Make Mine A Glass Slipper

Truth be told, I’m not much of a basketball fan. But I do love March Madness! I love the obsession. I love the passion. But more than anything, I love the upsets!

I love the fact that every year, for three weeks, 64 schools get a chance to show what they can do on a national stage. Big and little, public and private, from every region of the country, 16 teams in four different brackets battle to see who’s got the most talent, the most heart and who wants it the most.

As I watched VCU knock off Duke, and Winthrop beat Notre Dame on Thursday night, I was once again inspired by what the little guy can do. And that prompted a thought — how great would it be if once a year, there was a Marketing Madness tournament? 64 agencies with a chance to show what they can do on a national stage. Big and little, public and private, from every region of the country, 16 agencies in four different brackets battling to see who’s got the most talent, the most heart and who wants it the most.

One client. One brief. 64 agencies.

The first year’s prize could be a $30 million piece of the Coca-Cola account. The second year, a chunk of Frito-Lay. How about Ford or Mercedes-Benz? You gotta know Anheuser-Busch would appreciate the spirit of a competition like this. Every year the prize would change. Agencies would come and go. And “Marketing Madness” would be the greatest advertising spectacle in the world.

Think how much fun the inner-office brackets would be! Can’t you see it? The East bracket would be loaded with New York and Boston agencies like Saatchi, Kaplan Thaler, Hill Holliday and Arnold. The South bracket would have Crispin, Porter + Bogusky fighting it out with The Martin Agency, The Richards Group and GSD&M for the top seeds. The West would be dominated by Wieden & Kennedy and Goodby with Leo Burnett and DDB leading the way in the Midwest.

The other 52 seeds would be filled out by agencies of all sizes, makeups, locations and pedigrees. Like the NCAA tournament, talented Cinderella agencies from across the country would get their chance to make a pilgrimage to the big dance to put their thinking, their passion and their heart on the court with the best agencies in the country.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it will never happen. But it is fun to dream about.

And hey, isn’t that what March Madness is all about?