Bob Hooey

Every man must decide for himself whether he shall master his world or be mastered by it.

I foresee the time when industry shall no longer denude the forests which require generations to mature, nor use up the mines which were ages in making, but shall draw its raw material largely from the annual produce of the fields. I am convinced that we shall be able to get out of yearly crops most of the basic materials which we now get from forest and mine.

There are very few men of genius in advertising agencies. But we need all we can find. Almost without exception they are disagreeable. Don’t destroy them. They lay golden eggs.

The union organizers are asking us to sit still while it sells our men the jobs that have always been free.

Much of the messy advertising you see on television today is the product of committees. Committees can criticize advertisements, but they should never be allowed to create them.

In New York and Los Angeles, you can throw your car keys to the valet and he parks it. Same in Hong Kong and Singapore, the service is off the scale. In London it’s sub-standard to abysmal.

London has got better as it’s become more international – you only have to look at the quality of the restaurants to see how improved it’s become.

We know everything about our clients – if they like their dressing gowns heated, what colour flowers they like, if their chef works left-handed – we know everything and we incorporate it into our work for them.

What is virtue but the Trade Unionism of the married?

Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.

The thought in my mind was that I must be a good merchant. If I were a good merchant, the rest would probably take care of itself.

The best of merchandise will go back to the shelf unless handled by a conscientious, tactful salesman.

I don’t hire a lot of number-crunchers, and I don’t trust fancy marketing surveys. I do my own surveys and draw my own conclusions.

I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information.

We have a very open culture at the company, where we foster a lot of interaction between not just me and people but between everyone else. It’s an open floor plan. People have these desks where no one really has an office. I mean, I have a room where I meet with people. But it has all glass, so everyone can see into it and see what’s going on.

The main job of the entrepreneur is to define the mission, find and inspire the team, and lead.