How To Make Better Advertising And Advertising Better: The Manifesto for a New Creative Revolution

“The ad industry is in an unprecedented state of confusion. While the assertions and pomposity grow majestically, the advertising itself diminishes rapidly. Sadly there is no button we can push that will erase all the arrogance and self-delusion. Fortunately we have this book. It might be just the reset button we all need.” Bob Hoffman

Something is rotten in the state of advertising. CEOs and marketers tell us that working with agencies is painful and laborious. Agency people tell us they feel undervalued, overworked and stifled by poor processes. And the poor old punter is left faced with advertising that is at best forgettable, and at worst insulting to the intelligence. Surely Advertising can be better than this?

“This book is full of common sense. Which is rare, so it’s actually full of uncommon sense.” Dave Trott 

How as a businessperson or marketer can you get the most out of your advertising budget?
What to look for in an agency or the people you choose to work with?
What can help your advertising rise above the mass of messages out there?
What can advertising agencies do to improve the quality and effectiveness of their output?

We were having a cup of tea and a chat one morning when we had the idea for this book. In our opinion, the quality and effectiveness of advertising in general is not good enough. We think the way businesses work with agencies and the way that agencies organise themselves and develop advertising needs to be improved. It’s time the advertising industry had a much-needed kick up the proverbial. So we thought it would be helpful to collect the ideas and approaches that have helped us to make better advertising for our clients over the last ten years.

Whether you’re a business owner, chief executive, marketer or brand director who works with ad agencies, or an agency chief, planner, ad exec or creative, we hope you find this book thought-provoking and challenging. Most of all, we hope it helps you make better advertising. Put the kettle on...

“Vic and Andy have come up with a foolproof way to help you discover if you are a good agency. Ask yourself: ‘Dare I give this book to all my clients?’” Steve Harrison

“Get it, read it. You’ll feel better for it. More importantly you’ll do better as a result of it.” Brian Jacobs, The Cog Blog