Customer Reviews

Nobody's Perfect: Bill Bernbach and the Golden Age of Advertising

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Ms. Willens not publishing this manuscript would have been like Bill Bernbach not plucking the crumpled, discarded Avis headline, "We're only Number 2. So we try harder," from Helmut Krone's garbage can. We would have been without the incredible story of the greatest ascension and most heartbreaking decline in advertising history.

If you're a student of advertising, a business school MBA, a fledgling reporter or a seasoned investigative journalist, an ex-DDBer or an Omnicom employee, you should read this book. If you've ever taken a Polaroid picture, downed a shot of Chivas, poured Heinz ketchup on your burger, taken your VW Beetle down the shore, or rented from Avis because you knew they tried harder, you're gonna love this book!

There's more to this `golden age' history of Madison Avenue's legendary Doyle Dane Bernbach ad agency than meets the eye.

What we really have the pleasure of discovering in ``Nobody's Perfect" is (a) a rich, detailed insider's history of Madison Avenue's most influential advertising agency; (b) the ways in which Bill Bernbach and his accidental partners, Ned Doyle and Mac Dane, managed, and at times mismanaged, their agency's explosive --and fabled --years of growth, (c) the strengths and, yes, the limitations of Bill Bernbach's creative DNA, and (d) the boardroom --and bar-room -- decisions -- good, bad, and jaw-droppingly disastrous -- that doomed the agency's future and gave advertising its historic ``Big Bang" merger in 1986.

Ms. Willens' vivid narrative transcends the ``Madison Avenue" genre in that it spreads to Wall Street, Paris, London and, along the way, delivers to our 21st century executive suite honchos --those who pay attention -- something akin to an MBA education. Ignore the corporate miscues -- including ghastly chain-of-command blunders -- only if prepared to endanger one's entire company -- employees, profits, growth, shareholders-- The Works.

Throughout this immensely engaging narrative, Ms. Willens -- a veteran newspaper reporter who went on to direct DDB's public and corporate public relations during its ``golden age" -- also takes us through unprecedented, new frontier-creative work, including VW's ``Think Small," the Avis ``We Try Harder" campaign, Ohrbach's, Levy's Jewish rye bread, :the star-studded Polaroid campaign, Alka-Seltzer, American Airlines--awesome work that launched Madison Avenue's ``creative revolution" and changed advertising forever.

The fast-moving narrative is filled with lively, ``off-camera" anecdotes about DDB's visionaries, their egos and the squabbles that ultimately divided them. Five stars? Make it Six.

Nobody's Perfect: Bill Bernbach and the Golden Age of Advertising

Review of "Nobody's Perfect- Bill Bernbach and the Golden Age of Advertising" by Doris Willens

I loved this book. I'm biased; I worked at Doyle Dane Bernbach. My wife never reads nonfiction, but she loved this book. She's biased, but only by association. If you like Biographies, read Nobody's Perfect. You get two great stories: The story of Bill Bernbach, an advertising genius: and Doyle Dane Bernbach, the agency that brought about the creative revolution and the Golden Age of Advertising. Doris Willens, writes these stories with insight and accuracy. With her skills honed by years in Journalism and Public Relations she combines fact and deep intuitive understanding into stories that my wife says "read like an exciting historical novel."

Doris Willens opens wide on Bill Bernbach: his wonder and awe, his foibles and warts. She often emphasizes the latter But she sums up the man this way: the "..measure of the impact of the man and his philosophy on advertising everywhere. The man who launched the creative revolution; the man who changed the face of advertising; who brought pride and joy to the business, who altered the power structure of the industry, who elevated advertising to an art."

What happened to DDB? Bill Bernbach always said you have to be nice and talented to work here. After Bernbach died too many of the nice people left the agency. The burning torch became a cold ember

If you like biographies you should read this book. If you have been, are, or aspire to advertising, copy writing, art direction, TV commercial production, marketing, media, research, account or brand management, corporate management, financial management, international operations (did I leave anyone out?) you should read this book.

Part biography of Bill Bernbach, part history of DDB, this book does not succeed as either.

We learn a bit about Bill Bernbach, but not a lot. The rest is a potted history of DDB and 18 years of office politics. It is a good resource for someone writing the history of DDB but it is not the complete package.

Maybe these advertising greats were not interesting people.

Doris Willens work is an intensely muscular and rewarding arm chair adventure. First her insider's book separates the Bernbach reputation for over-the-horizon advertising from the fact (others created most of the better known breakthroughs). Then the compelling narrative details how Bill Bernbach led the "creative revolution". For four years in the 1960's my office was only feet away from his and I couldn't help but overhear many of his critiques with art directors, copy writers and account men: "Good but not great...this concept is artful enough but take more time to communicate reward for the consumer...wonderful, keep it up."

Advertising reaches everyone of us so many times everyday. "Nobody's Perfect", tells how it became the way it is. And you won't put it down.

I was myself a trainee at Doyle Dane Bernbach in 1961. This book is very interesting. It talks about people I've met personnaly. I am a Brazilian adman, I,ve started working for an ad agency in 1947 when I was 15 years old. From 18 to 22 I got a Law Degree, but advertising was my passion, not advocacy.

The book tell about the the Golden Years of Advertising with Ohrbach's, Volkswagen and Avis Rent a-car and El Al Israel Airlines and Levi's jewish rye. And the book tells about Advertising God himself: Bill Bernbach. Not only his best but also the other side of his personnality.

Whoever likes great advertising must read "Nobody's Perfect" -- by the way the same headline of a Volkswagen outdoor poster showing a VW sedan with a flat tire. The headline was 'Nobody's Perfect.'

Doris Willens has crafted a facinating and revealing read about one of the most celebrated advertising professionals ever, and the agency he co-founded. As an high level insider in charge of P.R., she was able to convey an extremely accurate description of the machinations and shennagians that went on behind the scenes during the halcyon days of one of the most creative ad agencies in the world. Her characterizations of some of the major role players, in addition to the man himself, were right on target. As an mid-range executive employed at DDB during most of the period this book covers, I was left both shocked and amused reading of these behind-the-scene events that occured right under my nose. Not all icons are what they seem. If you believe that, you will enjoy reading this book. It truly makes the TV series, "Mad Men" pale in comparison.

As a person who spent an entire career in the advertising business at the time of this book's subject, I found it

extremely interesting and informative. Nobody but a professional who lived intimately in the environment of

the Agency Doyle,Dane,Bernbach could have written this book. The degree of knowledge and trust of various

colleagues made it possible to get a true insider's view of what took place during the rise and ultimate fall of

this historic agency, which truly revolutionized the advertising industry. No individual, other than Bill Bernach

ever made the impact on the entire industry that he did. Doris Willens was a highly respected reporter, for a

number of publications, specializing in advertising and also served as the head of PR for DDB for almost

twenty years. She has delivered a unique insight into the man and the company...a true historic gem.

Bernbach changed the voice of corporate America from pompous to humorously human. In the process, he changed the way we see the products we buy and the companies that make them.

His magic was to "make it different." And make it simple. He made it look easy, the way Dimaggio made centerfield look easy.

Willens makes telling the story of his creative genius betrayed by his personal insecurity also look easy. The tragedy seems to unfold with the compelling drama of the inevitable.

But only someone who lived the drama, understod the communications product and suffered the destruction of the team that created it could tell the story with such empathy and insight.

She makes it different.

Let me begin with a quote from Bill Bernbach: "The most powerful element in advertising is the truth." Using this quote as the foundation for my review - here goes: I have been in the advertising profession for over 35 years. And as you can imagine I have read a massive amount of biographies, autobiographies and more on the "titans" of the advertising industry. And one more thing, I am a forgiving man. But i must say in the case of this book I was extremely disappointed in the content. From reading the synopsis I expected to get an insight into the workings of the mind of this advertising legend. Discover pearls of wisdom, unforgettable anecdotes and other here-to-fore undisclosed information on Mr. Bernbach. Instead I got a poorly written essay on his career's ups and downs, politics, partners, co-workers and a host of other people that don't even show up on the radar screen of advertising history. The truth is this book is not work the paper it is printed on. The quality of the cover design should have been my first clue: it's totally amateurish, just as the content of this poorly composed "book."