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Advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art.

William Bernbach

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William Bernbach
Age: 71 †
Born: 1911
Born: August 13
Died: 1982
Died: October 2
Art Director
Economist
Entrepreneur
The Bronx
New York City
Persuasion
Fundamentally
Advertising
Business
Science
Art
Happens

More quotes by William Bernbach

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Forget words like 'hard sell' and 'soft sell.' That will only confuse you. Just be sure your advertising is saying something with substance, something that will inform and serve the consumer, and be sure you're saying it like it's never been said before.
William Bernbach
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You have to live with your product, you have to know it through and through, you have to look at it, understand it, love it then, and only then, you can crystallize in one clear thought, one single theme, what must be conveyed about the product to the consumer.
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In advertising, not to be different is virtually suicidal.
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Because an appeal makes logical sense is no guarantee that it will work.
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The heart of creativity is discipline.
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A great ad campaign will make a bad product fail faster. It will get more people to know it's bad.
William Bernbach
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Today's smartest advertising style is tomorrow's corn.
William Bernbach
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A principle isn't a principle until it costs you something.
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All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarise that society. We can brutalise it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level.
William Bernbach
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Logic and over-analysis can immobilise and sterilize an idea. It's like love. The more you analyse it, the more it disappears.
William Bernbach
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Word of mouth is the best medium of all.
William Bernbach
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We are so busy measuring public opinion that we forget we can mold it. We are so busy listening to statistics we forget we can create them.
William Bernbach
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The truth isn't the truth until people believe you, and they can't believe you if they don't know what you're saying, and they can't know what you're saying if they don't listen to you, and they won't listen to you if you're not interesting, and you won't be interesting unless you say things imaginatively, originally, freshly.
William Bernbach
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Creativity is the most practical thing a businessman can employ.
William Bernbach
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It's not just what you say that stirs people. It's the way that you say it.
William Bernbach
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You can say the right thing about a product and nobody will listen. You’ve got to say it in such a way that people will feel it in their gut. Because if they don’t feel it, nothing will happen.
William Bernbach
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For the Flower to blossom, you need the right soil as well as the right seed. The same is true to cultivate good thinking.
William Bernbach
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Research can trap you into the past.
William Bernbach
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Advertising is the art of persuasion.
William Bernbach
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Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief.
William Bernbach