A Creative North Star: Then, Now, Always. What Bernbach Knew in 1947 Still Matters Today
- mesh
- May 15
- 4 min read
Updated: May 24
Of all the agencies and brands I’ve been fortunate to work with, I’ve always had heart for DDB. Not just for the work I got to be part of, but for the people, the principles, and the purpose behind it all.
There was something different in the air, a belief that great ideas could come from anywhere, and that creativity was worth protecting.
That spirit traced back to Bill Bernbach, DDB's founder, whose philosophy didn’t just shape a company, it reshaped an entire industry.
One of those ideas feels especially urgent right now:
“Creativity is the most powerful force in business.”
In today’s landscape, where holding companies consolidate to scale, agency brands blend together, and AI, tech, and media platforms evolve constantly, it’s easy to feel like creativity is being systemized out of existence.
That’s why Bill Bernbach’s 1947 memo still feels incredibly relevant.
Nearly eight decades later, the memo remains a creative north star: a reminder that growth shouldn’t lead to sameness, that process should support purpose, and that as machines get smarter, it’s our uniquely human creativity that keeps us indispensable...
May 15, 1947
Dear ________:
Our agency is getting big. That’s something to be happy about. But it’s something to worry about, too, and I don’t mind telling you I’m damned worried. I’m worried that we’re going to fall into the trap of bigness, that we’re going to worship techniques instead of substance, that we’re going to follow history instead of making it, that we’re going to be drowned by superficialities instead of buoyed up by solid fundamentals. I’m worried lest hardening of the creative arteries begin to set in.
There are a lot of great technicians in advertising. And unfortunately they talk the best game. They know all the rules. They can tell you that people in an ad will get you greater readership. They can tell you that a sentence should be this sort [sic] or that long. They can tell you that body copy should be broken up for easier reading. They can give you fact after fact after fact. They are the scientists of advertising. But there’s one little rub. Advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art.
It’s that creative spark that I’m so jealous of for our agency and that I am so desperately fearful of losing. I don’t want academicians. I don’t want scientists. I don’t want people who do the right things. I want people who do inspiring things.
In the past year I must have interviewed about 80 people—writers and artists. Many of them were from the so-called giants of the agency field. It was appalling to see how few of these people were genuinely creative. Sure, they had advertising know-how. Yes, they were up on advertising technique.
But look beneath the technique and what did you find? A sameness, a mental weariness, a mediocrity of ideas. But they could defend every ad on the basis that it obeyed the rules of advertising. It was like worshiping a ritual instead of the God.
All this is not to say that technique is unimportant. Superior technical skill will make a good man better. But the danger is a preoccupation with technical skill or the mistaking of technical skill for creative ability.
The danger lies in the temptation to buy routinised [sic] men who have a formula for advertising. The danger lies in the natural tendency to go after tried-and-true talent that will not make us stand out in competition but rather make us look like all the others.
If we are to advance we must emerge as a distinctive personality. We must develop our own philosophy and not have the advertising philosophy of others imposed on us.
Let us blaze new trails. Let us prove to the world that good taste, good art and good writing can be good selling.
Respectfully,
Bill Bernbach
Timeless Bernbach Quotes:
“The most powerful element in advertising is the truth.”
“Nobody counts the number of ads you run; they just remember the impression you make.”
“An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.”
“In advertising, not to be different is virtually suicidal.”
“Properly practiced, creativity can make one ad do the work of ten.”
“You cannot sell a man who isn’t listening.”
“If your advertising goes unnoticed, everything else is academic.”
“Dullness won’t sell your product, but neither will irrelevant brilliance.”
“A great ad campaign will make a bad product fail faster. It will get more people to know it’s bad.”
“Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief."
Lessons:
Don’t sacrifice your soul for scale. As you grow, stay true to your original creative vision and values.
Use technique as a tool, not a rulebook. Let ideas lead, not the other way around.
Hire for originality, not conformity. Look for the thinkers and makers who challenge the status quo.
Stand out or blend in. If your work looks like everyone else’s, it won’t be remembered. Make work only you can make.
Creativity evolves, but it’s not disappearing. Whether powered by humans, AI, or both, it must move people to matter.
Final Thought:
Creativity is the most powerful force in business. But only if we’re brave enough to use it. Especially now. Especially today.
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