Saturday, April 23, 2011

Mad Men Comparing Cars versus Trains




There is a theory that the only things that need to be actively and energetically sold are things that are bad deals. Another thought is that only things are profitable enough to support salesmen are going to sold by salesmen. I once knew a guy who made a good living selling cell phones back in the early '90's. Now cell phones are a commodity business and are not sold by salesmen. Mutual funds and whole life insurance

There is something else going on in this piece because companies may have different and mixed motives to be promote their brand, themselves or products. At such times companies may engage in advertising and marketing even when when they don't nurture a diverse ecosystem of commissioned sales.

Here is an interview with Vincent Kartheiser, Q&A: Mad Men's Vincent Kartheiser on High-Speed Rail, where he discussed the above piece. There is a great scene in Yes, Minister, where where he meets three different civil servants, who in case of regulatory capture all champion different modes of transport (road, rail and air).

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