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

More quotes by 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.
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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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A principle isn't a principle until it costs you something.
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Word of mouth is the best medium of all.
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Don't confuse good taste with the absence of taste.
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In communications, familiarity breeds apathy.
William Bernbach
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Today's smartest advertising style is tomorrow's corn.
William Bernbach
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Nobody counts the number of ads you run they just remember the impression you make.
William Bernbach
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If your advertising goes unnoticed, everything else is academic!
William Bernbach
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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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Our job is to bring the dead facts to life.
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The difference between the forgettable and the enduring is artistry.
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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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Rules are what the artist breaks the memorable never emerged from a formula.
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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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I warn you against believing that advertising is a science.
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In advertising, not to be different is virtually suicidal.
William Bernbach
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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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It's not just what you say that stirs people. It's the way that you say it.
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