Inside the World of Advertising Agencies
The flick of stainless-steel lighters. The rattle of typewriters. The gentle glug of amber liquid as men in polished shoes have their morning whisky.
Many of our notions on advertising have come straight out of Mad Men. God knows mine have. I decided to sit down with John Maloney, Global Chief Investment Officer for mSIX&Partners, a leading media agency, to see how much fact there is in the fiction.
For the uninitiated, a media agency works across various channels to increase a client’s visibility. They might dream up a ground-breaking ad for your product, or place that ad on the new billboard above an important station. Often, they advise across all facets of a company’s marketing.
John may be as dapper as Don Draper, but a lot has changed since those heady early days.
John may be as dapper as Don Draper, but a lot has changed since those heady early days. ‘The industry has matured,’ he says. ‘When I started back in 2002 it was a really fun industry, and every agency had its own culture. There was less movement of talent because of that. You’d be offered a pay rise if you switched, but you were part of a team and that mattered more to you.’
I ask him about the fabled expense accounts, and he laughs. ‘I could go out four nights a week, to nice places, have lunch and dinner. In a way, that was our compensation for being renumerated so little. Wages for juniors were low back then.’
‘We’re a lot more careful with younger members of the team now,’ he continues thoughtfully. ‘Although I do worry the fun has completely gone, that we’ve course-corrected too much. With more people working from home, it’s harder to build the comradery with your team that we used to thrive off, working side by side.’
John goes on to explain how he used to overhear his bosses troubleshooting or sit next to a colleague doing deals on the phone, and thus pick-up numerous practical skills almost by osmosis. All these fringe benefits of a bustling office are being lost, leaving talent isolated.
‘We want to be the best place people have worked at during their careers. So we need to be responsive to staff needs and keep evaluating.’ This mission is particularly close to John’s heart, as media was his golden opportunity. ‘I went to a Central London state school and grew up on a council estate,’ he explains. ‘I barely remember what I studied but my grades were very average. When I got into uni, I failed my first year and was on track to fail my retake.’ When he graduated, John went knocking on doors and sending out CVs. He only got one call-back, but it changed his life.
Having succeeded to his current position, John is keen to give back.
It is an industry, John asserts, in which having that commercial, entrepreneurial mindset and the gift of the gab goes a long way. The potential for social mobility is enormous, and exciting. ‘As long as you work hard,’ John says. ‘The way I saw it, if I come in at 7.30am and leave at 8.00pm, that’s an extra four or so hours I’ve worked over anyone else. At the end of one year, it’s like I’ve worked two.’
Having succeeded to his current position, John is keen to give back. ‘I can now take those twenty years of equity and relationships in media and harness them for good.’ Media Fight Night, arguably his greatest achievement to date, was born of this sentiment.
It all started back in 2014, when John was approached by Professor Mark McGurk, co-founder of the Head & Neck Cancer Foundation (HNCF). He was looking to raise £500k to introduce a pioneering new procedure nationwide that would save early-stage patients from having a major and disfiguring surgery. ‘He knew I was passionate about boxing,’ continues John, ‘and we thought we could turn that into the base of a charity fundraiser.’
From this seed of an idea they created Media Fight Night, which sees industry professionals sign up for amateur boxing matches, all culminating in a big gala-style evening to raise money. They’ve had CEOs boxing alongside graduates, there is no hierarchy in philanthropy.
Eight years later, they’ve raised £1.3million for multiple charities (including the HNCF, which has now rolled out new treatments across the UK). The event has scored partnerships from the likes of LadBible and Twitch (where it’s streamed live) and has become a staple of the media calendar, attended by 1,200 industry heavyweights. People come far and wide to support him, support the night, and support the cause. As glamorous as the 1950s Madison Avenue executives seemed to be on the surface, one must admit this is a more admirable model. Long live the new era of ad men.