Quote

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.

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
Good
Isolation
Research
Design
Moment
Moments
Another
Trap
Past
Ads
Thing
Traps

More quotes by 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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Is creativity some obscure, esoteric art form? Not on your life. It's the most practical thing a business-man can employ.
William Bernbach
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It is insight into human nature that is the key to the communicator's skill. For whereas the writer is concerned with what he puts into his writings, the communicator is concerned with what the reader gets out of it. He therefore becomes a student of how people read or listen.
William Bernbach
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Persuasion is not a science but an art
William Bernbach
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Rules are what the artist breaks the memorable never emerged from a formula.
William Bernbach
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Never do anything yourself that you can hire someone else to do, especially if they can do it better.
William Bernbach
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In communications, familiarity breeds apathy.
William Bernbach
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Find the simple story in the product, and present it in an articulate and intelligent, persuasive way.
William Bernbach
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It may well be that creativity is the last unfair advantage we're legally allowed to take over our competitors.
William Bernbach
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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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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.
William Bernbach
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If your advertising goes unnoticed, everything else is academic!
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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Don't confuse good taste with the absence of taste.
William Bernbach
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The most powerful element in advertising is the truth.
William Bernbach
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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.
William Bernbach
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A principle isn't a principle until it costs you something.
William Bernbach
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Advertising doesn't create a product advantage. It can only convey it.
William Bernbach
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Creativity is the most practical thing a businessman can employ.
William Bernbach