Why Subtlety Doesn’t Work Anymore

A couple of years ago, author/public speaker/comedian Andy Nulman wrote a blog post discussing his challenges as he gets up in front of an audience: “The Internet has changed everything. It has contracted attention spans to an almost ridiculously-microscopic measure, and has sung the swan song for the concept of subtlety. For example, the old ‘speaker’s adage’ […]

Are You Making These 7 Deadly Advertising Mistakes?

The short version: subscribe to the Phil Bernstein on Advertising Newsletter here, and I’ll send you a copy of my newly-revised-and-expanded report, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them. The newsletter is free, it comes out by email twice a month, and you can unsubscribe any time you want to. Here’s the […]

Phil Bernstein on the Radio — Find Out How to Fix Your Advertising Mistakes

Find out tomorrow, right here. On Thursday, January 12, I’ll be appearing on Susan Rich’s internet radio show, Your Marketing Plan. I’ll discuss the seven most common mistakes companies make when they advertise, why those mistakes will hurt your results, and ways to fix them. I’ll also tell you how you can get a free […]

Making a Funny Commercial Work

“Oh… and make it funny.” For nearly a decade, my biggest Portland radio advertising client was a car dealer who appeared in his own commercials. I wrote the copy — more than 500 separate scripts over that time. And whenever he gave me the copy points, “Make it funny” was one of them. He wanted […]

Writer of the Life Cereal “Hey Mikey!” Ad is Gone

If you grew up in the 70’s and watched any TV at all, there is probably a space reserved in your head for the “Let’s Get Mikey!” ad. If you, like me, never thought about the fact that someone wrote the thing, take 30 seconds to salute Edie Stevenson, who died recently at the age […]