• Born in New York City in 1911
• One of the founding members of Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB)
• Earned a B.A. from NYU in 1932
• Always had an interest in the arts
• Visionary; valued intuition over science and rules
• Fundamentally believed that advertising was an art form
• People working in communications had a strong role in shaping society
• Wanted to learn about the client's needs, how the product relates to their customers, and what kind of emotions are involved; the challenge was then to chose the best medium to communicate that message
- Wanted to sell German cars to Americans
- This car is honest, simple and reliable; he wanted the ads to reflect these qualities
- Car is ugly, but gets you from point A to point B
- Simple black and white imagery
- "Think small"- catchy phrase
- Car became popular after these ads circulated
Going against that grain, the “Think small” message encouraged investment in a reliable, affordable car rather than an oversized, flashy one. Visually and linguistically, the message of the campaign was to consume less, not more. Yet the ad’s critique of big consumerism performed well for corporate capitalism: many cars were sold, and the ad itself is credited with creating a sea change in the way advertising is created.
- Avis was the 2nd in car rental companies at the time
- Company wanted a makeover
- Honest/self-deprecating humor
- Reach to those who struggle to have a No.1 status
- Peace sign; sign of compassion and care
- An ad for Levy's rye bread
- The name Levy sounds Jewish
- Everyone loves the bread
- Faces of NYC; bringing those separate groups together; showing they all love a product
- Showing a diverse city of different races and cultures
- Ads to rid of anti-Semitism
http://shuluva.blogspot.ca/2011/02/bill-bernbach.html
http://myweb.usf.edu/~jhaas/work
http://www.lavidalocavore.org/showDiary.do?diaryId=3406
http://www.ddb.com/BillBernbachSaid/why_bernbach_matters/revolutionary-work/
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/bill-bernbach-creative-revolutionary-133901
http://adage.com/article/special-report-the-advertising-century/william-bernbach/140180/
http://advertising.about.com/od/careerprofiles/p/A-Profile-Of-Bill-Bernbach.htm
http://www.ddb.com/BillBernbachSaid/more-about-bill/biography.html
http://pietmondriaan.com/tag/think-small/