In advertising, not to be different is virtually suicidal.
William BernbachRead
Advertising doesn't create a product advantage. It can only convey it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Advertising helps communicate the value of a product rather than changing the product itself.
In this quote, William Bernbach emphasizes the role of advertising in highlighting the existing advantages of a product rather than implying that it can generate new benefits or enhancements. It suggests that effective advertising is about showcasing what a product already does well, thereby informing and persuading consumers rather than inventing value artificially.
Themes
AdvertisingMarketingProductCommunicationValue
In practice
Example use cases
A marketing manager might use this quote during a training session to emphasize the importance of authentic messaging.
More from William Bernbach
All quotes βDon't confuse good taste with the absence of taste.
William BernbachRead
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.
William BernbachRead
Properly practiced creativity must result in greater sales more economically achieved. Properly practiced creativity can lift your claims out of the swamp of sameness and make them accepted, believed, persuasive, urgent.
William BernbachRead
In this very real world, good doesn't drive out evil. Evil doesn't drive out good. But the energetic displaces the passive.
William BernbachRead
Let us prove to the world that good taste, good art, and good writing can be good selling.
William BernbachRead
Similar quotes
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It has been found that the less an advertisement looks like an advertisement and the more it looks like an editorial, the more readers stop, look, and read.
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The mistake so many marketers make is that they conjoin the urgency of making another sale with the timing to earn the right to make that sale. In other words, you must build trust before you need it. Building trust right when you want to make a sale is just too late.
Seth GodinRead
A product for everyone rarely reaches much of anyone.
Seth GodinRead
Advertising nourishes the consuming power of men.
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It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big idea.
David OgilvyRead