was also reminded of a recent conversation I had had with a nonCanadian business colleague of mine. He was asking me about Canada generally and Toronto specifically. He was surprised at the city’s degree of diversity and asked me what impact that had on society, how well people worked and lived together etc…. At the time, I told him Canada was like being in a lifeboat. It wasn’t perfect but at the same time everyone was doing their best to figure it out and paddle in the same direction. Instead of lifeboat maybe I should have said canoe. Pierre Burton would have and likely the two teenagers in jibabs would have too.

GCI is very proud to be part a new program by Willow Breast Cancer Support Canada. Willow is an amazing Canadian breast cancer education and support organization. We have partnered with them to develop a series of podcasts providing a unque perspective on what it means to be touched by the disease. The podcast medium allows those interested in listening to the series to choose their own time - at home, at the office or strolling with their IPOD. To learn more about the podcast series or refer it to a friend please visit www.willow.org.

Well, admittedly it has been a long time since my last post. While I continue to be a struggling blogger, it is not for lack of activity. Over the past month GCI Canada has been a bit of a whirlwind with activity for Dell, Mattel, Shell and TD Canada Trust particularly.

In the past week alone we helped to launch a joint program by Mattel and the Toronto Hilton to offer children the opportunity to enjoy a stay in a customized Barbie or Hot Wheels room with a portion of the room fee going to support the work of the Toronto Sick Kids Foundation.

Later in the week we also helped to launch Dell’s new Inspiron laptop line. For anyone going off to university in the Fall or thinking of sporting a laptop in a cool color then an Inspiron would be the way to go.

One of the benefits of being an alumnus of Jospeh L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto is receiving their quarterly management magazine “Rotman”. The entire Spring issue is dedicated to risk - evaluating risk in making strategic decisions, the danger of not taking any risks, managing risk in complex financial transactions and the increasing risk for individuals and enterprises as organizations, economies and eco-systems become more integrated with rapid globalization. The issue is excellent and the topic fascinating. Roger Martin, Rotman’s Dean, argues in the article “Underestimating the Risk of Status Quo” that doing nothing or maintaining the status quo is a hugely risky venture. He believes that this is a particular danger for Canadian companies in a global economy.

Charles Fremes, CEO of Edelman’s Canadian operations passed away from a heart attack last evening. Word has spread quickly within the Canadian public relations community as he enjoyed a very high profile and successful career. Charles was 57, fit and a gentlemen who embraced life with a wink and a very dry sense of humour. I had the opportunity to be in Charles’ company several times and I always found the conversation very fun and eclectic. It was impossible to turn down a lunch invitation with such a jolly companion. One of his favourite haunts was the Kit Kat Club on King W. and his regular attendance could be judged by the waiter’s quick exchange of a paper napkin for a linen one and both would laugh.

Our sympathies go out to our Edelman Canada colleagues as well as his wife and daughter.

No, I am not a voyeur. The title of this post reflects some comments I made at a recent Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) seminar on crisis communications. My co-presenter was David Willis, of Media Profile. David is a great guy and made a solid presentation. We tag teamed somewhat in that David concentrated on traditional media and I attempted to address the impact of new media on traditional crisis comms. Obviously the biggest impact has been the contraction in time or the “five minute news cycle”. On that front blackberries or running a close second or vice versa with blogs. Basically, there are only a few questions to ask yourself, today. Is there a culture of quick response in your organization? Traditional organizations are used to dealing with traditional deadlines and longtime executives are trained to work within this established culture of responsiveness - particularly organizations that modeled on conventional hierachies. This leads to - Can you reach everyone required at any time? Specifically, if there were a crisis at 2 am could you reach your CEO, Executive Director - whatever the case may be? If you don’t know the answer to that question today, I would advise you to find out. This then leads to - Could you put up a blog or podcast within hours if you needed to? Find out the answer first thing. It is the same as having a flashlight, candles, and a first aid kit in case of a natural disaster.

The posting that generated the most response was in regard to the GCI Canada book club. We finished “The Long Tail” earlier in the year and we are now striding through “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. Friedman’s book has been out for a few years now and in fact maybe on its second or third update. It is very well written but what is most interesting is the conversation that it incites in our boardroom. During the most recent book club session there was rabid debate amongst GCIers as to whether brands were becoming less or more important as outsourcing grew and the types of activities being outsourced continued to expand. Some in the room that brands were irrelevant. Others insisted brands ruled and were more important than ever. It was interesting to bring the discussion into the realm of current events using the recent Menu Pet fFood example. Menu Foods is the outsourced manufacturer for several prominant pet food companies. Very few could have anticipated what befell Menu Foods and then thereby their own company brands. For all companies in the outsourcing chain whether at the beginning or the end, individual reputations are dependent on each member of the chain.