Can’t Sell Won’t Sell: Advertising, politics and culture wars. Why adland has stopped selling and started saving the world
£10.40
Our politics dictate the ads we create and distance us from our audience. The advertising industry has lost interest in selling. According to the IPA, we face “a crisis of effectiveness”. And our politics are to blame. We are now so culturally left-leaning, we’re no longer willing to stoke capitalism’s engine of growth. Instead, we have a new raison d’etre: we’re saving the world. But who are the activists and careerists who are pushing this progressive agenda? And what of the angry mainstream who are alienated by the ideas we’re imposing upon them? Most urgently, as our clients emerge from the pandemic recession, will advertising rediscover its commercial purpose and help them revive the UK economy? Or will our agencies and institutions double down on social purpose and the monoculture that’s suffocating a once brilliantly creative industry and forcing it to the margins of British business and cultural life?
Read more
Additional information
| Publisher | 3rd edition (16 July 2021), Adworld Press |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 290 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0957151527 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0957151529 |
| Dimensions | 12.7 x 1.65 x 20.32 cm |
by Amazon Customer
Brilliant factual look at how as brands have shifted focus towards purpose, adland has been tasked with creating award winning creative that promotes environmental and social causes that neither brands nor agencies have the creds to talk about.
Fully recommend for anyone who works in the industry and has raised an eyebrow or two in the past decade
by Johnnie Diss
The ad industry is embarrassed about being, well, the ad industry. And Steve Harrison shows us why the Madmen have turned away from selling and now want believe it’s all about ‘social purpose’. But can advertising really save the planet, solve loneliness or make men and women equal? This book says not. And through thoroughly researched recent examples it shows how the emperor has no clothes on.
by Mr. A. P. Williams
A hugely refreshing and entertaining take on an industry that’s lost its way and become increasingly inward-looking. Steve’s typically provocative thoughts, and the evidence behind them, prompt a number of conversations that need to be had for the sake of advertising’s future.
The book artfully balances a powerful reminder to those of us working in the industry to stay focused on (and take pride in) what we do best, with the importance of recognising and addressing deep-rooted shortcomings.
And, for new and well-worn agency leaders alike, there’s also plenty in here to reassure you that you’re not alone with the day-to-day challenges of running a creative organisation, and encourage you to keep pushing. Something we all need from time to time.
by Catherine Every
It is an absolute must read for people who work in the industry
by Johnnie Diss
Everybody in advertising or even thinking about being in advertising should read this. It should be everywhere. It needs seamless distribution…and it should be free.
Can we speak to Gideon? Can he get it in the bedside cabinets of the blessed in Cannes perhaps? That would be a start.
We may not agree with Gideon but he sure knows how to get his data to market.
by Lee Henshaw
Reading Can’t Sell Won’t Sell is like unravelling last year’s Xmas tree lights. It’s hard work but the benefits are obvious.
by eyupsharpy
The advertising industry is one big filter bubble and that’s dangerous for its future. This book is a meticulously researched call to arms to get back to basics and get out there and sell. I’d urge you to read it.
by Gail
If you have a nagging feeling that the advertising industry has lost its way in the world, then this brilliant book will take you on a journey you won’t forget.
With brilliant stats and observations to support every point, it’s a complete wake-up call for the industry to give itself a good talking to, and remember why it really exists.
Which is “To Sell, Or Else”.