36 MORE THAN A PROMISE

It was 1962 and Robert C. Townsend had a problem. He had just been appointed president of Avis, a company that had spent the last 13 years in the red.

Townsend recognized that Avis needed a new start and a more positive image. So he hired hotshot advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) to help him turn things around. However, he knew that more was needed than a clever gimmicky line; he would need a powerful business philosophy that every Avis employee would then need to deliver.

Townsend agreed that prior to creating any ads, DDB would spend time learning about Avis’ business; meeting, watching, talking and listening to Avis employees about the company and the way it did business.

It was during one of the early meetings that a deceptively simple question was asked: “Why does anybody ever rent a car from you?” The reply would go on to help make advertising history: “We try harder because we have to.”

DDB’s Art Director, Helmut Krone, had already decided that he wanted to centre the campaign on the blunt truth that “Avis is only No. 2”. It was copywriter Paula Green who remembered what she had learned during those first research meetings and teamed it with the now-famous phrase: “We try harder”.

Having identified the core idea, the DDB team developed the whole campaign as expressions of frank and truthful statements about Avis’ business philosophy.

However,true to his belief that Avis needed more than just a clever piece of advertising, Robert Townsend and the entire management team travelled to every branch in America and spoke with every single employee. They explained that the success of the campaign, and more importantly of their business, hinged upon providing superior customer service at every chance they got.

The advertising was a promise; it was their responsibility to deliver on that promise. In just one year, the campaign and the employee commitment to delivering on it literally changed the fortunes of the company.

Prior to the campaign starting in 1963, Avis’ revenue was $34 million and losses were $3.2 million. One year later, revenue had jumped to $38 million and for the first time in 13 years, Avis turned a profit of $1.2 million. Avis’ market share grew from 11% in 1962 to 35% in 1966.

And the moral is that a brand is more than a promise, it’s a responsibility. Are you making sure that you live up to your responsibilities?