A biography for David Ogilvyhasn’t been written yet.
“A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.”
“I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information.”
“Many people - and I think I am one of them - are more productive when they've had a little to drink. I find if I drink two or three brandies, I'm far better able to write.”
“Can advertising foist an inferior product on the consumer? Bitter experience has taught me that it cannot. On those rare occasions when I have advertised products which consumer tests have found inferior to other products in the same field, the results have been disastrous.”
“The secret of long life is double careers. One to about age sixty, then another for the next thirty years.”
“Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.”
“Some manufacturers illustrate their advertisements with abstract paintings. I would only do this if I wished to conceal from the reader what I was advertising.”
“The pursuit of excellence is less profitable than the pursuit of bigness, but it can be more satisfying.”
“Advertising reflects the mores of society, but it does not influence them.”
“What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form.”
“I avoid clients for whom advertising is only a marginal factor in their marketing mix. They have an awkward tendency to raid their advertising appropriations whenever they need cash for other purposes.”
“Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine.”
“In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create.”
“Sound an alarm! Advertising, not deals, builds brands.”
“Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image.”
“The advertisers who believe in the selling power of jingles have never had to sell anything.”
“Good copy can't be written with tongue in cheek, written just for a living. You've got to believe in the product.”
“Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things.”
“There are very few men of genius in advertising agencies. But we need all we can find. Almost without exception they are disagreeable. Don't destroy them. They lay golden eggs.”
“It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big idea.”