Bio
Dave Trott (b. 1947) is a British creative director, copywriter, and author whose 40+ year career spans some of the most awarded UK advertising agencies of the modern era. He co-founded Gold Greenlees Trott (GGT) in 1980, which Advertising Age voted Most Creative Agency in the World; co-founded Bainsfair Sharkey Trott (1990) and Walsh Trott Chick Smith (which merged into The Gate, where he served as Chairman until 2014). His campaign work includes Pepsi ("Lipsmackinthirstquenchin"), Toshiba ("Hello Tosh gotta Toshiba"), Cadbury's Flake, and Holsten Pils. Trott's published work and his prolific blog focus on a single thesis: in a market dominated by sameness and incremental optimisation, the only durable creative strategy is to change the game — predatory thinking that competes for attention rather than for share within an existing frame.
Operating themes
- Operating thesis: Don't play the game; change the game. Most advertising fails because it competes on point-of-sameness. Creativity is what produces point-of-difference, and word-of-mouth — triggered through memorable creative — is the most valuable advertising space of all.
- Predatory Thinking
- Point-of-Difference vs. Point-of-Sameness
- Word-of-Mouth as Primary Media
- Niche at Scale
Cards
- Don't play the game on its own terms — change the game to one you can beat — Don't play the game on its own terms; change the game to one you can beat [Tier A]
- If no advertising has a point-of-difference, all advertising has is a point-of-sameness — and no one notices — If no advertising has a point-of-difference, all advertising has is a point-of-sameness — and no one notices [Tier A]
- The internet is Tokyo — niche at scale is finally possible, which means specialist positioning beats generalist sameness — The internet is Tokyo — the internet allows you to be niche at scale [Tier A]
- Going viral means triggering audience repetition until the campaign takes on its own life — design the meme, not the impression — Going viral means triggering audience repetition until the campaign takes on a life of its own [Tier A]
- Word-of-mouth is the most valuable advertising space of all — paid media is what triggers it, not what replaces it — Word-of-mouth is the most valuable advertising space of all [Tier A]
Sources captured
- 2026-05 — Three blog posts at davetrott.co.uk (
raw/essays/trott--three-posts--2025-2026.md):
- "DON'T PLAY THE GAME, CHANGE THE GAME" (2026-04-27)
- "POINT-OF-SAMENESS" (2025-01-20)
- "WHAT NOEL GALLAGHER CAN TEACH US" (2025-01-13)