Advertising for Dummies

Gary Dahl is an award-winning copywriter, creative director, and advertising agency owner in California's Silicon Valley. His career spans 35 years, during which he has handled all facets of advertising for hundreds of clients. His agency, Gary Dahl Creative Services, in Campbell, California, specializes in electronic advertising. Dahl's ability to creatively capture the essence of a client's business in 30 or 60 seconds of clear, concise, broadcast copy is a result of having written and produced hundreds of television commercials and thousands of radio commercials for a wide variety of businesses, including financial, automotive, wireless, education, retail, high-tech, and yes, even dot-coms. Gary Dahl has a unique understanding of what it takes to successfully convey a client's message to potential customers. As the creator of the retail phenomenon the Pet Rock - which still ranks as the fastest selling and most publicized novelty gift product in retailing history - Dahl has proven the extraordinary power of a creative idea combined with an effective, well-planned marketing strategy. He has been featured in Time, Newsweek, People, Playboy, and other major magazines; has appeared on numerous network TV shows; and has been interviewed by countless radio networks worldwide, including NPR, the BBC, and the Australian Broadcast-ing Company. In 2000, Dahl won the Grand Prize in the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, defeating over 4,000 entries from all over the world to take top honors in creating the worst possible opening sentence to an imaginary novel. The contest, hosted by San Jose State University's English Department, is named after Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, a minor Victorian author, who wrote the infamous and oft-quoted opening line, "It was a dark and stormy night...." An accomplished public speaker, Dahl has made advertising/marketing presentations to numerous university advertising and marketing communications classes, advertising and civic organizations, and business and professional clubs throughout the country. He and his wife, Marguerite, live in the hills above Los Gatos, California.Dahl, Gary is the author of 'Advertising for Dummies' with ISBN 9780764553776 and ISBN 0764553771.