“It may well be that creativity is the last unfair advantage we're legally allowed to take over our competitors.”

I make no secret that I’m a big Bill Bernbach fan - having worked at DDB for a number of years will do that to you.

Bill had a number of quotes we were given in a small grey book commemorating an anniversary of his and this quote above is one of my favourites.

As Forbes says, “Once in a while, someone challenges the status quo and changes an entire industry forever. Steve Jobs. The Beatles. Ali. They arrive with new ideas, energy and a fresh take on the way things are done. They become iconic.” The story goes on to say: “In the 1950s and 60s, there were two school of thoughts about advertising. David Ogilvy, who started his agency a year before Bernbach, believed that advertising is a science that relies on formula. For Bernbach, on the other hand, advertising was an art.” In a 1949 manifesto for his new agency he wrote, “Let us prove to the world that good taste, good art, good writing can be good selling." The Forbes article concludes by saying: “It is an important lesson to remember in an age when marketers and agencies are immersed in data and analytics. Advertising is still a business of great ideas. Or as Bernbach put it, “It may well be that creativity is the last unfair advantage we're legally allowed to take over our competitors.”

I don’t know of a company I’ve worked in or for that doesn’t have a burning platform problem to solve or an opportunity to exploit. Sometimes the answer is there “in plain sight” but for whatever reasons, can’t be seen. Advertising agencies originated as they were an intermediary between a client who knew their product well and the consumer who knew what they needed (or often, didn’t but knew they needed something). An agency was able to interpret the wants and needs of the market and to match the client’s products as a solution to these wants and needs.

While ad agencies were tasked with developing communications that got an audience’s attention and delivered them a relevant message, at the heart of their offering was strategy, creativity and, most importantly, ideas. New ideas and new ways of thinking are at the heart of solving problems and exploiting opportunities. Could your business or department use an experienced but independent moderator to help your team develop new ideas and unlock the power of creativity? Can you use this last unfair advantage you’re legally allowed to take over your competitors?