William Bernbach Quotes

I'm always asking, 'How do you give a guy a new reason to buy a polo?'

When looking at trends I always ask myself basic and timeless questions about business, and the one I seem to always come back to is, 'How is this different than anything else in the marketplace?'

We are always focused on how can we differentiate ourselves. In today's world, where people are gravitating toward experiences, it is even more important.

You really need a unique selling proposition, and people need to care about that unique selling proposition.

My general premise is not about selling clothes. If that's your end goal, then all of a sudden everything looks the same, you know - you start designing by numbers.

New things get noticed. This means you can't be afraid to present something new to your market, even if it's just a variation or an addition to an already-existing product or service.

Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.

Here's how Apple does marketing in a nutshell: Make a great product, then let people know about it. That's it. Neither aspect of that is easy, but the important thing is it has to happen in that order. It all starts with a great product.

Marketing strategy is a series of integrated actions leading to a sustainable competitive advantage.

Positioning should be decided before the advertising is created

We could be the biggest pantyhose seller in America, but we don't want to weaken the link in shoppers' minds between Home Depot and do-it-yourself projects.

I am concerned about any attrition in customer traffic at Starbucks, but I don't want to use the economy, commodity prices or consumer confidence as an excuse. We must maintain a value proposition to our customers as well as differentiate the Starbucks Experience. That is the key.

When you're thinking about your next product or current product and wondering how to make it different so you don't have competition, understand the job the customer needs to get done.

A strategy delineates a territory in which a company seeks to be unique.

What is your Unique Selling Proposition? What makes you different than your competitors? Wrap your advertising message around that USP and communicate it in a clear and concise manner.

If all you're trying to do is essentially the same thing as your rivals, then it's unlikely that you'll be very successful.

You need to define yourself in the marketplace.

Advertising doesn't create a product advantage. It can only convey it.

The basic idea that marketing is wrong at its core is one of the main reasons why innovation seems blocked and unpredictable.

What we need to do is run our business. We need to come up with a value prop that is so compelling that customers have to go for it.

Auto companies need to quickly separate the stuff that will be swallowed by commodity from the brand stuff.

The values we developed were instrumental in gaining a competitive advantage.

You have to do things right to stay in business, and that's not easy, and that's a choice on a daily basis, the choices you make in how to run your business and how to have a point of differentiation and how to be true to your brand, how to offer something that people want and to offer something that you love.

I look at companies as price-players or quality-players. The only way to go with J.Crew was quality.

In a marketplace where it's so easy to produce products, where your competitors can essentially match you on the product itself, you need to have something else. You need to have an added value, and that added value is the identity, the idea behind your brand.