The first year for the fledgling Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce agency was rough.
After losing Lucky Strike, Jai Alai, and Glo-Coat, and resigning the North American Aviation and Clearasil accounts, the young agency finished 1965 with a much smaller staff and only 60 percent of the billings it had when the doors opened.
Skip directly to the Sterling Cooper billings analysis>
The birth of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (SCDP) occurred amidst a buyout of Sterling Cooper by McCann in 1964 and was nothing if not dramatic.
"Last year, our agency was being swallowed whole," Don Draper told the Wall Street Journal. "I could die of boredom or holster up my guns. So I walked into Lane Pryce's office and I said, 'Fire us.' Within a year, we'd taken over two floors of the Time-Life Building."
The agency opened shop with seven accounts from predecessor agency Sterling Cooper – Lucky Strike, North American Aviation, Secor Laxatives, Jai Alai, Samsonite, Clearasil, and Playtex – and around $34 million in billings.
Sterling Cooper alum, Ken Cosgrove, bumped that number up to around the $40 million mark when he moved to SCDP from McCann.
But the numbers took a hit when Roger Sterling's longtime account, Lucky Strike, dumped him to join the rest of British American Tobacco at BBDO and took its $24 million in billings with it.
In the wake of that account's departure, Glo-Coat also fled, and the account team of Campbell, Cosgrove, and Sterling had a hard time finding any brand who would sign on with the fledgling agency to make up the difference.
The only brand brave enough to step up to the plate is Topaz Panti-Hose, which offered go-getter Peggy Olsen a small print-campaign.
But with several prospective clients in the wings and the creative prowess of Don Draper, we have faith that 1966 will be a better year for Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.
*Billings numbers were either confirmed by partners of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce on Season 4 of Mad Men or estimated by the writer based on other accounts at SCDP and the kind of work produced.
Ponds Cold Cream - $2 million
Creative Freddy Rumsen brought the account to Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce after sponsoring a Ponds executive at Alcoholics Anonymous.
Account Owner: Roger Sterling
Vick Chemical - $6 million
After Ponds cited a conflict of interest, SCDP resigned Clearasil. In the process, the agency snagged the larger account of Clearasil's parent company, Vick Chemical, from Tom Vogel (Pete Campbell's father-in-law).
Account Owner: Pete Campbell
Secor Laxatives - $1 million
Secor Laxatives was one of the first clients on the roster of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, after having been a client at Sterling Cooper since 1947. It is currently planning to make its first foray into TV.
Account Owner: Pete Campbell
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Please follow Advertising on Twitter and Facebook.