2

Why Rules Are Traps

THERE WAS an old saying in advertising—we haven’t heard it used on TV’s “Mad Men” yet—that “the second wife never trusts the secretary.” Many years ago, Steve was working at the advertising agency Backer & Spielvogel on the Sony business. Backer & Spielvogel was founded by six partners who were on the Miller business at McCann Erickson. One day, the senior account, media, and creative team just pulled out of McCann and opened their doors. Shortly thereafter, the Miller brand followed.

Steve was working at B&S for Norman Tanen, and they had a great rapport with the Sony client. But the client was unhappy with the account management team. B&S replaced the account supervisor twice, and both times the client called Norman and ...

Get Breakthrough! now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.