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In communications, familiarity breeds apathy.

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
Communications
Breeds
Familiarity
Apathy
Communication

More quotes by William Bernbach

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Advertising is the art of persuasion.
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You cannot sell a man who isn't listening word of mouth is the best medium of all and dullness won't sell your product, but neither will irrelevant brilliance.
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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.
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Just because your ad looks good is no insurance that it will get looked at. How many people do you know who are impeccably groomed... but dull?
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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.
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Those who are going to be in business tomorrow are those who understand that the future, as always, belongs to the brave.
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Don't confuse good taste with the absence of taste.
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Adapt your techniques to an idea, not an idea to your techniques.
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Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief.
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No matter how skillful you are, you can't invent a product advantage that doesn't exist. And if you do, and it's just a gimmick, it's going to fall apart anyway.
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There is no such thing as a good or bad ad in isolation. What is good at one moment is bad at another. Research can trap you into the past.
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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.
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Imitation can be commercial suicide.
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The real giants have always been poets, men who jumped from facts into the realm of imagination and ideas.
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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.
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The creative man with an insight into human nature, with the artistry to touch and move people, will succeed. Without them he will fail.
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Today's smartest advertising style is tomorrow's corn.
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An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.
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Persuasion is not a science but an art
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Our job is to sell our clients' merchandise... not ourselves. Our job is to kill the cleverness that makes us shine instead of the product. Our job is to simplify, to tear away the unrelated, to pluck out the weeds that are smothering the product message.
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