building the church
Keith Reinhard's legacy:
Agencies can't work too hard at understanding their clients' businesses.
"We constantly run around spreading our
gospel. The action is in the parish, but still united by a set of
beliefs and standards. Our belief is the stronger the culture, the less need for
structure. That allows us to expand because we keep attracting entrepreneurial leaders as we expand to new areas."
Bill Bernbach’s agency (and institution) was about to die. Before he passed away, Bernbach did little to preserve his ideas and beliefs so that they could live on. Reinhard believed that this was due to Bernbach’s fear of rules, unlike his peers Leo Burnett and David Ogilvy, who wrote books and inspired structured frameworks for their philosophies on advertising. Bernbach thought that institutionalizing his beliefs would kill them.
Reinhard’s challenge was to build a place where Bernbach’s ideas came to life, primarily because they were in danger of dying a quick death way back in 1984. His first task was to articulate Bernbach’s teachings and discoveries into a set of beliefs: easy enough for a man who followed his hero's work and achievements so closely. His next step was to articulate those teachings and discoveries across the world, acquiring along the way other members of the advertising community who agreed with those beliefs. Reinhard today sees the people who took on that set of beliefs (and built upon them) as the new Bill Bernbachs of the world. People who work in Latin America, Australia, the U.K., and Europe promoting and institutionalizing the Bernbachian model of advertising.
Reinhard is proud to say that in any part of the DDB network, there are copies of Bernbach’s little gray book, or his picture on the wall, or ads that reflect Bernbachian principles. The ideas, he says, are timeless. Below are some ads that DDB has done over the years, some having been influenced by Bernbach, others having been produced by Reinhard. All link back to the DDB website, where 50 years of their award-winning ads are posted for your viewing. It's a pretty cool website to surf around in, if you're interested, not to mention a good place to catch a little of that Bernbach spirit.
1960
1962
1968
1970 
1979
1987
1988 
1992 
1994
1996
1997 
