Madboy Beyond Mad Men: Tales from the Mad, Mad World of Advertising

by Kirshenbaum, Richard; Della Femina, Jerry

• ISBN13: 9781453258170
• ISBN10: 1453258175
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-09-20
• Publisher: Open Road Media

Summary

A thrilling and irreverent memoir about the transformation of the advertising business from the 1980s to today Richard Kirshenbaum was born to sell. Raised in a family of Long Island strivers, this future advertising titan was just a few years old when his grandfather first taught him that a Cadillac is more than a car, and that if you can't have a Trinitron you might as well not watch TV. He had no connections when he came to Madison Avenue, but he possessed an outrageous sense of humor that would make him a millionaire. In 1987, at the age of twenty-six, Richard put his savings on the line to launch his own agency with partner Jonathan Bond, and within a year, had transformed it from a no-name firm into the go-to house for cutting-edge work. Kirshenbaum and Bond pioneered guerilla marketing by purchasing ad space on fruit, spray-painting slogans on the sidewalk, and hiring actors to order the Hennessy martini in nightclubs. They were the bad boys of Madison Avenue-a firm where a skateboarding employee once bowled over an important client-but backed up their madness with results. Packed with business insight, marketing wisdom, and a cast of characters ranging from Princess Diana to Ed McMahon, this memoir is as bold, as breathtaking, and as delightful as Richard himself.

Author Biography

Richard Kirshenbaum (b. 1962) is one of the most exciting personalities in New York City advertising. With partner Jonathan Bond, he founded the Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners agency, which pioneered such innovative marketing concepts as the pop-up store, sidewalk advertising, and other forms of high-visibility guerilla marketing.

Kirshenbaum has lectured at Harvard Business School, appeared on Crain’s “40 under Forty” list, sat on the board of directors of the One Club for Art & Copy, and been named #2 on a list of top 100 entrepreneurs of the United States. His other books include Under the Radar, cowritten with Bond, and Closing the Deal, a book on relationships that has been translated into nine languages. An accomplished playwright, his work has been produced by David Mamet’s Atlantic Theater Company. He currently writes for Us Weekly, contributing to its regular “Fashion Police” feature.

Table of Contents

Prologue

THE COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Chapter One: My Long G’Island Accent   ………………..p.6

Chapter Two: Boy Friday Becomes Ad Boy…………..….p.23

THE STRATEGY

Chapter Three: Big Dreams, Big Personalities and Andy Warhol…….p.33

THE PITCH

Chapter Four: Our First Real Office, Solid Gold………….p.48

Chapter Five: My Most Un-Favorite Year…………………p.63

Chapter Six: I Almost Did It My Way………………….….p.76

Chapter Seven: Expect the Unexpected…………………….p.88

Chapter Eight: Adland……………………………………...p.103

THE CAMPAIGN

Chapter Nine: Go West, Young Man………………………..p.110

Chapter Ten: If You Can Make It Here, Buy Prozac!.............p.133

Chapter Eleven: The Best Stuff Doesn’t Get Any Better……p.147

Chapter Twelve: The Most Fun You Can Have with Your

 Clothes On………………………………………………….p. 162

Chapter Thirteen: Ice, Ice, Baby…………………………….p.185

Chapter Fourteen: In the Name of Love……………………..p. 196

BRAND EXTENSION

Chapter Fifteen: Innovation Tastes Great…………………..…p.205

Chapter Sixteen: When You Have a Great Idea- Bottle It!.......p.219

Chapter Seventeen: If It’s Going to Happen, It’s Going to Happen in New York……………………………………………………………p. 225

Chapter Eighteen: Pass the Torch……………………………...p. 230

Epilogue