The Brand Atelier Show

Hi, I'm Shayne Mackey and welcome back to the brand atelier. I've been scrolling through Instagram lately and I keep seeing the same pattern. Young marketers, brilliant, energetic, creative, excited, posting about revolutionary new strategies they've discovered. The future of branding, the tactics that will change everything. User generated content, authenticity, storytelling, community building, scarcity.

And every time I see these posts, I think the exact same thing. David Ogilvy said that in 1963. Bill Bernbach built an agency on it in the 1950s. Mary Wells sold it to Fortune 500 brands in the 1960s and 70s. And Leo Burnett's bottom lip told you everything you needed to know about whether an idea had it or not.the fundamentals of brand strategy haven't changed in 70 years, just the channels. So today, we're talking about why everything old is new again, why the strategies Instagram gurus are selling as revolutionary are actually principles the advertising legends taught us decades ago, and why even after 32 years in this business, I still go back to what Ogilvy, Bernbach, Wells, and Burnett knew to be true.

So let's begin. I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn and Instagram. And lately, I've been watching this pattern emerge. Revolutionary new tactics, the future of marketing, tactics that will disrupt everything. And hear me out, I am not dismissing them. Many of these young marketers are brilliant, they're creative, and they're building real authentic businesses. But here's what I notice.

The new strategies they're discovering aren't new at all. They're repackaged principles that David Ogilvy, Bill Bernbach, Mary Wells, Leo Burnett, and many others have taught us over the last 50, 60, and 70 years. And that's not a criticism. It's actually proof. If a principle is so solid that every generation rediscovers it and thinks they invented it, that means it works. The channel's change?

The platforms change, the language we use changes, but the fundamentals, those are eternal. So I wanna give you five examples, five new revolutionary new strategies that the advertising legends have already taught us. Lesson one, user generated content equals word of mouth. Here's the pitch you're gonna see on Instagram today. Stop creating your own content.

Let your customers create it for you. Real people, real experiences, real authenticity. Now, here's David Ogilvy in 1963. The consumer is not a moron. She's your wife. Don't insult her intelligence. Ogilvy understood 60 years ago that people trust people more than they trust advertising. And that's why he built campaigns around real testimonials

real customers and real stories. What's new today? Instagram instead of print ads. What's not new? The principle. People believe people, not brands. Ogilvy knew it. We're still learning it.

Lesson number two, authenticity equals integrity. Here's today's pitch. Be authentic, show the real you, vulnerable, honest, no polish, just truth. Now, here's Bill Bernbach. The truth isn't the truth until people believe you. And they can't believe you if they don't know what you're saying. And they can't know what you're saying if they don't listen to you.

and they won't listen to you if you're not interesting. And you won't be interesting unless you say things imaginatively, originally, freshly. Bernbach didn't call it authenticity, he called it truth. But the principle is still the same. People can smell a lie from a mile away and they'll only believe you if you mean what you say. That's why his Volkswagen Think Small campaign worked.

It didn't pretend the Beetle was a luxury car. It told the truth. It's small, it's ugly, it's cheap, and that's exactly why you should buy it. Authenticity isn't new. It's what Bernbach built an empire on in 1959. Lesson number three, storytelling equals narrative that endures. Today's pitch, stop selling products, tell stories,

make people feel something, build emotional connection through narrative. Mary Wells in 1966. She didn't write ads, she wrote stories. When she pitched Braniff Airlines, she didn't talk about flight schedules or ticket prices, she painted planes bright colors. She put flight attendants in Pucci. She hired Andy Warhol to design the interiors.

and she told a story. Flying isn't transportation, it's an experience. It's theater, it's joy. She made people feel something about an airplane. That's not storytelling as a trend. That's Mary Wells understanding in 1966 that people don't buy product, they buy meaning. The principle hasn't changed. We're just calling it something different now.

Lesson number four, community building equals brand as identity. Today's pitch, build community, not audience. Give people belonging and let them be part of something bigger. Leo Burnett knew this in the 50s. When he created the Marlboro Man, he wasn't selling cigarettes. He was selling identity. You're not a smoker. You're a rugged individualist, a cowboy.

who man who doesn't follow trends. That wasn't an ad. That was an invitation to belong to something. Same thing with Tony the Tiger, with Jolly the Green Giant, with the Pillsbury Doughboy. Burnett understood that brands aren't products. They're identities people adopt. We are calling it community building now. Burnett called it inherent drama.

It is the same principle. It's just a different name. And lesson number five, scarcity and exclusivity equals positioning. Today's pitch, create scarcity, limited drops, make things hard to get, build desire through exclusivity. David Ogilvy once again.

The best way to get customers is to make your existing customers feel special. He understood in the 1960s that luxury isn't about availability. It's about selectivity. When he worked with Rolls Royce, he didn't try to sell more cars. He made owning one feel like joining a club. That's not a new hack. That's positioning.

and David Ogilvy wrote the book on it. Literally, he wrote a book on it. So do you see the pattern? User-generated content, authenticity, storytelling, community, scarcity. The Instagram gurus think they discovered these. David Ogilvy, Bill Barnbach, Mary Wells, Leo Burnett, and many others taught them to us 60 years ago. The tactics change.

The channels change, the language changes, but the principles, those are eternal. So here's a story I love and it gets a little personal. Leo Burnett had a habit. When someone would present an idea in a meeting, he'd sit there, silent, thinking, and everyone in the room would watch his bottom lip. If the idea were mediocre,

His lip stayed still. If the idea was good, his lip would start to move, just a little twitch. And if the idea was great, if it had what he called inherent drama, if it connected to something true and human and lasting, his lip would curl into a smile.

And that's all you needed to know. Leo Burnett's bottom lip told you whether an idea had quality. Not whether it was clever, not whether it would win awards, not whether it was trendy, whether it was true. And here's the funny thing about that story. I have a tale too. When I went to grad school at SCAD for my MFA, I was 30.

Most of my classmates were still in their early 20s, straight from undergrad, still figuring out who they were as creatives. And when we had critique classes, you'd present your work and everyone would respond. And my classmates started to notice a pattern. The more I covered my face with my hand during their presentation, the more challenging my critique was going to be.

So it kind of became a running joke. no, Shayne's got her hand up. This is gonna hurt.

But here's the thing, it was true then and it's still true today. I have zero poker face. So the hand hides my expressions for better or for worse. And I learned something about myself through that. I will always start with something positive in a critique, but I won't hold back. Because here's what Leo Burnett understood and what I learned at SCAD. Quality isn't about being nice, it's about being honest. If an idea is mediocre,

saying that's great doesn't help anyone. But if an idea is true, if it has inherent drama, if it connects to something real, you feel it. If Lear Burnett's lip would twitch, if my hand would stay off my face, that's how you know. Not because the idea is trendy, not because it's clever, not because it'll win awards, because it's true. And truth

is the only thing that lasts. So why does this matter? Because if you're a Fortune 500 CMO, you've been pitched revolutionary new strategies every single week. Consultants telling you to pivot to TikTok, agencies telling you to chase trends, marketing gurus telling you email is dead, the algorithm changed, and you need to go viral. And I want you to remember something.

David Ogilvy built Ogilvy and Mather into one of the most successful agencies in history by trusting principles, not trends. Bill Bernbach revolutionized advertising by telling the truth when everyone else was exaggerating. Mary Wells became the first female CEO in the New York Stock Exchange by creating meaning, not just campaigns.

Leo Burnett built an agency that's still standing today because he refused to do work that didn't have inherent drama. They didn't chase trends, they trusted fundamentals. And their work outlasted every trend that came and went. So when someone tells you that everything has changed and you need to throw out your playbook, you need to ask yourself, has it really changed? Or have the channels changed?

while the principles stayed the same. Because Instagram gurus sell tactics. They sell how to get more followers, how to go viral, or how to hack that thing that changed everything. The legends taught principles. Principles that have endured for decades. And here's the uncomfortable truth. The brands that survived 50, 100, 150 years didn't do it by chasing trends. They did it.

by ignoring them. Ralph Lauren didn't pivot to streetwear when luxury was quote unquote debt. Patagonia didn't sell, start selling fast fashion when sustainability was too expensive. Hermes never flooded the market with Birkin bags when scarcity was leaving money on the table. They trusted the fundamentals that Ogilvy and Bernbach and Wells and Burnett taught us. And they're still here.

The brands that chase every trend, most of them are gone. I've been doing this for 32 years now and I've watched trends come and go. I've seen the future of marketing announced a hundred times. MySpace, Vine, Snapchat, Clubhouse. Every year there's a new platform that's going to change everything. And you know what's actually changed? Nothing fundamental. The platform's changed, the tactics changed.

But that strategy Dave Ogilvy taught in 1963, it still works. The truth Bill Bernbach insisted on in 1959 still resonates. The emotional storytelling Mary Wells mastered in 1966, it still connects. And that inherent drama that Leo Burnett demanded in the 1950s still matters.

When I was a creative director, I had a philosophy that pretty much came directly from Leo Burnett. I hate gimmicks. Everyone wanted the flashy idea, the stunt, the thing that would go viral, the campaign that would win awards. And I always say the same thing. Some ideas are best in black and white. Not literally lack of black and white, though sometimes yes, literally, but conceptually, clear, simple, and true.

Because gimmicks get attention for a week, truth builds brands for decades.

So here's what I want you to take away from this. The next time someone pitches you a revolutionary new strategy,

Pause and ask yourself, is this actually new? Or is this David Ogilvy's principle with a new name? Is this Bill Burnbox truth repackaged for Instagram? Is this Mary Wells storytelling with a different medium? Is this Leo Burnett's inherent drama dressed up as content marketing? Most of the time, it's not new, it's repackaged. And that's OK. That's actually good.

Because if these principles have been working since the 1950s, they'll keep working for the next 50 years. You don't need to reinvent your brand every time a new platform launches. You need to understand the principles the legends taught us and apply them to the current moment. That's strategy. Not chasing trends, not pivoting to every new platform, not abandoning what works because someone younger says it's outdated. Trusting the fundamentals.

The ones David Ogilvy wrote about, the ones Bill Bernbach proved, the ones Mary Wells sold, the ones Leo Burnett's bottom lip approved. Because those fundamentals, they don't change. And sometimes, most of the time actually, the best ideas are still black and white.

David Ogilvy said, the consumer is not a moron. Bill Bernbach said, the truth isn't the truth until people believe you. Mary Wells said, I don't believe in rules, I believe in taste. Leo Burnett said, make it simple, make it memorable, make it inviting to look at, make it fun to read. They all said these things 60 and 70 years ago, and they're still true today.

The channels have changed. The platforms have changed. The language we use has changed. But the principles underneath, still the same. So the next time someone tells you everything has changed and you need to throw out your playbook, remember the legends. Remember what they taught us. And remember this, everything old is new again. The classics endure because they work. and sometimes the best ideas are still black and white.

I'm Shayne Mackey. This is the brand atelier and we're here to build something that lasts.