Our writing, communication theories and brand strategy efforts are heavily influenced by some insightful dogma -- theory, inspirational philosophy and quirky quotations about effective communication which we've collected over the years, whole-heartedly embraced and repeatedly practiced.
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CHAPTER 1
OUR HERO.
We revere Leonardo DaVinci.
Many historians have called Leonardo DaVinci the most inventive thinker of all time. For instance, renowned Renaissance historian Giorgio Vasari declared there had never been a man who knew as many things as Leonardo, not only about sculpture, design, painting and architecture, but also about philosophy.
DaVinci was praised by contemporaries as visionary, a brilliant conversationalist, generous, cultivated, affable, and very athletic. Today he is seen as one of the most famous figures in the history of art. Indeed, no painting in the world has been reproduced as often as the Mona Lisa, no other attracts so many visitors, and none has been “borrowed” by so many other artists.
In short, no name seems to better symbolize creativity than Leonardo DaVinci.
Following are quotes taken from his personal writings, assimilated in Leonardo, The Artist and The Man, the pre-eminent biography of DaVinci by Serge Bramley.
It is at the moment that they are working the least that higher minds achieve the most; they are then mentally in search of the unprecedented. –Leonardo
May I be deprived of the faculty to act before I tire of serving. I would prefer to lose the power of movement than that of usefulness. I would prefer death to inactivity. I never tire of being useful. –Leonardo
I wonder how much I have offended God by not working on my art as much as I should have. –Leonardo
I despise reciters and trumpeters of the works of other men. They are but a flock of sheep. Those only count who are inventors. –Leonardo
No one should imitate the manner of another, for he would then deserve to be called a grandson of nature, not her son. Given the abundance of natural forms, it is important to go straight to nature rather than to the masters who have learned from her. –Leonardo
One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.–Leonardo
Experience is the mistress of the good writer. I have chosen her as my mistress, and I will not cease to refer to her. –Leonardo
In order to stimulate imagination, one should contemplate walls covered with shapeless stains or made of ill-assorted stones. One can find in them mountain landscapes, trees, battles, figures with lively movements, faces and strange costumes. –Leonardo
How many people there are who could be described as mere channels for food, producers of excrement, fillers of latrines, for they have no other purpose in this world; they practice no virtue whatsoever; all that remains of them is a full latrine. –Leonardo
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CHAPTER 2
The following quotations are the cream of our dogma crop — the citations and thought bubbles that spur Dave and those at New.Bold. to do much more than mundane work. It’s the material with which Dave has trained creative staffs, as well as himself, over 30-plus years. It’s insight from the high-and-mighties of the ad world, from marketing hot shots, and other thought leaders.
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“The rule, pretty much, is to break the rules. If you break the rules, you're going to stand a better chance of breaking through the clutter than if you don't. The smaller a company is, the bigger the competition, the more crucial that advice becomes."
Tom McElligott, Founding Partner, Creative Director, Fallon McElligott & Rice (now the Fallon Agency), from Inc. magazine
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"It’s never been more true that you can’t outspend the competition. You’ve got to out-think them.”
Harry Jacobs, Chairman, The Martin Agency
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“Big ideas are often not all that difficult to spot – especially if you know the warning signals. A big idea will probably take your breath away. It may give you a funny feeling in your stomach. It’ll probably scare you. And worry you. And maybe give you hives.”
Pat Fallon, Founding Partner /Chairman, Fallon McElligott and Rice (now The Fallon Agency), from a speech delivered to the Denver Advertising Federation
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“As with anything worthwhile, there’s risk attached to walking away from the safe and sober. But we not only encourage risk-taking, we demand it. We want work that startles and surprises. It’s the only way to penetrate the fog of sameness out there. In this age of product parity, you need all the help you can get. The last thing you want is parity in your advertising. What you really want is daring, distinctive creative that can take a parity product and separate it from the rest of the pack.”
Phil Dusenberry, Chairman, BBDO Worldwide, from Ad Age
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“Men have been taught that it is a virtue to agree with others. But the creator is the man who disagrees. Men have been taught that it is a virtue to swim with the current. But the creator is the man who goes against the current.”
Ayn Rand, Author, From The Fountainhead
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“God left the world unfinished for man to work his skill upon. He left the electricity in the cloud, the oil in the earth. He left the rivers unbridged and the forests unfelled and the cities unbuilt. God gives to man the challenge of raw materials, not the ease of finished things. He leaves the pictures unpainted and the music unsung and the problems unsolved, that man might know the joys and glories of creation."
Thomas S. Monson, Ensign Magazine
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“Look around. Advertiser after advertiser seems to have forgotten what advertising is all about, what it is supposed to accomplish. They seem to want to talk about themselves in dull and uninteresting ways. They seem determined to be ordinary.”
Raymond D’Argenio, Senior VP – Communications, United Technologies, as quoted in ADWEEK.
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“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”
Oscar Wilde, Playwright
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“Properly practiced, creativity can make one ad do the work of 10.”
Bill Bernbach, Co-Founder & Chairman, Doyle Dane Bernbach, Member, Advertising Hall of Fame
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“It is better to be looked over than overlooked.”
Mae West (not speaking on advertising, although the principle applies)
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“According to a survey of 1,500 chief executives conducted by IBM’s Institute for Business Value, CEOs identify CREATIVITY as the most important leadership competency for the successful enterprise of the future.”
Frank Kern, Senior VP, IBM Global Business Services, from Business Week, May 19, 2010
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“The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas. At first, ideas seem as hard to find as crumbs on an oriental rug. Then they start coming in bunches. When they do, don’t stop to analyze them; if you do you’ll stop the flow, the rhythm, the magic. Write them down and go on to the next one.”
Linus Pauling, Scientist
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“Operational efficiency is no longer a destination; it’s a dead end. The ability to create better ideas than the competition is the only sustainable competitive advantage a company can have, and the only way that company will have a future.”
Joey Rieman, CEO, Brighthouse
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“More and more, clients are realizing that creative ads work better, are more memorable, and make their point more effectively in the marketplace. You can run a good creative ad fewer times. People will remember it after seeing it three times rather than 30 times.”
Gary Goldsmith, Chairman, Goldsmith/Jeffrey, NYC,as reported in ADWEEK
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“Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.”
James Michener, Author
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“Competence is the enemy of change. Competent people resist change. Why? Because change threatens to make them less competent. And competent people like being competent. That’s who they are, and sometimes that’s all they’ve got. No wonder they’re not in a hurry to rock the boat.”
Seth Godin, from February 2000 Fast Company
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“Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when it’s the only one we have.”
Emile Auguste Chartier (pseudonym: Alain), 1868-1951
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“Simple, direct, to-the-point, amusing…this is what communications is all about. Say it in a memorable way. And if you can be warm, or amusing, or dramatic, or any of those things, do it so that it doesn’t’ get in the way.”
Ed McCabe, Partner, Scali/McCabe/Sloves, Member, Copywriter’s Hall of Fame, as quoted in Communication Arts
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“Group consensus might be the best way to make sure innocent men don’t get life prison terms. But for the finest advertising ideas, give me two creative types in a room with a Nerf ball, and I’ll put my money on the best idea emerging nine times out of ten.”
Tom Monahan, Founding Partner, Leonard, Monahan, Saaybe, as quoted in Communication Arts
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“The greatest ideas are often met with violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
Albert Einstein, Scientist
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“We like to take risks. It’s part of who we are. Every time we come in a comfort zone, we will find a way to get out, because being comfortable in our business is very, very dangerous.”
Daniel Lamarre, President & COO, Cirque du Soleil, as quoted in Fast Company
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CHAPTER 3
Ads that win awards are eleven times more effective, according to an article that appeared July 14, 2010, in Advertising Age. That's the verdict of this chapter in case you don't want to keep reading.
It clearly supports what Tom McElligott once said: “Creativity is one of the last remaining legal means you have to gain an unfair advantage over your competition.”
A study cited in that article, and conducted by the U.K.’s Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, claims to prove a direct link between creativity and effectiveness that it’s touting as a good argument for quality over cost.
The IPA study examined 213 case studies of advertising over the previous eight years, including campaigns by marketers such as Cadbury, Volkswagen, Budweiser, Honda, Audi and Orange. It claims to demonstrate objectively that creatively awarded campaigns are eleven times more effective than campaigns that do not win creative awards.
“Creatively awarded campaigns are a more reliable investment — they achieve greater effectiveness levels,” said Peter Field, the marketing consultant who authored the report, which looked at a number of business metrics in the study to determine effectiveness, including market-share growth, sales, profits, return on investment, likability and emotional appeal.