Les Binet isn’t just an advertising legend; he’s a no-nonsense guru of effectiveness who’s been schooling the industry for decades, calling out BS with all the elegance of a catapult through a stained-glass window. Forget the hype, the Silicon Valley buzzwords, and the latest tech fads: Les is here to remind everyone that advertising’s role is pretty basic—make people remember you and, more importantly, make them actually want to buy your stuff, today and tomorrow.
I’ve been listening to all of Les Binet’s interviews, and I have to admit—how was I not a follower before? So yeah, consider me converted. If you haven’t dug into his work yet, get ready for some real talk on how advertising actually works.
For those who don’t spend their weekends poring over marketing case studies (and let’s be honest, that’s probably most of us), Les is the brain behind the research study, The Long and the Short of It, co-authored with Peter Field. This isn’t some ivory-tower theory; it’s hard, empirical data on what makes ads work. His whole career has been a series of sharp elbows to the industry’s ribs, getting us to rethink advertising’s real job. Binet’s big point? Everyone is obsessing over short-term gains and fast wins, which, spoiler alert, can tank long-term growth. Les has been on a mission to slap marketers awake: short-termism is a quick fix with all the durability of a house made of wet tissue paper.
He’s also a loud critic of “rational” advertising—the kind that tries to inform, convince, and lay out bullet points like a desperate salesman hawking a used car. Sure, this works if you’re selling coffins, but in the real world of branding, he’s got proof that it’s about as effective as trying to fill the Grand Canyon with a teaspoon.
Les would be the first to tell you that when brands try to reason people into buying, they’re forgetting the cardinal rule of advertising: people aren’t rational, and they don’t want to be reasoned with. They want to feel something.
Emotional Ads vs. Cold Logic: Guess Who Wins?
Binet’s work has shown time and again that ads based on emotional appeal absolutely crush those stiff, “rational” ads that preach benefits and lists. Emotional ads might look frivolous, like a mini-movie or a heartstring-tugging story that barely even mentions the product—but those are the campaigns that stick. Rational ads? Those are the ones people roll their eyes at or skip on YouTube. Les and Peter Field have basically weaponized research to show that, in the long term, emotionally driven campaigns drive brand growth like a freight train, while rational ads are more like a series of half-hearted nudges.
In one of his most famous studies, Binet found that emotional campaigns can deliver nearly twice the profit growth compared to rational campaigns. Why? Because, shocker, humans are wired to feel, not compute. Think about it: when was the last time you were moved by an ad’s list of product features? Les’s research is like a masterclass in the painfully obvious that marketers seem determined to ignore: if people like your ad, they’ll probably like your brand. If they’re bored, they won’t remember you at all.
The 60/40 Rule: A Commandment for the Marketing World
Les’s other big revelation? The so-called 60/40 rule, which has become practically biblical for anyone who’s paying attention. Here’s the gist: for the best results, brands should split their budgets roughly 60% on long-term brand-building and 40% on short-term activation or sales-focused stuff. He’s said it so often it should be tattooed on marketers’ foreheads by now. When you spend 60% of your energy making people remember you and 40% driving immediate sales, you’re playing the long game and the short game—without throwing the future under the bus.
And yet, Les would probably laugh at how much the industry has ignored this advice. Most brands are so hooked on the adrenaline rush of short-term wins that they barely think about building a lasting relationship with customers. Picture a teenager chugging energy drinks to get through finals, ignoring the fact they’ll be a zombie by the end of the semester. That’s the brand equivalent of ignoring the 60/40 rule.
Mental Availability, Not Awareness: The Secret Sauce
Binet isn’t satisfied with brands just being “known.” Awareness is fine, but mental availability is where the gold lies. That’s a fancier way of saying that your brand needs to pop into people’s minds at exactly the right time—not just be vaguely familiar. This isn’t about sticking your logo on everything that doesn’t move; it’s about creating positive feelings and associations that stick in people’s brains. In Les’s world, brand recall isn’t enough—you need to be the first name people think of when they’re ready to buy.
This is where brands like Aldi and its famous Kevin the Carrot campaign come in. During the holiday season, Aldi wasn’t even on most shoppers’ radars as a go-to for festive grocery shopping. Enter Kevin the Carrot—a cute, quirky character who starred in a series of Christmas-themed ads that didn’t even talk about Aldi’s prices or product quality. Instead, Kevin made people associate Aldi with that warm, fuzzy holiday spirit, turning the chain into a “Christmassy” choice in people’s minds. It wasn’t about Aldi shouting about what it sells; it was about making Aldi feel like part of the holidays. The result? Christmas sales went through the roof.
The Halo Effect and the Power of Positive Feelings
Let’s talk about another concept Les loves: the halo effect. The idea is that if people have a good feeling about your brand, they’ll start believing that every aspect of your product is better—even if they don’t know why. Binet’s research has shown that when ads create positive emotions, consumers tend to think that the product itself is higher quality, more valuable, or even healthier. We’re talking about a little Pavlovian mind trick where you like the ad, so you start assuming the brand’s bread tastes fresher or that the clothes are more stylish. The actual product hasn’t changed, but people’s perceptions sure have.
This halo effect is like marketing’s secret weapon. Brands like John Lewis in the UK have nailed it with ads that are so memorable, people talk about them even when they’re not shopping. When consumers feel an emotional connection, they’re willing to pay more, think the product is better, and keep coming back. It’s not about the rational details; it’s about creating a vibe that people want to be part of.
The Battle Against Silicon Valley’s Rationality Cult
Les is quick to criticize Silicon Valley’s “data-first” approach to marketing. If you ask him, he’d probably tell you that tech culture has poisoned advertising with its fetish for rationality. In the world of algorithms and optimizations, Silicon Valley seems to think consumers are just robots waiting for the right nudge. Jeff Bezos famously once said, “Advertising is a tax on bad products.” Well, a few years later, Amazon went all-in on ads, so even Bezos couldn’t escape the truth: good advertising can make a brand unforgettable, not just tolerable.
Binet sees this as part of a broader trend where tech bros assume they can outsmart human psychology. They believe people will make rational, informed choices if given the right data points. Meanwhile, Les’s research shows that most decisions are rooted in gut feeling, not logic. We pick the brands we feel good about, not necessarily the ones with the best “value propositions.” Silicon Valley wants to reduce people to data points; Les wants to treat them as humans.
The Profit-Boosting Dark Matter of Pricing Power
One of Les’s lesser-known but equally powerful insights is that advertising doesn’t just increase sales—it can also make people willing to pay more. Binet calls this “the dark matter of advertising” because most brands overlook it entirely. Effective advertising can reduce price sensitivity, letting you charge a premium simply because people like you more. This is massive, but it’s something a lot of brands don’t even measure. Les would argue they’re leaving money on the table by ignoring the fact that emotional brand loyalty isn’t just about selling more; it’s about selling for more.
This pricing power is a huge reason why emotional advertising trumps the rational pitch. When customers feel something for your brand, they’re less likely to balk at higher prices. So while tech bros are trying to optimize for clicks and conversions, Les is laughing all the way to the bank by showing brands how to build emotional connections that allow them to charge a premium. If your brand has real pricing power, it’s like having a license to print money.
Fame, Not Just Reach: The High Bar of Cultural Impact
Another Binet nugget of wisdom: Fame isn’t just about reach or awareness. Fame is when your brand becomes part of the cultural conversation, transcending its category to become a household name people talk about, think about, and, yes, make memes about. Think Apple, Nike, or Coca-Cola. Les has argued that fame is like pouring rocket fuel into your brand equity—it boosts everything else. Fame isn’t just about everyone knowing your name; it’s about everyone having a feeling about it.
Fame is a rarefied state that very few brands ever reach, and Les would tell you it’s because they’re too focused on hitting quarterly sales targets. Fame takes patience, investment, and the guts to go beyond the hard sell. Fame is built by creating campaigns that people actually want to talk about. Les’s work shows that if you can make your brand culturally relevant, every dollar you spend goes further because the public does half the marketing work for you.
Les Binet’s Golden Rules: Think Bigger, Be Bolder
If you had to boil down Les Binet’s message to marketers, it would go something like this: stop thinking like a salesman and start thinking like a storyteller. Ditch the rational scripts, the aggressive calls-to-action, and the clickbait gimmicks. Invest in making people feel something. Lean into emotional branding, and remember that brand-building takes time, effort, and a hefty dose of patience.
Binet’s biggest lesson? Advertising works best when it goes beyond selling. Instead of obsessing over metrics that will make your quarterly report look good, focus on creating brand love. Make them laugh, make them cry, make them care. Les’s work is a call to arms for brands to get over their addiction to short-term sales boosts and focus on building something that lasts—a brand people actually remember, value, and maybe even love.
