On Dave Trott, by @zochi9

By Zoe Jezeeph

On Dave Trott

Dave Trott made it clear that not everything he said would be of use to everyone and to

only take the bits that you feel will help you grow. So i thought i’d share some of the many

nuggets of wisdom he shared with us yesterday...

•Your best friend is fear.

•Your biggest enemy is embarrassment.

•What we do isn’t advertising, it’s knowing the human mind.

•The best copy is the least copy.

•All that matters is the work.

•Active drives out passive. If you don’t like something, challenge it.

•Clients are scared by risky work. If your work is good, they won't buy it.

•Be a trouble maker.

•Out think everybody else.

•Think where nobody else is thinking.

•If it’s a good idea, it’s gonna be scary.

•Your only power is to re-invent.

•It’s only a completely new idea when you don’t know how you feel about it.

•Scare yourself.

•Regret is worse than embarrassment.

•Great thinking = short snappy copy.

•Our job is to simplify.

•If you can’t explain it to an 11 year old, you don’t know it yourself.

•Don’t throw all 9 tennis balls. You only throw the one you want them to catch.

•You’re only ever talking to one person.

•You can’t advertise a brand when people don’t understand the product.

•Product builds brand, brand doesn’t build product.

•There is no formula.

•Just use your loaf.

•You were more empowered before you came to ad land.

•Learn buddhist philosophy.

•You’re not trying to make it good. You’re trying to kick the door in.

•Focus on what works, not what people like.

•Form follows function.

•Make work that causes disruption.

•Aim to get your work banned.

•People watch what interests them and sometimes it’s an ad.

•So what if people don’t like your work, you’re not asking for their permission.

•People remember what comes to the top of their mind. Their actions aren’t dependant on whether they liked the ad or not.

• You can either have what you want, or your reasons for not having it.