Smoke and Mirrors by Tony Koenderman

ISBN: 9781868423194

Jonathan Ball, 1 January 2008

Hardback, 251 pages

 Second hand, excellent condition

Advertising is one of the most quotable subjects under the sun, yet when the author went in search of quotes to embroider an article he was writing, he discovered an unexpected dearth of collections of quotes on this fascinating subject. Smoke and mirrors is his response to that frustration. This compendium of the wit and wisdom of advertising practitioners, critics and advocates from around the world, including South Africa, is now one of the most comprehensive compilations of its kind ever published worldwide. Its scope covers both advertising and related topics such as public relations, marketing and media, and specific advertising skills from copywriting to client service. The more than 1 600 quotes gathered in these pages include the opinions of national figures from Winston Churchill to Franklin D Roosevelt, and advertising men from David Ogilvy to Rosser Reeves.Though smoke and mirrors is primarily an international collection of quotations, the chapter entitled 'The rainbow nation' bears testimony to the revolution that is taking place in the rapidly expanding South African advertising industry in order to cater to the diversity of consumers included under this broad umbrella. In the words of Peter Vundla, chairman of HerdBuoys McCann-Erickson, 'You can't talk about a white agency or a black agency any more. Neither can survive. What we need is a South African agency . We want to create a renaissance for advertising in Africa.' Because advertising practitioners tend to think in snappy bon moths and sound bites, this collection, arranged by subject, provides amusing, stimulating and provocative insights into a field about which every layman is an expert.