Some occupations get all the luck when it comes to TV drama - think the law and policing - new shows are made every year. Why not marketing? Why aren’t we sexy enough for the big screen?
This may be changing because there’s a yet-to-be-screened streaming series called The Big Marketing Show starting in June 2024.
If it lives up to the hype, there will be plenty of educational content, some scare tactics and gigantic showdowns.
Episode one streams on 13th June and the big name guest is The Ad Contrarian, Bob Hoffman. I like the theme “Is Digital Marketing more fake than real?”. Despite being tempted to answer “NO” [screams silently] I will watch because Bob is a legend. He pulls no punches in his many books and popular blog and is prepared to name-and-shame bull**tters and ego-manics. That’ll be a good watch.
Show host Malcolm Auld promises that the show will “Change the intellectual debate around important topics affecting all marketers globally. It will break new ground for marketing content while providing valuable discussion and the exchange of ideas.“
Auld plans a couple of different formats for the show. One is a high profile individual (Hoffman) and the other is a debate/discussion format with two guests. Auld wants this dialogue to be where insights are revealed from which the audience will learn. And for anyone who’s attended recent Marketing Association events like Ritson on Advertising, you know how valuable these will be.
More dates are planned with guests “Marketoonist” Tom Fishburne and Ryan Wallman the self-styled Dr Draper whose discussion topic is ‘Two marketers walk into a bar.… “
I was motivated to do some digging about other marketing-themed TV shows and dramas. Before 2007 there was a dearth of good TV about marketing and advertising people. Mad Men changed all that and Don Draper entered our lexicon. Apart from a massively smoker-friendly and anti-feminist stance (appropriate for the 1960s) it filled this marketer’s heart with joy by taking the best of marketing agency work and dramatising it with realistic storylines.
Marketing has rarely been good for the silver screen. There have been attempts including The Pitch (which makes me cringe nearly as much as Shark Tank) and Happy-ish in which aging exec Steve Coogan finds he can’t work with Gen-Y youngsters in his agency. If you like British humour and sarcasm, this is the show for you. Locally-made Gruen was an Australian panel show doing take-downs of current TV adverts. It ran from 2008 - 2015 and so has demonstrated longevity. It is a good watch if you are not in the industry and want to understand how advertising works.
Dramas based in agencies is another category currently led by Emily in Paris, which is mostly about clothes and Paris and not much about our trade. But the costumes are fabulous - did you know the lead actor is Phil Collins’ daughter?
Personally I think there’s room for more mocumentary marketing dramas like Twenty Twelve with Hugh Bonneville - yes Earl Downton Abbey reincarnated as a bumbling boss - on the team tasked with delivering the 2012 Olympic Games.
Firmly in the “might have been great” category is Robin Williams’ last series, The Crazy Ones, loosely based on Leo Burnett Chicago. That didn’t run to a second series.
Back to the Big Marketing Show, I’ll be there and I hope you will be too. Just create an account on the site then go to each show and register to attend free.
Click here to register!
Author's Bio: Rebecca Caroe is a Fractional CMO currently looking for her next role. She serves on the B2B Special Interest Group for the Marketing Association.
Source: Rebecca Caroe, 12 June 2024
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