In advertising, not to be different is virtually suicidal.
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the importance of effectively engaging the audience when selling a product, emphasizing that both dullness and irrelevant brilliance are ineffective.
William Bernbach's quote underscores the necessity of having an audience that is receptive to your message in the selling process. It implies that no matter how brilliant a marketing campaign or product may be, if potential customers are not engaged or paying attention, the effort will be wasted. The essence of successful marketing lies in delivering relevant and engaging content to an attentive audience rather than merely relying on creativity or cleverness without listening to what the audience needs.
Themes
MarketingAdvertisingEngagementAudienceCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a marketing seminar to stress the importance of understanding the audience.
More from William Bernbach
All quotes →Don't confuse good taste with the absence of taste.
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
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 BernbachRead
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