--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Advertising obviously helps with…" description: "\"Advertising obviously helps with awareness, but if you look at some of the most successful companies, they're actually not generally ad-driven when it ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adb/john-collison-16395_advertising_advertising-obviously-helps-with-awarene_1103698.jpg" --- # Advertising obviously helps with awareness, but if you… ![“Advertising obviously helps with awareness, but if you look at some of the most successful companies, they're actually not generally ad-driven when it comes to customer adoption.” quote by John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adb/john-collison-16395_advertising_advertising-obviously-helps-with-awarene_1103698.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adb/john-collison-16395_advertising_advertising-obviously-helps-with-awarene_1103698.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adb/john-collison-16395_advertising_advertising-obviously-helps-with-awarene_1103698.jpg) > “Advertising obviously helps with awareness, but if you look at some of the most successful companies, they're actually not generally ad-driven when it comes to customer adoption.” [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Successful companies often grow through word‑of‑mouth and product quality rather than heavy advertising. **In simple terms:** Great products spread without ads. Key Takeaway Focus on product excellence and referrals. Themes business growth advertising product quality Mood pragmatic analytical Type advice observational When to use this quote - startup launches - market entry - brand building Key Concepts viral marketing customer advocacy Questions to Reflect On - Can you balance product focus with strategic ads? - When is advertising essential? A Different Perspective Ads still matter for brand awareness in crowded markets. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Advertising](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advertising/) [Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awareness/) [Customer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customer/) [Marketing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marketing/) ## Related quotes > [Certainly, it seems true enough that there's a good deal of irony in the world... 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Although I can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-armstrong/the-reality-is-i-ve-started-multiple-companies-so-actually-i-m/) [Tim Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-armstrong/) > [We've seen a lot of data at YC now, and the most successful companies and the ones where the investors do the best... end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-altman/we-ve-seen-a-lot-of-data-at-yc-now-and-the-most-successful-companies/) [Sam Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-altman/) > [“Successful companies are built by investing large amount of money and hundreds of litres of sweat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/successful-companies-are-built-by-investing-large-amount-of-money-and/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [I started off with a company, InfoSpace, with my own funding. The company was listed among the most successful companies and I went on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-jain/i-started-off-with-a-company-infospace-with-my-own-funding-the/) [Naveen Jain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-jain/) > [Successful companies obviously have people with ideas and energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hasso-plattner/successful-companies-obviously-have-people-with-ideas-and-energy/) [Hasso Plattner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hasso-plattner/) > [Successful companies in social media function more like entertainment companies, publishers, or party planners than as traditional advertisers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-qualman/successful-companies-in-social-media-function-more-like-entertainment/) [Erik Qualman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-qualman/) > [Quality is the one absolutely necessary ingredient of all the most successful companies in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-perdue/quality-is-the-one-absolutely-necessary-ingredient-of-all-the-most/) [Frank Perdue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-perdue/) > [Every tech story is different. Every moment in history happens only once. All successful companies are successful in their own unique way. It's your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/every-tech-story-is-different-every-moment-in-history-happens-only/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“successful companies in real estate, meeting with no other than the CEO. His employees didn’t know the true Jett. No one did. If they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-reed/successful-companies-in-real-estate-meeting-with-no-other-than-the/) [J.C. Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-reed/) > [Learning from mistakes and constantly improving products is a key in all successful companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/learning-from-mistakes-and-constantly-improving-products-is-a-key-in/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [They have a policy in China for their big companies called "Go abroad." It's a rational thing for both the company and the country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-dimon/they-have-a-policy-in-china-for-their-big-companies-called-go-abroad/) [Jamie Dimon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-dimon/) > [You don't need a ton of resources to see your dream come to fruition. You just need a vision and the willingness to work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-don-t-need-a-ton-of-resources-to-see-your-dream-come-to-fruition/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've become absolutely convinced that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre or unsuccessful ones has little, if anything, to do with what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-lencioni/i-ve-become-absolutely-convinced-that-the-seminal-difference-between/) [Patrick Lencioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-lencioni/) ## More by John Collison > [Culture is what happens when the CEO isn't in the room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/culture-is-what-happens-when-the-ceo-isn-t-in-the-room/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [For Stripe, being inventive is just about applying the right solutions from other areas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/for-stripe-being-inventive-is-just-about-applying-the-right-solutions/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [Stripe was very much the product of our past experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/stripe-was-very-much-the-product-of-our-past-experiences/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [Our initial idea with Stripe was that for people like us - those building apps and websites - it was incredibly difficult to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/our-initial-idea-with-stripe-was-that-for-people-like-us-those/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [I think there is this very nice, if at times dangerous, untethered optimism that exists in Silicon Valley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/i-think-there-is-this-very-nice-if-at-times-dangerous-untethered/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [Marketplaces by their nature tend to grow faster than most other companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/marketplaces-by-their-nature-tend-to-grow-faster-than-most-other/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [Part of Stripe's vision is linking people better on the web.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/part-of-stripe-s-vision-is-linking-people-better-on-the-web/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [It's easy to talk to people over the Web, but it's not very easy to trigger transactions. That's the thing we set out to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/it-s-easy-to-talk-to-people-over-the-web-but-it-s-not-very-easy-to/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [As long as the Internet economy continues to grow, Stripe will continue to grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/as-long-as-the-internet-economy-continues-to-grow-stripe-will/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [Stripe really did come about because we were really appalled by how hard it was to charge for things online.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/stripe-really-did-come-about-because-we-were-really-appalled-by-how/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [No batch of 10 people will have as much an influence on the company as those first 10 people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/no-batch-of-10-people-will-have-as-much-an-influence-on-the-company/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [With PayPal, you have to send people over to their website... whereas with Stripe, we offer a way to integrate payments into the website,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/with-paypal-you-have-to-send-people-over-to-their-website-whereas/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [Coming from Ireland, it's quite hard to do a startup because you're culturally so far away from what everyone else is doing. In the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/coming-from-ireland-it-s-quite-hard-to-do-a-startup-because-you-re/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [The values we developed were instrumental in gaining a competitive advantage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/the-values-we-developed-were-instrumental-in-gaining-a-competitive/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) > [I think a lot of people learn to code messing around with things while in secondary school. And for me, it started up as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/i-think-a-lot-of-people-learn-to-code-messing-around-with-things/) [John Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) [Explore all 40 John Collison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/) ## More Advertising quotes > [I saw this anti-drug commercial that showed a kid smoking pot in his dad's room with his friend. This kid finds a gun, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/i-saw-this-anti-drug-commercial-that-showed-a-kid-smoking-pot-in-his/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [“Salesmanship is usually the art of making it the prospect’s problem, the salesperson’s need or desire to earn money.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/salesmanship-is-usually-the-art-of-making-it-the-prospect-s-problem/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest-it is much too powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-gossage/advertising-justifies-its-existence-when-used-in-the-public-interest/) [Howard Gossage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-gossage/) > [“Don't wait, just sweat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/don-t-wait-just-sweat/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [We have the capital, the resources, and the technology that we need to build a mobile advertising platform across the planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-tewari/we-have-the-capital-the-resources-and-the-technology-that-we-need-to/) [Naveen Tewari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-tewari/) > [“Never run advertising until the major publicity possibilities have been exploited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-ries/never-run-advertising-until-the-major-publicity-possibilities-have/) [Al Ries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-ries/) > [God never talks. But the devil keeps advertising, Father. The devil does a lot of commercials.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/god-never-talks-but-the-devil-keeps-advertising-father-the-devil-does/) [William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/) > [I like Valentine's Day. The trouble is the florists and the candy-makers and the card people are all advertising so much, you don't dare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/i-like-valentine-s-day-the-trouble-is-the-florists-and-the-candy/) [Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/) > [I happened to be spotted by a modeling agent who offered me a part-time job at 16. Everything happened very quickly after that -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/i-happened-to-be-spotted-by-a-modeling-agent-who-offered-me-a-part/) [Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/) > [They say that Madison Avenue will only pay high dollars in advertising if they get the 18-35 age range.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-gless/they-say-that-madison-avenue-will-only-pay-high-dollars-in/) [Sharon Gless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-gless/) > [“There's not a branch of publishing or broadcasting that doesn't depend in some way on advertising. It'd be like an aquarium without water. Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/there-s-not-a-branch-of-publishing-or-broadcasting-that-doesn-t/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I've driven people mad on films that I've made - I want more takes; I want to try new lines. Then I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-grant/i-ve-driven-people-mad-on-films-that-i-ve-made-i-want-more-takes-i/) [Hugh Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-grant/) > [This hype word bothers me though It always sounds like an accusation, what does it mean, advertising, column inches in the press? Bands themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-johnson/this-hype-word-bothers-me-though-it-always-sounds-like-an-accusation/) [Holly Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-johnson/) > [I'm supposed to be taking time off. But I'm still writing and I have this Gap advert lined up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-stone/i-m-supposed-to-be-taking-time-off-but-i-m-still-writing-and-i-have/) [Joss Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-stone/) > [Any seeming deception in a statement is costly, not only in the expense of the advertising but in the detrimental effect produced upon the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wanamaker/any-seeming-deception-in-a-statement-is-costly-not-only-in-the/) [John Wanamaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wanamaker/) [Browse all 1,942 Advertising quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advertising/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Advertising obviously helps with awareness, but if you look at some of the most successful companies, they're actually not generally ad-driven when it comes to customer adoption.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Collison" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/advertising-obviously-helps-with-awareness-but-if-you-look-at-some-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Advertising" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/advertising-obviously-helps-with-awareness-but-if-you-look-at-some-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adb/john-collison-16395_advertising_advertising-obviously-helps-with-awarene_1103698.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adb/john-collison-16395_advertising_advertising-obviously-helps-with-awarene_1103698.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adb/john-collison-16395_advertising_advertising-obviously-helps-with-awarene_1103698.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Advertising obviously helps with awareness, but if you look at some of the most successful companies…” — John Collison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Collison", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-collison/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Advertising obviously helps with awareness, but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/advertising-obviously-helps-with-awareness-but-if-you-look-at-some-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-collison/advertising-obviously-helps-with-awareness-but-if-you-look-at-some-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```