value’ which advertising contributes, and I am not sufficiently puritanical to hate myself for it. Good ideas come from the unconscious. The author dreamed about an old baker driving his horse and wagon along a country lane on his way to deliver Pepperidge Farm bread. Twenty-five years later the horse and wagon are still in the commercials. ‘The positively good’ My partner Joel Raphaelson has articulated a feeling which has been growing in my mind for some time: ‘In the past, just about every advertiser has assumed that in order to sell his goods he has to convince consumers that his product is superior to his competitor’s. ‘This may not be necessary. It may be sufficient to convince consumers that your product is positively good. If the consumer feels certain that your product is good and feels uncertain about your competitor’s, he will buy yours. ‘If you and your competitors all make excellent products, don’t try to imply that your product is better. Just say what’s good about your product – and do a clearer, more honest, more informative job of saying it. ‘If this theory is right, sales will swing to the marketer who does the best job of creating confidence that his product is positively good.’