Review: Up The Agency, Author Peter Mayle
I
was flattered while working in my first ad agency position when the accountant
- a veteran of New York ad agencies - told me I would do very well on
Madison Avenue. That lifestyle never appealed to me but I was intrigued
enough to buy Up The Agency at the local Barnes & Noble. In a hilarious
account from the author's own experiences and observations as a star advertising
executive, Peter Mayle reveals the sordid inner workings, dysfunctionalities
and shameless greed of the world's most mammoth ad agencies. Detailing
the base instincts, typical thought processes and hidden agendas of account
executives, art directors, copywriters, assistants and other agency personnel,
as well as those of the clients, Mr. Mayle exposes with dire sarcasm how
the quest for money, status and ego corrupt the agency-client relationship.
The result is bland, ineffective, conservative advertising. But that's
what the client wanted and the tradeoff is a second house in the Hamptons
and a Porsche in the garage. Add Mr. Mayle's English heritage and it would
be easy for those on the outside of the industry to miss much of the dry
yet irresistibly funny humor.
In fact, I must confess that it was only last night that I dusted it off the shelf to send it to a friend considering a career in advertising that I realized how funny this book is. After flipping through a few pages describing how industry awards are judged (think Salt Lake City Olympics Pairs Figure Skating), and laughing heartily, I reread the entire book. Apparently, I missed most of the humor when I first read it ten years ago.
Up The Agency is a quick, fun and worthwhile read for anyone involved in advertising. From elaborate new business pitches and bloated entertainment expenses to excessive awards banquets and inflated egos, agency personnel, clients and vendors alike will enjoy dozens of all too true stories that will in all likelihood mirror many of their own experiences.
If it isn't at your local library, get it at Amazon.com.
It is no secret the media has gradually lost its credibility. Fortune Tellers tells you why in striking detail.
Paul Entin selected to review business and marketing books for SAM Magazine