This Man Gets in People's Heads

Fast Chat with McCann Erickson veteran Kevin Allen

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Kevin Allen began his advertising career in account service but made his mark as a pitchman for McCann Erickson, helping win accounts such as Marriott, Lufthansa and, most famously, MasterCard. He also worked for Lowe before launching consultancy Kevin Allen Partners in 2010. In a new book, The Hidden Agenda, Allen, 58, asserts that emotional connections are the key to success—whether pitching accounts or restocking airplane bathrooms, which he did in college as the “TP man” (as flight crews called him) for Marriott In-Flight Services.

Adweek: What do you mean in the book when you urge people to “think like a shrink”?
When we get into a business environment, we think, right, OK, now, it’s market share and brand this and blah blah that.

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