Play Nice: Forget Cutthroat What You Need is a Little Sugar and Spice Essay

“Play Nice:   Forget Cutthroat – What You Need is a Little Sugar and Spice”

The subtitle caught my attention, as I was flipping through Entrepreneur magazine. Here was a smiling lady standing next to the word ‘cutthroat.’ I read on only to find out what a powerful and recognizable job she has. She is Linda Kaplan Thaler, the CEO of Kaplan Thaler Group Inc. They are an advertising firm that created the AFLAC duck and the jingle, “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, I’m a Toys R Us Kid.” She credits her success with being nice to people, and incorporating that niceness into the corporate culture at KTG.   The article is really her answers to two questions, one about surviving a dog-eat-dog advertising world, and the other about negative advertising and how to overcome the obstacles of “bad press” without retaliating. When I saw the article, I thought it would be an interesting read, and once I read it, I saw how much of it truly applies to the principles and concepts we discuss in class.

She talks of cultivating a corporate culture of “being nice.” Naturally, a quick internet trip to the group’s website was in order. To no surprise, they have a fun website that starts off with a bang. Visit www.kaplanthaler.com for further information. Normally, I would check out the “About Us” tab, but it was called “Who We Are.” And of course, once I clicked there, I found Purpose and Beliefs that we discussed in week 2 of class. We believe this, and we believe that. It was short, concise, and defined the things this company stands for. I thought maybe someone might have taken this class! I digress, but back to being “nice” and cultivating the corporate culture. I would like to think the employees of KTG align their beliefs with the Organizational Purpose of KTG. If the relationships in the office are positive, it carries over to the clients’ ads and pitches   In advertising, perception is everything, and sometimes that perception may have nothing to do with the product. She spoke of a...