Thaler Q&A

Diane francis column Friday post June 29

New York advertising executive Linda Kaplan Thaler started as an actress, then music professor and now runs the fastest growing advertising agency in the Unites States, with 175 employees and US$1 billion in billings last year.

She is also the only woman in advertising who is both CEO and Chief Creative Officer of a major agency, the Kaplan Thaler Group, Inc., which is America's 34th largest.

She launched the venture out of her Manhattan brownstone in 1997 after 20 years with J. Walter Thompson and other agencies. Her only client at the time was Clairol and within two years later her company was bought by the Publicis Groupe in Paris, the world's fourth largest agency holding company.

She is a delightful and sunny creator and talked in a lengthy interview recently in her New York City office about her career and the changes underway in advertising. Her firm is best known for its enduring and entertaining campaign for a formerly obscure Georgia insurer, American Family Life Assurance Co. Her agency came up a mascot for the company: a duck that quacked the company's acronym, "Aflac". Sales and consumer awareness jumped immediately.

Q. What's the state of advertising these days?

A. Every week there is something new and the business is in a state of flux. People are withholding funds for television commercials because of the tsunami wave of emerging media. They're wondering where's everyone and what are they watching and doing? We used to produce a 30-second television commercial and some print. Today, agencies produce 30-second and 15-second television ads; 60-second and 30-second radio ads; billboards; print; online banners; webisodes [mini sitcoms on the Internet]; content integration [product placement] and brochures. This means that compensation is a big issue. Media [placement] companies charge 10% fees, but agencies have no model yet. We are still missing our 15% commission. We are paid by the hour which I find confusing. We're not a lawfirm and an upside bonus is a good idea.

Q. You started off as an actress. How did you get here?

A. I studied theatre and was in the road company for "Stop the World I Wanna Get Off" and "Hair" -- but I would not take my clothes off so they fired me. I have a Masters in Musicology. I taught music at college for awhile. I play piano, guitar, flute, banjo. My husband's a composer. I got into advertising because my father, who was an engineer, knew someone in an agency. I began working there. Wrote some jingles and enjoyed it.

Q. Has your unique theatre background influenced your agency?

A. I apply the theory of improvisation. I always say yes and then make it happen. You in improv that you cannot say no to anything, any idea. I remember advice that Quincy Jones gave my husband after he landed a big project: "You only need to remember four words: first-get-the-gig. Then figure it out." We get the gig, then figure it out. For instance, Red Cross was a client and promoting itself only through public service announcements at 4AM on television. We suggested that Red Cross do a telethon. We picked Christmas Eve 1998 and figured it out. At the end, it was a Gala that every celebrity wanted to be on and CBS carried it. It was a great hit for a couple of years. This company is built on the entertainment industry model. There are no titles, no layers, no vice presidents. We swarm around a project, like writers around a show. We gather, brainstorm, go away, then gather again.

Q. You are known for your unusual "pitches" (or presentations to clients to get their business).

A. We had to pitch Panasonic for a shaver and realized that the message could ?be that guys don't like to shave. So eight of us sang a parody called ?"Shaving sucks" and the client hired us. We call advertising the Theatre of Persuasion. Another time we were pitching an anti-depressant. We realized that the most depressing people in the world are comedians so we auditioned stand-up comics to do the pitch. Only one was funny and he works here now. We have a collection of backgrounds here including a couple of novelists, potters and painters.

Q. How do you get your clients' messages across in a crowded and noisy world where the average person is bombarded with 5,000 advertisements a day?

A. It's about the "E" factor, the Entertainment Factor. People will follow the funny. We are an Entertainment culture. We are also an ADD [Attention Deficit Disorder] culture. The kids today get their buzz from anywhere, their friends, websites.

Q. Is your approach different?

A. We once brought in a criminologist who talked to us about lateral thinking, problem solving. He said don't tamper with the evidence. Look at the research. Don't over-interpret. You leave too many unhelpful fingerprints. Pre-supposing during an investigation, or when trying to understand any problem, is not a good idea. Also I believe that one of the most intelligent things you can do is shut up and listen. And when someone is talking really listen to them when they say the word but...that's when they tell you what they really think. This product is fine but...