with over 400 illustrations

IntroductionIntroduction 66

0101 Basic ToolsBasic Tools 1717

0202 The StrategyThe Strategy 4141

0303 PrintPrint 5656

0404 The CampaignThe Campaign 9090

0505 The TaglineThe Tagline 9797

0606 Generating Strategies Generating Strategies

and Ideasand Ideas 106106

0707 TVTV 154154

0088 AmbientAmbient 175175

0909 InteractiveInteractive 184184

1010 CopyCopy 199199

1111 RadioRadio 209209

1212 IntegratedIntegrated 218218

1313 ExecutionExecution 229229

1414 Presenting and SellingPresenting and Selling

Your WorkYour Work 247247

1515 The Student BookThe Student Book 252252

1616 ConclusionConclusion 262262

GlossaryGlossary 266266

BibliographyBibliography 268268

IndexIndex 269269

ContentsFor Jeannie

Special thanks to Jean Koeppel, Steve Montgomery, Tony Cullingham, Nik Roope, Kev Palmer, JustinKramm, Seb Royce, James Leigh, Darren Giles, Sarah Cooper, Joel Bronzeman, and, of course,everyone at Thames & Hudson.

Thanks also to the creative people responsible for the ideas displayed throughout this book. Withoutthem it could not exist.

First published in the United Kingdom

in 2008 by Thames & Hudson Ltd,

181A High Holborn, London WC1V 7QX

www.thamesandhudson.com

© 2008 Pete Barry

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or

any other information storage and retrieval system, without

prior permission in writing from the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-0-500-51405-4

Printed and bound in China by SNP Leefung Printers Limited

Unless otherwise stated, the illustrations in this book are

the Author’s interpretations of the concepts that were presented

to the client.

Every effort has been made to trace the copyright owners of

the advertisements used in this book. The Author and Publisher

apologize for any unintentional omissions. We would be pleased

to insert an appropriate acknowledgment in any reprint of this

publication.

6 • Introduction Introduction • 7

Concept Over Execution, Substance Over StyleThere have been hundreds of great ad campaignsover the years, but there are surprisingly few greatbooks on how to create this level of work. (By“create,” I mean those books that focus on conceptsand ideas, rather than on the look or finalexecution of an ad.)

Since the emergence of so-called “ConceptAdvertising”* in the 1950s and 1960s (the basis of Larry Dobrow’s rare, timeless book WhenAdvertising Tried Harder [1984]) sadly only a handful of genuine ad titans (of which I’mcertainly not one) have shared their words ofwisdom on paper. Although insightful, many of these “ad man texts”—waxing lyrical aboutbusiness-winning philosophies and set-in-concretecreative dos and don’ts—are starting to show their age.

There are also plenty of terrific graphic designbooks out there, written by much more worthydesign folk than myself. Plus every year there’s a new batch of award books which will hopefullyinspire. Oh, and don’t forget those coffee table adbooks that look just like cut-and-pasted awardsbooks. And if it’s the latest computer software skills you’re after, the choice of manuals and how-to guides is expanding by the day.

This book, however, deals solely with the firstand most important step toward creating great,timeless advertising: concept.

Without a great concept you have nothing butmutton dressed as lamb. The best choice of type or color palette or photography or illustration can’t save a bad idea. (Or as someone once crudelyput it: “You can’t polish a turd.”) Concept is toadvertising what the little black dress is to fashion:it will always be in demand.

(Most) Great Ideas are TimelessArt direction, more so than copy, can really date an ad. Trendy art direction techniques in print andTV advertising are coming and going more quicklythan ever. But if you take these elements away, onecan judge the concept behind the advertising, ratherthan the execution in front of it.

Or as Stavros Cosmopulos once wrote:

“I’ve seen stick figures scribbled on wetlunchroom napkins so blurred you could barelydiscern what was represented. But an idea wasthere, and it had a life of its own. The words andpictures spring to life in your mind, stimulatedand inspired by the basic strength anddynamism of the idea…. Make the layoutsrough and the ideas fancy.”

As part of The Advertising Concept Book’sdetermined focus on simplicity and concept, I have chosen to use only hand-drawn versions ofappropriate work (also known as art director’sthumbnails, roughs, comps, scamps, or tissues).This way, the work is judged by its content, not by its cover. And in terms of my own work, I’drather have a portfolio of brilliant-thinking roughsthan brilliant-looking duffs. Showing fifty years’worth of rough comps not only helps teachers toexplain why an “old” ad is still a great ad, but it also forces students to think now and design later,hence reversing their initial temptation to grab a computer instead of a pencil.

But before some of you ad folk say, “I’ve seenthat idea of using thumbnails before”—so have I. Rough layouts have been used in pitches,presentations, portfolios, and brainstormingsessions for many years. The fact is, I could haveeasily presented all the ads in finished form withthe same thoughts and words and the book wouldstill have worked. But I soon realized that hand-drawn roughs are definitely the most appropriatesolution for a textbook focusing on the topic of concepts and ideas—something that, as far as I know, has never been done.

Well into writing this book, I came across aninteresting quote that further convinced me to usethumbnail sketches rather than final artwork. Afterjudging piles of highly finished student campaignsfor a CMYK competition, executive creativedirector Tom Hudder made this fitting remark:

“I still wish that students didn’t feel so enslavedto Photoshop. It’s a shame that I wasn’t sent one pencil drawing. It would be interesting to see how much better these folks might workwithout the handcuffs (at the concept stage) of technology.”

Although this book makes a solid attempt tohighlight some timeless ad concepts, not every greatad concept is timeless. After all, things do change:people, society, fashion, technology, etc. In someways the world today is more liberal and carefreethan ever. In other ways it’s more dictatorial andpolitically correct. We as consumers are becomingmore and more conceptually sophisticated, visuallyliterate and tech-savvy, and yet as a consequence,increasingly wary and intolerant of both the hardand soft sell advertising approach (see Hard Sell vs.Soft Sell, page 11).

It all began with a pen: LarsAnderson’s original art director’srough of the iconic “Man in theChair” ad. Client: Maxell.Agency: Scali, McCabe, Sloves.Creatives: Lars Anderson, PeterLevathes.

Learn to DrawIf the reason for this is still unclear, here’s anexplanation from famed art director Ron Brown:

“It is an advantage to be able to draw, as itenables you to put down an idea on paper. Ifyou understand perspective, know how lightbehaves, how anatomy works and how to makeuse of white space, it will help you do a layout. I use a Pentel to draft an ad and a computer tocraft it.”

Why Advertise? This question comes up in the classes I teach everyyear (usually from the S.S.S., or “single skepticalstudent”).

You’d think the basic answer is obvious, right?That advertising is a tried and tested way to get aproduct or service noticed in a highly competitiveworld, etc., etc…

But then the S.S.S. invariably quips: “Yeah, butwhy bother to do anything creative? Why not justsay what the product is?”

“What?!” I’m stunned.

Introduction

*Note: some designers and advertising creatives, including the ingenious Bob Gill, prefer the term “ideas” rather than “concept,” believing thelatter should be reserved for Einstein-sized thinking only. One could easily argue that advertising “ideas” sounds too lightweight and general.Depending on their background, some people will use “concept” to mean a big campaign idea that came out of the strategy, into which smallerideas (executions) are injected. The US tends to use “concept,” whereas the UK prefers “idea.” It really doesn’t matter. I believe that “concept”and “idea” are the same thing: it’s what comes after the strategy, and before the executions. I will therefore use the two definitions interchange-ably throughout the book. As for its title, The Advertising Concept Book simply sounded better to me than The Advertising Idea Book.

8 • Introduction Introduction • 9

How refreshing: a computercompany reminds us that thecomputer is merely a tool. Client:Microsoft. Agency: Euro RSCGWnek Gosper, London. Creatives:Tim Garth, Steve Eltringham.

The student continues: “Why not just do whatour local car dealer does. He has the worst TV adsin the world. He’s on all the time, a different adeach week. Everyone finds him annoying, and yethe’s made a million from it.”

At which point I usually say something alongthese lines: “The only reason why he’s making somuch money is because his ads are on all the time.He’s boring people into submission. They getbrainwashed. They forget whether they even likethe ad. Plus, it’s a regional ad, so the media isrelatively cheap, and he won’t have as muchcompetition as a national brand. But mostimportantly, I guarantee he’d be even richerin the long run if he did one great ad, rather than a hundred terrible ones.”

I continue my point: “It’s like a male identical twin chatting to a woman in a bar. Hecommunicates with a string of bad pick-up lines.She can’t get away. Then the second identical twinwalks in. She wants to die. Twin #2 walks up to her,but instead whispers one simple, natural, originalline into her ear. She is immediately disarmed.Then they get married and have lots of children.Twin #1? He’s probably still at the bar.”

That usually convinces the class S.S.S. or at the very least disarms them.

Yet such misconceptions aren’t just commonamongst first-time ad students. Business people can have the same idea. I was in a meeting once at an architectural firm and the Gap ads came up in conversation. Knowing that I worked inadvertising, one slightly conceited architect said to me, “Gap is losing money. They’re going downthe drain. Their famous ads are not working.”

Then I looked at him, and politely said, “How doyou know it’s because of their ads, and not anotherproblem within the company? Like their brand,their stores, or even their product. Perhaps theiradvertising is the only thing that’s stopping themfrom losing a lot more money.”

At which point he went very quiet.

The Power of AdvertisingWe all know about advertising’s potential to changethe way people think, enough to sell a product intothe billions. But advertising is powerful even at avery local level, as well as on a national or globalone. For example, three years ago I was disgustedwith the amount of dog poop along the tree-linedsidewalk outside my apartment. (Poop and flip-

flops don’t mix.) The guilty dog owners wereclearly ignoring the many residents’ signs, most of which were either witty or insulting, butunsuccessful nonetheless. So then I decided to havea stab. In the worst hit area I placed a temporarysign on a tree, which simply read: “This is asidewalk, not a toilet,” followed by the standard“please clean up after your dog.” I wanted the toneto be direct, yet slightly condescending. As I left for work the next day I noticed that my sign haddisappeared—I assumed an angry dog owner hadremoved it. But when I returned later that day itwas back. Not only that, but every tree on the blockhad a xeroxed version of the sign stapled to it.Within a day the poop had gone, and has yet toreturn. My “ad” was far from a One Show Gold, but it did do its job.

“Good is the Enemy of Great”The French writer and philosopher Voltaire pennedthis famous line (later adopted and applied toadvertising by the great Bill Bernbach). As a result,this book attempts to focus on producing greatideas, rather than just good ones, and to help youland a job at a great agency rather than a good one(let’s not even entertain the idea of working at oneof the many bad “ad agencies” out there).

Put simply, the aim of any creative advertisingperson is to produce a TV or radio commercial sogreat that people will want to record it, or a posterso great that people will want to tear it from thewall and take it home.

In his book, The Do-It-Yourself Lobotomy (2002),Tom Monahan makes this observation:

“A big part of being a highly realized creativeperson is having an open mind and being able to recognize great ideas even when you aren’tlooking for them, perhaps even when they arethe last thing you are looking for.”

You’re a Market Stall Holder Some people hate the advertising industry. An oldneighbor of mine (now a retired bank manager)recently said to me: “Your Dad tells me you’re inAdvertising. So in other words, you make peoplebuy things that they don’t need?”

I was taken aback. True, many products are whatpeople want rather than need. But he would neverhave said that to me if I worked in, say, a villagemarket selling goods like dish cloths or kitchenknives. It’s okay for those people to shout out

10 • Introduction Introduction • 11

product names and prices, or come up with wittyone-liners to draw people in. (I once heard an EastLondon salesman shout out, “’Ere luv, if you wantto finish your husband off tonight, I’ve got just theknife for it.”) If it means selling more goods, whynot? He knows that the other market stall holderswill be doing the same. Everyone has to pay thebills. The point is, no one is being forced to buy the goods. They’re simply being advertised to.

I wish I’d thought of saying that to my neighbor.

The Role of AdvertisingStephen Leacock wrote: “Advertising may bedescribed as the science of arresting the human

intelligence long enough to get money from it.”Although my neighbor may be unusual in hishatred of advertising, it is true to say that thegeneral public don’t care about advertising. That’sunderstandable. People have far more importantthings to watch or read or worry about than an ad.

My Uncle Bob once said, “Commercial breaks onTV are like a clown knocking on your door every15 minutes. The first time he asks to come intoyour lounge and do a little performance, you say ‘no!’ But what’s really annoying is, he keepstrying—every 15 minutes! Do you answer the dooragain? Of course not. And that’s why I turn off theTV when the commercials come on.”

That’s where the challenge lies. To stand a chanceof getting an ad noticed (and remembered) it hasto be great. Like you’ve only got one chance toknock on that door. And great ads come from greatstrategic thinking. The actual ad itself is just onebrick in a large wall. It’s the final, top-most piece of a giant pyramid, which looks roughly like thediagram opposite, above.

There are three main sections in this list. Tomake it easier to understand, think of it instead as an iceberg. Between the Business Plan/Idea andthe Campaign/Advertising Idea and Executions is the Advertising Strategy. But the only part of the iceberg consumers ever get to see is Executions(with or without a tagline).

Why So Many Bad Ads?Depending on which country you’re in, betweenapproximately 90 and 99% of ads suck. That’sbecause great work scares people. Especially clients.They spend a lot of money at the risk of losing a lot if the advertising fails. And most agencies arescared of losing clients. This largely explains why somuch advertising is safe, copycat work. Plus clientshave their own people to keep happy: their ownboxes to tick. But when a client is educated by theagency about the mutual goals that only creativeadvertising can bring (to build brands, makemoney, and win awards), the more they understandand appreciate groundbreaking work. In fact, it wasa client who once said it best: “Whenever there isgreat work, there’s always a great client.” (See alsoCritiques and Subjectivity, page 37.)

Remember, as a student your work is purely spec (short for “speculative”). The concept andexecution should be great, but the bigger challengeexists in the real world—selling the work and

The pyramid shows the layers of thinking that go into a final ad, or execution.

The iceberg illustrates how theonly thing the consumer gets tosee is the execution. The biggerthinking lies below the surface.

Another argument to justifyadvertising. Poster to promote the ad industry, and improve its image. Other executions:wedding ring, sports fan withpainted face, anti-war sign.Client: adindustry.org. Students:Jamie Gaul, Roussina Valkova.

getting it produced. (The Presenting and SellingYour Work chapter explores this topic in detail.)

Good or bad, ads are an intrusion into people’slives. The average person in an average city on anaverage day is exposed to a staggering 5,000 ads. At best, we only remember the great ones, and,perhaps, the really bad ones. The rest are invisible,like wallpaper. So ask yourself: will your ad beremembered? And if so, is it for being great?

Hard Sell vs. Soft SellYou can argue that over the years the “hard sell”approach to advertising has proven to be financiallysuccessful. These type of ads occur across all media,

typically shoving the product or special offer down your throat, leaving little space for anythingcreative or conceptual. This approach might workfor certain consumers at certain times, but imagineif all ads were like this. It would drive people crazy.Research shows that today’s consumer is becomingmore and more sensitive, skeptical, and complex.They need more of a “soft sell” (selling without the obvious sales pitch). This approach, due to itsrelative subtlety, is a lot tougher to pull off than a hard sell. So for the purposes of this book (andyour future challenging-yet-glamorous ad career)start thinking in terms of creating soft sell ads. Butmake sure you don’t think so soft that it’s unclear

12 • Introduction

what you’re trying to sell. In other words: thinkhard, sell soft.

Note: “soft sell” is also a term used to describe grassroots marketing and advertising.

Exercise: take a hard sell ad (a basic price-ledad, for example) and “soften” it. Keep theoffer in the ad, but create an idea that worksas an integral part of the offer, not somethingthat looks stuck onto it.

Be a ThinkerThe creative team is usually made up of acopywriter (words) and an art director (pictures).Don’t worry if you’re still unsure which role fitsyou best. They overlap. More often than not, a great art director has the potential to be a great copywriter, and vice versa. The copywriter can have a brilliant idea about the art direction; the art director could come up with a great tagline.

Anyhow, you will have plenty of time to bepigeonholed as soon as you start your career. For now, just concentrate on being an art director/copywriter. Or a copywriter/art director. Better yet,a thinker. And as the famous Apple tagline requests,think different.

What helps you think? Simply absorb yourself in anything and everything: movies, poetry,photography, art, novels, newspapers, currentevents, sport, etc. Without question, the bestadvertising people are renaissance people.

Exercise: one of the most clichéd, overusedphrases within business as a whole is “thinkoutside the box.” It basically means thinkbeyond the usual ways of doing things. This expression is also a clue to solving theproblem in (see left): “The Four-Dot Test.”Using only three straight lines, connect allfour dots without ever taking your pen offthe paper. (Answer on page 262.)

Part Logic, Part Creative The human brain is essentially two interconnectedbrains, right and left. Until 1962, it was thoughtthat the two hemispheres performed roughly the

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. One of the many famousmavericks used in Apple’s “ThinkDifferent” campaign. Client:Apple. Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day. Creatives: Craig Tanimoto,Jessica Schulman, Eric Grunbaum,Margret Midgett, SusanAlinsangham, Bob Kuperman, Ken Youngleib, Amy Moorman,Ken Segall, Rob Siltanen.

The Four-Dot Test (follow theinstructions given in the exercise).

Left Brain/Right Brain Left Brain/Right Brain

Left Brain/Right Brain Left Brain/Right Brain

Strategic/Creative Team (or Individual)

Consumer response

Introduction • 13

Top left The idealteam/individual possesses acombination of “left brain”strategy and logic, plus “rightbrain” creativity andimagination.

Top right “Left brain”verbal skills combine with“right brain” visual skills.

Above, left The ideal ad issome combination of hardand soft sell.

Above, right An ad shouldtry to talk to people’s logical,practical side (their heads), aswell as the emotional, creativeside (their hearts).

14 • Introduction Introduction • 15

same functions. Roger Sperry finally proved thatsome functions are located predominantly in oneor other side of the brain. It seems we have twominds. For example, the left brain specializes inverbal and language understanding, and the right is for visual and mathematical problems.

So in terms of producing successful ads, the best strategic, creative team (or individual) is one that/who possesses a balance of logic and imagination, verbal and visual skills, etc. (Many creative teams resemble the classic funnyguy/straight guy comedy team, where each memberis almost totally reliant on the other in order fortheir act to succeed.) At the other end of thisequation is another human being: the consumer. As readers and viewers of ads, we respond best toads that possess a similar balance. In turn, we makepurchases for inner logical, practical, and rationalreasons, as well as for emotional and creative ones.Whether you like or dislike an ad is determined by one side of the brain, whereas the other sidedecides whether or not the ad has convinced youthat the product is worth buying/using.

In other words, too much logic will most likelyproduce a boring, factual, “hard sell” ad, and too much creativity and emotional pull may lacksubstance or a selling idea. Therefore, the goal forany agency is to ensure that every ad appeals toboth sides of a consumer’s brain/mind.

Work MethodsYou have two choices. You can learn to build a portfolio on your own, or work in a pair (a “creative team”).

The good things about working on your own are:

• Sole ownership of the ideas (you don’t have to share the glory)

• Sole choice in terms of when and where youwant to work

• Not dealing with each other’s egos andhabits

• Not having to look at someone for weeks ormonths (or sometimes years) on end

The bad things about working on your own are:

• Can’t bounce ideas off someone (the “twoheads are better than one” theory)

• Can’t make 1 + 1 = 3 (the “two heads arebetter than two” theory, a.k.a. “the whole is greater than the sums of its parts”)

• Harder to get motivated (can’t push each another if working alone)

• Less employable (countries such as the UK prefer to hire teams)

• Can’t share the workload • Can’t share the pressures • Can be lonely

Based purely on this simple list, it seems thatteamwork makes more sense than working on your own.

How a Team Finds an IdeaNo two people are the same. So it stands to reasonthat no two pairs are the same either. As a result,every creative team works differently. They comeup with ideas differently, and they divide tasksdifferently. For instance, let’s take a simple examplewhereby a team has to come up with a new taglinefor Nike. The creative team is made up ofindividual A and individual B. The year is 1980.Here are three basic scenarios:

Scenario #1: A says, “Just try anything.” B says,“Just do anything” and A says, “Just do it.”

Scenario #2: A says lots of lines until B stops Aat “Just do it.”

Scenario #3: B thinks of “Just do it” that nightin the shower. Tells A the next day. A loves it,and possibly returns the favor on their nextproject.

Note that the result is the same each time. Rarelywill a team arrive at an answer in the exact sameway. It’s not that kind of work. Each scenario canhappen at any time, on any brief. The importantthing is that each person is bringing something to the table. So long as the end result is great, itshouldn’t matter where or how it came about.

So what you don’t want is something like this:

Scenario #4: B thinks of “Just do it” that nightin the shower, and tells A the next day. A triesto convince B that it’s no good, probablybecause A didn’t think of it first.

(If they can’t agree, they should let someonelike their creative director decide.)

Remember, ideas are rarely created in a vacuum. It’s not like being a fine artist. Once you have a job, you will inevitably find yourself working with

others, in a pair, or part of a larger team. This isn’talways a bad thing, as outlined above. If possible,try to work with as many people as you can, untilyou find someone that you work really well with.

The Greatest Barriers to CreativityWhether working alone or in a group, try toovercome the following barriers while coming up with ideas (also known as—I hate this word—“ideation”). These barriers have been adapted froma section in Tom Monahan’s book, The Do-It-Yourself Lobotomy.

Fear of the unknownFear of looking stupidPremature judgment of ideas Attachment

• Attachment to old ideas• Attachment to past successes• Resistance to change • Reluctance to explore better methods• Stopping at the first good idea

Ideas Make the World Go RoundWhen the phrase “money makes the world goround” is used, one key point is forgotten—someone created “money.” Coins didn’t just appear from the sky one day. Money began as a concept, an idea. So whether you work in theworld of advertising or not, the ability to come up with ideas is the most important skill in the world.

Advertising is Not Always theAnswerThere are some cases when advertising is not the solution, or is not necessary. Here are someexamples:

When a country loses countless lives due to waror a natural disaster, the best way to honor andremember those victims is to build a memorial—an idea that has yet to be bettered. An ad might be able to tell people to visit the site, but a well-designed memorial is a far more powerful piece of communication (see The Pentagon New DayMemorial, page 224).

Or perhaps the product is not marketable, andeven the best ads won’t help. For example, if menare not buying lip salves because they feel like awoman applying lipstick, the answer might be tomake a product that’s more appealing to them, e.g.,a chunky “man-sized” stick in macho-sounding

flavors. (You may laugh, but this kind of thinkingworked for tissues!)

And there are also those rare cases when aproduct is so successful it doesn’t need anything to advertise. But even the mighty Marks & Spencerhas had to reverse its “word of mouth” philosophyand succumb to the powers of advertising.

Here’s to Ad PeopleIf there was ever a TV game show that testedcontestants on creative skills and problem solving,I’d put money on the team from an ad agency towin. One thing that creating great ads will teachyou is how to come up with original, clever ideas,and communicate these ideas concisely. Most ad people can appreciate and apply many otherdisciplines into a final creative product. So even ifyou don’t become a copywriter or art director, oreven enter the industry, you will always be able toapply these unique skills to any job or pastime.Famous advertising alumni include Ridley Scott(director), Salman Rushdie (author), and GaryDahl (inventor of the “Pet Rock”).

Here’s a real example that demonstrates theability of an advertising creative, compared topeople in similar fields. As a kid, I rememberwatching a TV show that announced the fourfinalists of a special competition. The brief was tomake a short film, in any style, celebrating the workof the 1950s pop singer/songwriter Buddy Holly.Two main requirements were to use one of hissongs and to spend a limited budget.

The first finalist was a claymation-style modelmaker, who painstakingly animated a cartoonfigure of Buddy dancing to “Peggy Sue.” The secondwas a graphic designer, who used animatedtypography moving in time with the song’s lyrics.The third was a filmmaker, who shot an arty black-and-white video of a Buddy Holly look-a-like.Then came the last finalist. This team made a pairof huge black-framed glasses out of cardboard (inthe style of Buddy’s signature specs), and attachedthem in front of a camera lens. They then went upto all kinds of people in the street, filming each oneas they shoved their face onto the glasses, cheerfullysinging along to a famous Buddy Holly track.

What a clever, simple, fun idea that was! It reallycaptured the spirit of Buddy Holly’s songs. Aboveall, this particular finalist thought beyond theirspecialized craft, and deep into Buddy’s music, itsimpact, and its mass appeal. Twenty years later

16 • Introduction

and I still remember the idea. And to return to my original point, I also remember that its creator,who deservedly won the competition, worked at an advertising agency.

Tools Not RulesThe Advertising Concept Book attempts to get to the heart of the creative process in ways that otherguides haven’t. That said, I have made a consciouseffort not to produce a book of “rules” on how tocreate great advertising. As Ed McCabe said, “I haveno use for rules. They only rule out the brilliantexception.” So please think of them more as toolsor guidelines. In the same way that a computer is a tool, this book can help you to think of an idea,but it can’t supply it.

The tools in the following chapters aren’t merelythe result of examining ad industry case studiesand then post-rationalizing why each one is socreative and successful. I discovered some of thetools through teachers, colleagues, bosses, and adgurus. But most were developed through actuallyteaching: the result of personally having critiquedand directed 15,000 student campaigns over a five-year period. It’s exhausting work at times, butwhenever I see something great, suddenly myweekly 600-mile round trip is worth it.

Teaching. That’s been my tool. It forces you not only to think, but also to rethink everythingyou have learnt beforehand. Not just what makesgreat advertising, but how to make it great. Again,producing a great, creative ad doesn’t just come

down to using certain tools. The rest comes downto a combination of talent*, intuition, and tenacity.And those are things you can’t really teach.

As a final note, don’t try to memorize the toolsword for word. Simply apply them (starting withthe exercises included throughout the chapters).This book is as much about practice as it is theory.And as I have discovered, practice can also producenew theories. Or as I prefer to call them, insights.

*Creative “talent” is dependent on the level and number of ideas,imagination, copy/art craft skills, etc.

Finding the TruthPeople don’t like being lied to, especially by an ad.Take those commercials for hair dye and implantsthat proclaim, “no one will tell it’s not real.” But as Jerry Seinfeld once pointed out, “no, everyonecan tell!”

So if I had to pinpoint one reoccurring themethroughout the majority of the greatest advertisingover the last fifty years—aside from simplicity ofconcept—it would have to be this:

A truth.It can exist anywhere and everywhere, on many

different levels, from concept to execution: be it within the strategy, the idea, the tagline, theheadline, the body copy, the visual, the branding,the typography, or the tone. It can be a large or small truth, general or specific, exaggerated,refined, induced, or deduced.

So remember this the next time you come acrossa particularly profound, insightful tagline, or find yourself reading an Absolut ad and thinking, “Hey, it’s true, that does look like the shape of their bottle!”

For as the almighty art director above once said, “truth will out.”

Aim HighIn terms of the quality of your student work, aimhigh. In fact, aim higher than high. If you virtuallywant to guarantee getting a job within the creativedepartment of one of the top agencies, aim to havework that’s even better than the best award-winningwork out there. The fact that you don’t have toanswer to any clients, or deal with agency politicsand egos, gives you the extra advantage you need to pull it off.

Creativity: a combination oftools, talent, intuition, andtenacity.