By Dr. Robert Cialdini
The same honesty-establishing, pre-suasive tactic was employed in the late 1950s by the advertising firm Doyle Dane Bernbach to introduce the oddly shaped Volkswagen Bug to a US market dominated by big, powerful, boatlike vehicles. The “We’re ugly but…” campaign tactically admitted to cosmetic limitations before trumpeting the auto’s strengths such as economy, reliability, and simplicity (“Ugly is only skin deep.” “It’s ugly but it gets you there.”). Credited with cracking open the US market for compact cars, it is rated by experts as the greatest advertising campaign of all time.
A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade
The author of the legendary bestseller Influence, social psychologist Robert Cialdini shines a light on effective persuasion and reveals that the secret doesn’t lie in the message itself, but in the key moment before that message is delivered.