Victorian meaning of flowers
Iris: Inspiration
(Kleager, 2013)
(DDB, 2014)
Seeds
On August 13, 1911, a legend was born. Bill Bernbach grew up in the Bronx, New York. He studied music, business administration, philosophy and majored in English at New York University. He graduated in 1932 and went on to work in a mailroom. Later he worked as a ghostwriter for Grover Whalen which was head of the 1939 World’s Fair in New York and after that he worked at the William H. Weintraub agency. Here he met a powerful influence, Paul Rand, whose simplicstic graphic art stood out to him. He then served in the U.S. Army during World War II but not for long, as shortly after he joined Coty Incorporated and later Grey Advertising. His talents flourished here and he was promoted to vice president and creative director shortly after joining.
The current industry was too limited according to Bernbach’s vision, so he went out on his own and started his very own agency. Doyle Dane Bernbach was opened on June 1, 1949, by Bill Bernbach, Maxwell Dane and Ned Doyle. The trio wanted to change the advertising world from seeing and using advertising as a science to believing advertising is an art of persuasion. DDB grounded themselves in this belief and through the use of creativity, humor and simplicity they created what are dubbed the most memorable and successful campaigns in the history of advertising.
(Relatably.com, 2016)
Bernbach was a man for the community and believed that it was the job of those in the communication industry to create a better world every chance they get. He instilled this value in those who worked for him and in his own work and his standards live on and continue to inspire people today. At the age of 71, Bernbach died on October 2, 1982 in New York as a result of leukemia (www.ddb.com, 2011).
In 1999, Bernbach was named “the single most influential person in the last 100 years of advertising” by Advertising Age and received boatloads of awards throughout his career as an ad man. In 1964, he not only was inducted into the Copywriters Hall of Fame but also received “The Man of the Year of Advertising Award” and won it again in 1965. In 1966 he received “The Man of the Year Award” from The Pulse Inc., and in 1969 he was named the “Top Advertising Agency Executive.” He received, “The American Academy of Achievement Award,” and was featured in the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame in 1976 and he Art Directors Hall of Fame, later in 1983.
Bernbach wasn’t just an ad man, he was so much more. Bernbach was a professor at New York University, a lecturere at the Massachusets Institute of Technology and the Harvard Business School, vice chairman of the Lincoln Center’s film committee and on the board of directors of the Mary Manning Walsh Home, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the Legal Aid Society and the Harper’s Magazine Foundation. He achieved awards outside of advertising such as the, “Parsons School of Design Diamond Jubilee Award,” in 1972, the, “Madden Memorial Award,” in 1968 and the, “American Jewish Committee’s Human Relations Award.” He was also a member of the Harvard Medical School’s communication committee and a member of the advisory committee of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Flowers
Of all his success and achievements, his greatest was one of principle and influence, as his ability to inspire and nurture young talent resulted in the start up and success of some of the most creative talents in the business today (www.ddb.com, 2011).
The following are a few of the most memorable quotes by Bill Bernbach:
“The product, the product. Stay with the product. Simple and authentic… The difference between the forgettable and the eduring is artistry… I fear all the sins we commit in the name of Creativity.”
“Nobody counts the number of ads you run; they just remember the impression you make.”
“Adapt your techniques to an idea, not an idea to your techniques.”
“A great ad campaign will make bad product fail faster, it will get more people knowing it’s bad.”
“Word of mouth is the best medium of all.”
(DDB, 2014)
One of his most memorable campaigns was one for Avis. President of Avis, Bob Townsend resorted to asking Bill Bernbach to help improve the brand’s image as they had been losing money for almost 15 years and couldn’t seem to squeeze their way out of being the second place brand in their industry. Through research, Bernbach found that the most unique thing about Avis was their unfortunate and permanent second place status so he decided to what no one had done before, embrace it. What they came up with was the famous “We Try Harder” campaign, though it scored low in their testing, as half the people liked it and half didn’t, Bernbach decided to go with the half that liked it. His twist on comparative advetising positioned Avis as a popular underdog that everyone rooted for. The campaign was a resounding success, and its forumla has been used over and over again ever since.
(DDB, 2014)
In 1960, DDB worked on advertising for a German car very well-known today, the Volkswagen Beetle. In this campaign they broke many conventional car advertising ‘rules.’ They were the first to give a car a loveable personality, the first to emphasize product simplicity and the first to display a car ad with a plain background.
Pickings
I loved these ads and the way they played into the car’s simplicity. I especially liked the way they didn’t look at the downsides of the car compared to upper class, expensive cars, but they looked at the glass half full. They capitalized on the cars differences and made it ‘okay’ to want a no-so-luxurious car, and to rather prefer a reliable friend.
As for the copy, I loved the way they were so point blank with the way they spoke about the car. I love that they werent trying to ‘ad frosting’ to the car but they were totallly realistic. They didn’t try change the product to meet the expectations and appeal of a luxury hunting target audience but instead targeted a market that desired a practical, reliable car. I loved the way they put forward the features of the car in a relatable way, and spoke on the level of the audience. I love the way they underplay the car’s capabilities just to ‘put them out there’ and then boast a bit at the end. I love the way they emphasize on the car’s small size throughout the ad’s copy as well as the design of the ad. The tone and layout of the ad is so confident yet humble and it makes the ad very memorable (www.ddb.com, 2011).
References
Kleager, B. (2013). Secret meanings of flowers. Huntsville, Ala.: Treasured Secrets Pub. Co., pp.14, 21, 33, 47, 82, 137.
Relatably.com, (2016). Bill Bernbach Quote. [image] Available at: http://www.relatably.com/q/william-bernbach-quotes [Accessed 27 May 2016].
http://www.ddb.com. (2011). Deep Influence – Bill Bernbach’s Top 3 Quotes. [online] Available at: http://www.ddb.com/BillBernbachSaid/why_bernbach_matters/deep-influence/ [Accessed 27 May 2016].
http://www.ddb.com. (2011). More About Bill – Biography. [online] Available at: http://www.ddb.com/BillBernbachSaid/more-about-bill/biography.html#sthash.ZqiJadmf.dpuf [Accessed 27 May 2016].
http://www.ddb.com. (2011). More About Bill Recognition. [online] Available at: http://www.ddb.com/BillBernbachSaid/more-about-bill/recognition.html# [Accessed 27 May 2016].
http://www.ddb.com. (2011). Revolutionary Work – Volkswagen. [online] Available at: http://www.ddb.com/BillBernbachSaid/why_bernbach_matters/revolutionary-work/# [Accessed 27 May 2016].
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