BBH Founder Says He Doesn’t Want Brands To Understand Him.

HE has spoken, again. At the time where we are contacted by brands to make a buzz, to enter into the facebook’s life of consumers, to collect CRM datas, he reminds to us to respect the oder of priorities. First what to say, what people are interested in, and after how to reach them.

All article here (Ad Age, Emma Hall, march 20, 2013).

« To those brands that say ‘I understand you’ I say ‘Fuck off, you don’t understand me. Mind your own business, I don’t want to be understood by you. I don’t understand myself sometimes… and it can be fun.’ »

« I’m not sure I want people to know who I am. »

« I don’t want people to know what I drink in the morning and what I drink at night – throughout history we have fought for our freedom to be an individual, and you’re taking it away from us.

Regarding mobile advertising, John Hegarty emphasized that advertisers must put the consumer first, not the technology. « We have a major problem in that our work isn’t as good as it used to be, and consumers value it less and less – that’s the first thing we have to address. »

« Our solution to the problem is to constantly think how we can interrupt consumers more, how we can trip them up, how we can shove a message in their face that they don’t want to see. We’re becoming more aggravating, when surely we should engage consumers and give them something they want to watch and respond to…Instead we talk about what we can do on this platform or that platform…The only space I want to occupy, the only space that’s interesting to me, is the one between people’s ears. That’s where I want my message to go and how I get there is an irrelevance. »