David Ogilvy - Quotes and More, Part I

The following have been retrieved from the organization's Facebook page

1. Quotes and More, Part I David Ogilvy

2. I have a theory that the best ads come from personal experience. Some of the good ones I have done have really come out of the real experience of my life, and somehow this has come over as true and valid and persuasive.

3. Once upon a time I was riding on the top of a First Avenue bus, when I heard a mythical housewife say to another, "Molly, my dear, I would have bought that new brand of toilet soap if only they hadn't set the body copy in ten point Garamnd ." Don't you believe it. What really influences consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form.

4. Senior men have no monopoly on great ideas. Nor do creative people. Some of the best ideas come from account executives, researchers and others. Encourage this; you need all the ideas you can get.

5. Few of the great creators have bland personalities. They are cantankerous * egotists, the kind of men who are unwelcome in the modern corporation *Cantankerous : Bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative (I had to Google it, thought you I’d save you the trouble).

6. You 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.

7. 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.

8. I used the word 'darling' in the headline of a [Dove] ad because a psychologist had tested hundreds of words for their emotional impact and 'darling' had come out top. I was not aware that it is dangerous to use a telephone when you are taking a bath.

9. We have a habit of divine discontent with our performance. It is an antidote to smugness.

10. I figure that my staff will be less reluctant to work overtime if I work longer hours than they do.

11. If you can't advertise yourself, what hope do you have of advertising anything else?

12. If you always hire people who are smaller than you are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. If, on the other hand, you always hire people who are bigger than you are, we shall become a company of giants.

13. Every advertisement must tell the whole sales story, because the public does not read advertisements in series. The copy must be human and very simple, keyed right down to its market - a market in which self-conscious artwork and fine language serve only to make buyers wary. Every word in the copy must count. Concrete figures must be substituted for atmospheric claims; clichés must give way to facts, and empty exhortations to alluring offers.

14. I am a stickler for meeting deadlines. I can do almost any job in one weekend. I think everyone can. The trouble is most chaps are too lazy to burn the midnight oil. They are unwilling to rise to the occasion.

15. When people aren't having any fun, they seldom produce good work. Kill grimness with laugher. Encourage exuberance. Get rid of sad dogs who spread gloom.

16. The most effective leader is the one who satisfies the psychological needs of his followers.

17. 10 Things to know about Ogilvy's Corporate Culture Ogilvy & Mather - one agency indivisible We sell - or else You can not bore people into buying your product; you can only interest them in buying it. Raise your sights! Blaze new trails!! Compete with the immortals!!! I prefer the discipline of knowledge to the anarchy of ignorance. We pursue knowledge the way a pig pursues truffles.

18. 10 Things to know about Ogilvy's Corporate Culture We hire gentlemen with brains The consumer is not a moron. She is your wife. Don't insult her intelligence. Unless your campaign contains a Big Idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. Only First Class business, and that in a First Class way Never run an advertisement you wouldn't want your family to see

19. The most important word in the vocabulary of advertising is TEST Test your promise. Test your media. Test your headlines and your illustrations. Test the size of your advertisements Test your frequency. Test your level of expenditure. Test your commercials. Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.

20. “Develop your eccentricities while you're young. That way, when you get old, people won't think you are going gaga” -DO