Lee Clow Quotes & Sayings

Throughout history, the technology always comes first. It's just technology for a while, until the day we artists inherit it. — Lee Clow

Advertising can be a very frustrating business. — Lee Clow

Your ad begins as an interruption. Make paying attention to it feel like a reward — Lee Clow

I found my own way of doing things. — Lee Clow

Baby Steps are for Babies, Not Brands. Be Amazing or Be Surpassed. — Lee Clow

[In 2007] People's relationship with a brand is becoming a dialog, not a monolog. — Lee Clow

It's very demeaning that we have to put on a show to prove that we know how to put on a show. — Lee Clow

Good advertising is a dialog with people ... — Lee Clow

Telling stories on behalf of brands is what I've done all my life. — Lee Clow

Creativity thrives on a consistent diet of challenges and opportunities, which are often one and the same. — Lee Clow

Consumers never complain about ads being too smart. — Lee Clow

There's an independence to surfing, it's just you and the ocean. There aren't a bunch of rules, — Lee Clow

Steve [Jobs] is unique. There aren't many clients that are like that. You have one guy that you really work for. That's very rare. — Lee Clow

If you'd put it in a Powerpoint deck don't put it in your ad — Lee Clow

Ultimately, if you are doing great work, the money will come. — Lee Clow

The smartest advertising is the advertising that communicates the best and respects the consumer's intelligence. — Lee Clow

You have to be daring and make something that doesn't look like anybody else. — Lee Clow

An incredible advertising career is not about creating an incredibly amazing ad, it's about making an incredible amazing ad every single day of your career, it's about getting those adds killed, and resurrecting them over and over again. It's about your season average not that occasional home-run. — Lee Clow

Everything a brand does is advertising. — Lee Clow

If you think you have a better mousetrap or car, or shirt, or whatever, you've got to tell people ... — Lee Clow

Shocking is easy. Shockingly brilliant, a bit more challenging. — Lee Clow

If you are always trying to do something great and different and fresh, lots of them are going to be shut down for lots of stupid or good reasons, but you have to keep on trying. — Lee Clow

Hey! You can be more than just a car company. You can be more than just a pet food company. You can aspire to loving dogs, rather than just feeding dogs. — Lee Clow

An ad should be an appetizer, not a buffet — Lee Clow

I've never found a client's business problem that could be solved solely through advertising. — Lee Clow

Make it smart. Make it beautiful. Have fun. — Lee Clow

The only reason you should move to a new job is if you are not getting the opportunity to do what you want to do and what you believe you can do. — Lee Clow

What I know how to do is nurture and help people discover the best opportunities ... — Lee Clow

Most people who are deemed 'mean' are usually perfectionist who make mediocre people unhappy, cause they put more pressure on them then they can handle. — Lee Clow

[In 2011] What Steve Jobs did was simply make everything and everyone better. — Lee Clow

Managing brands is going to be more and more about trying to manage everything that your company does. — Lee Clow

Never start a conversation with a yawn — Lee Clow

Listen real hard to the smartest guy in the room before you go trying to prove how smart you are. — Lee Clow

Creative people are 50% ego and 50% insecurity. — Lee Clow

[In 2011 on Steve Jobs] He was the most amazing person I have ever know. He was a genius. He was an innovator. He was the best client we ever had. He was my friend. — Lee Clow

A thing that most creatives don't do well is that you've gotta learn to listen. — Lee Clow

If it's been done, do it better. If it hasn't been done, do it so well that better is not an option. — Lee Clow

When you open an Apple product it's like a religious experience. — Lee Clow

TV spots are short. If you can't hold folks' attention for 20 seconds before revealing the brand, find another line of work. — Lee Clow

Actions speak louder than meetings. — Lee Clow

When creatively passionate people get together to start a company, the energy and camaraderie is really pretty stimulating. — Lee Clow

What I've always loved to do is build a brand that's so cool that you want to wear their T-shirt. — Lee Clow

I'd rather apologize than to be so timid as to never try to do anything smart or brave. — Lee Clow

Most ideas are a bit scary, and if an idea isn't scary, it's not an idea at all. — Lee Clow

[In 2004 on being at TBWA Chiat Day for 30 years.] Different people are different in terms of the way they're made. I knew since the day I arrived at Chiat Day that I was at home, and that I was at a place where I could prove my talent and my ability ... I am also married for 35 years too, so it could just be how I am. — Lee Clow

I have always felt the word 'advertising' is either a diminutive or derogatory term that kind of goes with stuff people don't like, and I always felt frustrated because I felt like I was a communication artist or a media artist. The best advertising is one of the art forms of our culture. — Lee Clow