Leo Burnett Quotes

Too many ads that try not to go over the reader‘s head end up beneath his notice.

I have learned that any fool can write a bad ad, but that it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a good one.

The greatest thing to be achieved in advertising, in my opinion, is believability, and nothing is more believable than the product itself.

Advertising is the ability to sense, interpret… to put the very heart throbs of a business into type, paper and ink.

The secret of all effective advertising is not the creation of new and tricky words and pictures, but one of putting familiar words and pictures into new relationships.

Anyone who thinks that people can be fooled or pushed around has an inaccurate and pretty low estimate of people – and he won‘t do very well in advertising.

The sole purpose of business is service. The sole purpose of advertising is explaining the service which business renders.

Creative ideas flourish best in a shop which preserves some spirit of fun. Nobody is in business for fun, but that does not mean there cannot be fun in business.

Fun without sell gets nowhere but sell without fun tends to become obnoxious.

To swear off making mistakes is very easy. All you have to do is swear off having ideas.

Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.

I have learned that you can’t have good advertising without a good client, that you can’t keep a good client without good advertising, and no client will ever buy better advertising than he understands or has an appetite for.

There’s no such thing as ‘hard sell’ and ‘soft sell.’ There’s only ‘smart sell’ and ‘stupid sell.’

The secret of all effective originality in advertising is not the creation of new and tricky words and pictures, but one of putting familiar words and pictures into new relationships.

We want consumers to say, ‘That’s a hell of a product’ instead of, ‘That’s a hell of an ad.’

Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.

Plan the sale when you plan the ad.

I am one who believes that one of the greatest dangers of advertising is not that of misleading people, but that of boring them to death.

If you don’t get noticed, you don’t have anything. You just have to be noticed, but the art is in getting noticed naturally, without screaming or without tricks.

Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief.

I have learned that it is far easier to write a speech about good advertising than it is to write a good ad.

A good ad which is not run never produces sales.

Whether or not the standard of living made possible by mass production and in turn by mass circulation, is supported by and filled with the work of us hucksters, I guess is something that only history can decide.

A good basic selling idea, involvement and relevancy, of course, are as important as ever, but in the advertising din of today, unless you make yourself noticed and believed, you ain’t got nothin‘.

Advertising says to people, ‘Here’s what we’ve got. Here’s what it will do for you. Here’s how to get it.’

What helps people, helps business.

I have learned to respect ideas, wherever they come from. Often they come from clients. Account executives often have big creative ideas, regardless of what some writers think.

When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won’t come up with a handful of mud either.

The work of an advertising agency is warmly and immediately human. It deals with human needs, wants, dreams and hopes. Its ‘product’ cannot be turned out on an assembly line.

I regard a great ad as the most beautiful thing in the world.

Regardless of the moral issue, dishonesty in advertising has proved very unprofitable.

There is no such thing as a permanent advertising success.

If you can’t turn yourself into your customer, you probably shouldn’t be in the ad writing business at all.