David Ogilvy
David Ogilvy
David Mackenzie Ogilvy CBEwas an advertising executive who was widely hailed as "The Father of Advertising". In 1962, Time called him "the most sought-after wizard in today's advertising industry". He founded Ogilvy & Mather...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth23 June 1911
writing lucky winner
Repeat your winners. If you are lucky enough to write a good advertisement, repeat it until it stops selling. Scores of good advertisements have been discarded before they lost their potency.
style please advertisements
What is a good advertisement? An advertisement which pleases you because of its style, or an advertisement which sells the most? They are seldom the same.
art drinking ideas
Big ideas come from the unconscious. This is true in art, in science, and in advertising. But your unconscious has to be well informed, or your idea will be irrelevant. Stuff your conscious mind with information, then unhook your rational thought process. You can help this process by going for a long walk, or taking a hot bath, or drinking half a pint of claret. Suddenly, if the telephone line from your unconscious is open, a big idea wells up within you.
soul church empty
You can't save souls in an empty church.
ignorance discipline anarchy
I prefer the discipline of knowledge to the anarchy of ignorance.
people manners treats
I admire people with gentle manners who treat other people as human beings.
people trying use
Never use tricky or irrelevant headlines… People read too fast to figure out what you are trying to say.
campaigns interest knows
I never assign a product to a writer unless I know that he is personally interested in it. Every time I have written a bad campaign, it has been because the product did not interest me.
ideas obsolete headlines
I once used the word OBSOLETE in a headline, only to discover that 43 per cent of housewives had no idea what it meant. In another headline, I used the word INEFFABLE, only to discover that I didn't know what it meant myself.
half other-half reputation
One half was sad because I had damaged my reputation. The other half was happy because I had damaged my reputation.
looks found reader
It has been found that the less an advertisement looks like an advertisement and the more it looks like an editorial, the more readers stop, look, and read.
clever target-audience interesting
Don’t just create content to get credit for being clever — create content that will be helpful, insightful, or interesting for your target audience.
promise suffering relief
Consumers still buy products whose advertising promises them value for money, beauty, nutrition, relief from suffering, social status and so on.
strong character leader
The best leaders are apt to be found among those executives who have a strong component of unorthodoxy in their character. Instead of resisting innovation, they symbolize it.