Advertising effectiveness: Are we still Mad Men?

Bert Moore

Developed in the 1950s, the 'predictable ends, certain means' model of creating advertising has remained much the same since.

Are we still Mad Men?

Bert Moore

Problem-biased thinking is a four-stage Lowe approach designed to refine the process of creating effective advertising that has changed little since the 1950s

For decades, the craft genius of advertising was built on operational control – traffic, you called it. The business knew exactly what was going to come off the production line, and the best knew just how to produce it. Organisationally structured in the Mad Menera of the 1950s, the 'predictable ends, certain means' model has remained much the same since. The cost-heavy production spine has calcified the business....

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands