I was doing a campaign once for a manufacturer, and I couldn't think of an ideas, and I was kind of desperate about it. The night before I had to show something to my client I had a dream, an interesting dream. I woke up and for once in my life I wrote it down and went back to sleep Next morning I went to the office and had that dream out into a TV commercial which is still running thirty years after and which has made that particular product the leader in its field.
David OgilvyViewers have a way of remembering the celebrity while forgetting the product. I did not know this when I paid Eleanor Roosevelt $35,000 to make a commercial for margarine. She reported that her mail was equally divided. "One half was sad because I had damaged my reputation. The other half was happy because I had damaged my reputation." Not one of my proudest memories.
David OgilvyAny damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand.
David OgilvyThe success of a meeting often depends on having the right documents - proofs, artwork, schedules, research charts, etc. - present at the start of the meeting. All too often we arrive like plumbers, leaving our tools behind.
David OgilvyIt takes uncommon guts to stick to one style in the face of all the pressures to 'come up with something new' every six months. It is tragically easy to be stampeded into change. But golden rewards await the advertiser who has the brains to create a coherent image, and the stability to stick with it over a long period.
David OgilvyThe majority of business men are not capable of an original thought, simply because they cannot escape the tyranny of reason.
David OgilvyIf you ever find a man who is better than you are - hire him. If necessary, pay him more than you pay yourself.
David OgilvyAdvertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.
David OgilvyWhen people aren't having any fun, they seldom produce good work. Kill the grimness with laughter. Encourage exuberance. Get rid of sad dogs that spread gloom.
David OgilvyPolitical advertising ought to be stopped. It's the only really dishonest kind of advertising that's left. It's totally dishonest.
David OgilvyNever write an advertisement which you wouldn't want your family to read. You wouldn't tell lies to your own wife. Don't tell them to mine.
David OgilvyIt strikes me as bad manners for a magazine to accept one of my advertisements and then attack it editorially - like inviting a man to dinner then spitting in his eye.
David OgilvyTalent, I believe, is most likely to be found among nonconformists, dissenters, and rebels.
David OgilvyI notice increasing reluctance on the part of marketing executives to use judgment; they are coming to rely too much on research, and they use it as a drunkard uses a lamp post for support, rather than for illumination.
David OgilvyPeople don't buy a new detergent because the manufacturer told a joke on television last night.
David OgilvyIf you have a truly big idea, the wrong technique won't kill it. And if you don't have a big idea, the right technique won't help you
David OgilvyThe psychiatrists say that everybody should have a hobby. The hobby I recommend is advertising
David OgilvyEvery advertisement is part of the long term investment in the personality of the brand.
David OgilvyWe all have a tendency to use research as a drunkard uses a lamppost – for support, not for illumination.
David OgilvyThe headline is the 'ticket on the meat.' Use it to flag down readers who are prospects for the kind of product you are advertising.
David OgilvyIn most agencies, account executives outnumber the copywriters two to one. If you were a dairy farmer, would you employ twice as many milkers as you had cows?
David OgilvyEvery advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image.
David OgilvyA lot of today's campaigns are based on optimum positioning but are totally ineffective - because they are dull, or badly constructed, or ineptly written. If nobody reads your advertisement or looks at your commercial, it doesn't do you much good to have the right positioning.
David OgilvyDoes advertising corrupt editors? Yes it does, but fewer editors than you may suppose... the vast majority of editors are incorruptible.
David OgilvyYou aren't advertising to a standing army; you are advertising to a moving parade. Three million consumers get married every year. The advertisement which sold a refrigerator to those who got married last year will probably be just as successful with those who'll get married next year. An advertisement is just like a radar sweep, constantly hunting new prospects as they come into the market. Get a good radar and keep it sweeping.
David OgilvyThe advertisers who believe in the selling power of jingles have never had to sell anything.
David OgilvyMany manufacturers secretly question whether advertising really sells their product, but are vaguely afraid that their competitors might steal a march on them if they stopped.
David OgilvyNever stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving. Testing was used in advertising decades ago. The internet has made testing so easy that every online marketer can use it to improve advertising results. Google content experiment is a free tool for you to do split testing.
David OgilvyIf you have all the research, all the ground rules, all the directives, all the data - it doesn't mean the ad is written. Then you've got to close the door and write something - that is the moment of truth which we all try to postpone as long as possible.
David OgilvyDon’t just create content to get credit for being clever — create content that will be helpful, insightful, or interesting for your target audience.
David OgilvyNever use tricky or irrelevant headlines… People read too fast to figure out what you are trying to say.
David OgilvyThe pursuit of excellence is less profitable than the pursuit of bigness, but it can be more satisfying.
David OgilvyThe trouble with many copywriters in general agencies are that they don't really think in terms of selling. They have never written direct-response; they have never tasted blood
David OgilvyI don't know the rules of grammar... If you're trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think. We try to write in the vernacular.
David OgilvyMost agencies run scared, most of the time. . . .Frightened people are powerless to produce good advertising. . . . If I were aclient, I would do everything in my power to emancipate my agencies from fear, even to the extent of giving them long-term contracts.
David OgilvyMaking the logo twice the size is often a good thing to do, because most advertisements are deficient in brand identification. Showing the clients' faces is also a better stratagem than it may sound, because the public is more interested in personalities than in corporations. Some clients can be projected as human symbols of their own products.
David Ogilvy