October 23, 2005
“bernbach was wrong”
Two weeks ago I was in Germany, speaking at the Word Of Mouth Marketing Conference.
On Day Two of the event I gave a small speech, entitled “Bernbach Was Wrong”. This is what it basically was about:
Bill Bernbach, the founder of Doyle Dane Bernbach, famously quipped back in the 1950s:
“Word of mouth is the best medium of all.”
–quoted in Bill Bernbach Said (1989), DDB Needham Worldwide.
Later the equally reknowned David Ogilvy paraphrased him, to wit: “The best advertising is Word Of Mouth”.
From these quotes came the current holy grail of the advertising industry, known in the business as “Word Of Mouth”.
With traditional TV and print advertising in meltdown, suddenly the ad industry is trying to jump on the W.O.M. bandwagon in the hope of saving their jobs. “Yeah, yeah! We’ll make advertising that creates word of mouth! Yeah, yeah!” etc.
So suddenly we’re deluged with crazy stunts designed to generate word of mouth. Turning up in Times Square and spraying people with blue paint. Using bad language. Turning up the volume on sexually charged imagery. High-impact stuff. Attitude City. Whatever.
The amusing thing is, Bernbach was wrong.
Because the best advertising is not word of mouth. The best advertising is “Disrupting Markets”.
What does disrupting markets mean? It means going into a market and changing the rules of the game.
Here’s some examples:
Henry Ford disrupting the idea that automobiles had to be expensive luxury items only for the very well-off.
Starbucks disrupting the idea that fast food (or fast coffee) had to be served in depressing environments with orange and yellow furniture and flourescent lights that made you want to flee them within 10 minutes.
Harley Davidson disrupting the idea that bikes had to be cheap and Japanese.
Apple disrupting thre idea that computers had to be large mainframes. iPod disrupting the idea that people wouldn’t pay for downloads. Linux disrupting the idea that software is something you have to pay for [Thanks to cyberrigger for suggesting that last one].
Starbuck’s is a very interesting case to me. For instance, instead of getting talked about by spending $100 milion on a hip n’ edgy advertising campaign, they invested the money instead in giving their customers wifi. And this was very early on. And people talked about it. A lot. And lots of people started checking it out. And a lot of coffee was sold.
I can just hear some typical marketing meatpuppet objecting to it in the brainstorming session:
“But we don’t want them talking about wifi! That’s borrowed interest! We’re not a tech company, we’re a coffee company! We want them talking about the great taste of Starbuck’s coffee goodness!“
No, actually, you moron, people don’t want to talk about frickin’ Starbuck’s coffee goodness. People want to talk about wifi. So give them good wifi and you will be mentioned in their conversation. Don’t try to change the conversation, try to improve the one they’re already having.
The trouble for Madison Avenue is no client is going to pay them x-million for suggesting, “Hey, maybe you should give your customers good wifi.” So the have no incentive to think that way. They only have an incentive with ideas like, “Hey, maybe you should spend $100 million on buying hip n’ trendy TV ads, based on an idea one of our creatives ripped off some obscure Lithuanian animator…“
Their thinking is deliberately limited by their money-burning business model.
Like I said, Bill Bernbach was wrong. Sorry, Bill.
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Isn’t “Disrupting Markets” simply another (albeit more clever) way to get word of mouth?
I still believe in WOM (I do not like this acronym, but blame it on a marketing paper at the 200 level), but not literally. A message could spread like a rude joke on email. There are enough people who forward messages, and granted, the more disruptive ones usually pass the test. In other words, a joke that is only mildly funny won
My Developer Day 2
Just as an aside, TV ratings are actually on the up again, after several years of sliding.
The magic of ‘Desperate Housewifes’ I believe.
They’re still ignoring the commercials, Andreas.
Your Starbucks must be a special place; in mine, you still have to pay for WiFi.
It would have been more disruptive if they had actually offered free WiFi from the start. Now that Google is considering disrupting that market, Starbucks will have to re-consider their “pay-to-play” arrangement with T-Mobile.
smp
Duly noted, Stephen. Thanks. For some reason I thought they had free wifi in places over there in the USA. Mea Culpa.
Free licensed software such as Linux
disrupts the idea that you have to pay for
software licenses.
Harley Davidson disrupting the idea that bikes had to be cheap and Japanese.
The Japanese themselves disrupted the cosy British notion that each bike had to be expensively handmade by skilled unionised craftsmen.
Exactly, Daen. Disruption is an ongoing process.
You’re both right (sort of) — knowledge of disruptions are spread by word of mouth because they’re dependent upon changing worldviews.
In the same vein see the piece on branding blogs in today’s NYT
makes me wonder if blog are not word of mouth: next generation!
just look at your own “english cut”!
Brilliant post Hugh, I think were most advertising fails is that it only attempts to bring attention to something, were as today relationships need to be built. I am a big believer in
I know I’m one to get hung up on the meaning of words, but I digress.
“Market disruption” is not advertising. It’s marketing maybe, more likely it’s good old-fashioned product development and innovation.
Bernbach was correct. WOM is the best advertising. However, I doubt the legendary ad man could have imagined the lengths we’d go today to buy/manufacture that buzz. When Bernbach said what he said, I believe he meant the best advertising can’t be bought.
David, I think you’re mostly right about Bernbach, but there’s a key distinction that needs to be made, and his statement got the distinction backwards.
It is true that the best advertising is word of mouth.
However, it is not always true that word of mouth is the best advertising.
Why? These are categories, not single things. Some word of mouth “advertising” is, in fact, the best possible advertising. A lot of it isn’t. And thus it’s false to assume that getting the best advertising is simply a matter of getting word-of-mouth — one also has to get people talking about your product in ways that actually help your market, and that’s a lot harder than just getting them to talk.
Where Hugh’s comment comes in is that disrupting the market — in a way that benefits the customer, mind you! — is a thing that gets lots of word-of-mouth in ways that are very good for advertising.
hugh is right. and interestingly, some of Bill Bernbach’s biggest successes (the VW beetle, avis) were merely a reflection of market disrupting ideas.
Brilliant post, you made my day!
I more than agree, disrupting the market, is the best way to get attention and it is soo refreshing for all of us, the customers!
I remember a long time ago you said something along the lines of “An idea doesn’t have to be big, it just has to change the world” and see a similarity here. This has stuck with me and it was why I started 365films.com — an idea to change how we access films
Oh brother, Starbucks is trendy, big city, social and hip. That’s what made it. It doesn’t play in rural America however. Only geeks, (or the rare overworked biz exec) care about WiFi. Marketing is a PACKAGE, good coffee, good setting, market-bearing prices, trendy people, good customer service, unique items. You can FOCUS on one area, but you need all to succeed. Why do people pay too much for Starbucks coffee? It’s good, it’s unique and varied and not something you can get elsewhere. Varies by region, but a real good cup of Coffee from a Truckstoppy Diner, and it’s hard to go back to the oversweet-syrupy candy coffee of Starbucks, but that’s just me.
WiFi? Limited audience at best, don’t people do demographics anymore? Geeesh. Man, keep this guy away from the Advertising Budget.
And why do people always cite Starbucks? And not some manufacturing tech company? Easy, it’s the only thing in their limited nose-level view. I am tired of the Planet Hollywood fast-growth Neo-Boomer Yuppieifed Techhead Starbucks case-studies. Gawd. They used to say that about Krispy Kreme before all the fraud, embezzlement and other troubles. Heh. And another thing that has me confused, Starbucks co-opted the ‘CoffeeHouse spirit of the 60s’ to become a big corporate mindless churn-machine. And yet all the peace, love and understanding Tech Hippies still welcome it with open arms? Figures. Always was a hollow movement, from faux save-the-world protesting to Beemers and 10+ WiFi’ed gadgets. Die Yuppie Scum Die.
Christopher,
Do you read Romenesko’s Starbucks Gossip?
http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/
Booyah! Right-on.
It all goes back to the idea driving the business. Word of mouth without something relevant to discuss is pointless. Advertising without something worth selling is at best entertainment. (At best.)
Too bad Starbucks still charges for wifi, though. If Panera and Atlanta Bread Company can offer it for free (with great coffee AND great pastries), Starbucks ought to be able to respond.
It was never about the coffee.
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