Don't confuse good taste with the absence of taste.
William BernbachRead
In advertising, not to be different is virtually suicidal.
Interpretation
Being unique in advertising is essential; without it, success is unlikely.
This quote emphasizes the critical need for differentiation in advertising. William Bernbach suggests that in a crowded marketplace, failing to stand out from the competition can lead to failure, making originality and creativity invaluable for achieving success in advertising campaigns.
In practice
During a marketing seminar to illustrate the importance of creativity in campaigns.
Don't confuse good taste with the absence of taste.
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.
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.
In this very real world, good doesn't drive out evil. Evil doesn't drive out good. But the energetic displaces the passive.
Let us prove to the world that good taste, good art, and good writing can be good selling.
You can say the right thing about a product and nobody will listen. Youβve got to say it in such a way that people will feel it in their gut. Because if they donβt feel it, nothing will happen.
When marketers influence habits, they influence peoples' self-identity. And so when a group or company does something that doesn't correspond to our core values, it feels like a betrayal.
Can advertising foist an inferior product on the consumer? Bitter experience has taught me that it cannot. On those rare occasions when I have advertised products which consumer tests have found inferior to other products in the same field, the results have been disastrous.
A product for everyone rarely reaches much of anyone.
Content is king, but marketing is queen, and runs the household.
The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be.
Nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else's advertising.
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