The Smart Advertising Book, with Dan White

Episode 207

Those of you who know me outside of this podcast, know that if I’m doing anything that involves advertising, whether it be in a classroom or a consulting setting, I think of ads as a complicated puzzle that is never fully solved. While it may not have a predictable outcome, there are a few key principles about it that are always true.

I’ve picked up these lessons one at a time, either by studying competitors or through the brands that entrusted me to run their ads—sometimes through painful trial and error. The models and principles that emerge from this process become a valuable piece of baseline knowledge, allowing you to make case-by-case decisions.

However, it's hard to pass these insights along to others. They're often too abstract, and the examples become stale and dated as campaigns retire.

Does this mean anyone wanting to adopt this perspective on advertising must go through the same process I did? Not necessarily. Thanks to someone with a gift for brevity and illustration, these principles have been distilled into a book.

As I leaf through its pages, I’m delighted to see many concepts I’ve known given clear shape and an easy-to-remember form.

Our guest graduated from Cambridge University with a Masters of Arts. He has worked in marketing, market research and brand consultancy for 30 years. He uses imaginative visuals to bring marketing concepts to life. 

He’s one of the nicest authors I’ve had on, and he’s back on this show for a third time. Let’s go to England to speak with Dan White.

Timestamps/Chapters:

0:00:00      Intro

00:02:27 Welcome Dan

00:04:40 Oldest known advertisement

00:09:18 Uber's clever transit ad

00:11:15 Positive and negative impacts of ads

00:22:47 using advertising to build brand asset

00:23:49 PSA

00:30:46 Many ways ads can tell a story

00:33:19 How brain perceives messages

00:37:43 Learning about ads through metaphor

00:45:45 Getting the book or contacting Dan

 

For links to the people, products or concepts mentioned in the show, head to episode 207’s shownotes page on the Funnel Reboot website.