Mad Men of the ’60s controlled the conversation. Today, not so much.

When unauthorized Twitter accounts of characters on Mad Men started to crop up last year, initially the folks at AMC were pretty upset. In fact, they filed complaints with Twitter to have the accounts removed. Which would have made sense in the 1960s, when marketers expected to have complete control over everything their brands said and did. Eventually, the producers did come to their 21st century senses, embracing the fact that social networks—even Tweets from a fake Don Draper—could help their hit show achieve far greater success than if they relied on traditional marketing efforts alone.

Their awakening seems to be paying off. Viewership of Sunday night’s Season 3 premiere was a whopping 2.8 million viewers, the show’s largest audience ever and a 33 percent increase over last year’s opener.

Here are just a few of the non-traditional and social media happenings that appear to have helped propel the show to new heights:

Tie-in with Banana Republic. From July 21 through August 11, Banana Republic locations across the country offered customers style guides that featured character profiles and tips on how to dress like your favorite guy or gal—of course, with garb purchased from the store. Customers were prompted to submit a photograph of themselves in their stylish Mad Men inspired outfits for a chance to win to a walk-on role in an upcoming episode of “Mad Men,” in addition to a $1,000 Banana Republic gift card. The semifinalists are supposed to be announced today.

ModCloth. After months of hard, Mad Men-obsessed work, the fashionistas at ModCloth launched a Mad Men inspired lookbook, “A Mod Affair.” The result is a stunning wardrobe combining true vintage items and ModCloth pieces. Below is a behind-the-scenes look at the process.

Twitter #maddict. A combination of the words Mad Men and addict, Twitter users are hashtagging their tweets with #maddict and inventing a whole new dictionary around the show. Keep an eye out for it Sundays during the airing of each episode.

Eight O’Clock Coffee social media. Mad Men e-cards will be hosted on EightOClock.com, featuring Mad Men regulars and allowing fans to remind each other about upcoming episodes, plan get-togethers to watch the show and share feedback. Also, be sure to check out madmenyourself.com, the Facebook and Twitter avatar sensation that spread like a pandemic before the premiere.

It seems the only thing that doesn’t make any sense about all these efforts is that Eight O’Clock didn’t opt in for product placement on the show, even though one of Sterling Cooper’s accounts is Martinson’s Coffee. Hmmmm. Maybe we’re wrong and Eight O’Clock and Martinson’s will be waging a social media marketing battle over the next few months.

I guess we’ll just have to watch and see.