Trinity Tomes 10 - Why does the pedlar sing?

Old Member

1 November 2021 17:30-18:30

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Join us to hear from Paul Feldwick (1971) about his book about advertising Why does the pedlar sing? which was published earlier this year.

Throughout history, selling and entertainment have gone hand in hand - from the medieval pedlar and the medicine show, to generations of TV commercials featuring song and dance, comedy, and cartoon animals, right up to today’s celebrities who launch their own multi-million dollar brands. There are good reasons for this; we now understand better than ever before the psychological and sociological reasons why apparent frivolity creates serious business benefits.

And yet the advertising business today seems reluctant to embrace its powerful links with popular culture. Misled on one side by managerial myths of rationality and logic, and on the other by a cultish misunderstanding of ‘creativity’, it risks forgetting how to appeal to the public, and how to build successful brands. As a result, evidence suggests, today’s advertising is less liked and less effective than ever before.

But it is not too late to reverse this trend. Advertisers and agencies who read this book will rediscover why the pedlar sings, and despite what we’ve all been told, why people do buy from clowns. They will be inspired to make their advertising more popular, more famous, more fun again – and much more effective.

A recording of the session is available on the college YouTube channel - please click here.

About

Paul Feldwick

Paul Feldwick left Trinity in 1974 with a First in English. He found a job in advertising at the acclaimed London agency Boase Massimi Pollitt, later part of DDB, where he was to work for over thirty years. He was Head of Account Planning in London and then a Worldwide Brand Planning Director for DDB, responsible for global strategic training programmes. He was one of the first convenors of judges for the IPA Effectiveness Awards, and he has Masters degrees from Bath School of Management and Ashridge (Hult) Business School. Since 2005 he has worked as a consultant, coach, and author. The Anatomy of Humbug (2015) uncovered the hidden assumptions made in organisations about how advertising works, and his new book Why Does The Pedlar Sing? looks at the links between advertising and entertainment.

Paul's website