If you haven't read Hegarty on Advertising yet then you should. It is a great book by a great man. Sir John Hegarty was responsible for such great advertising campaigns as Vorsprung durch Technik for Audi and the great launderette TV campaign for Levis. The latter actually created a boom in demand for boxer shorts (showing underpants was not allowed) and also got Marvin Gaye in the charts at a higher position than he had been first time round with I heard it through the grapevine.
So when I heard that Sir John was speaking at The Telegraph Festival of Business I made a point of going to listen to him. Here are just a few of the words of wisdom he shared.
Sir John had three key principles which he says apply in marketing:
1) The power of ideas is fundamentally important
2) The quality of the product is also important
3) Don't fear being different - because in difference value is created.
He went on to say that the first lesson of marketing is "can I remember it" claiming that memorability is the most important thing. Music to my ears as memorability is one of my Straight 10 Commandments.
Market research was given short shrift with Sir John claiming that research ultimately will make everything the same. Difference is too important to ignore.
During the Q&A session I told Sir John that I had enjoyed his book immensely and that whilst it was initially a large book that I thought might take some time to read, the very large print and the thick pages actually made it a very quick and easy volume to digest. I then asked if he had ever advised a company to be so different that it damaged their brand. Sir John said that he probably had but he couldn't remember specifics.
Later on I collared Sir John for a brief chat. Straight plc does some work with Zag, a spin off of BBH and I have visited their offices just off Regent Street in London a few times. I told him the question I really wanted to ask was where he found all of the beautiful women who work there. He just gave me a knowing smile, patted me on the back and was off to his next engagement.
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