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David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes

Businessman

David Ogilvy, born on June 23, 1911 in Scotland, was an outstanding businessman. He was one of the founders of Ogilvy & Mather, an advertising agency that became one of the largest in the world. Known as the father of modern advertising, Ogilvy was renowned for his unique advertising philosophy and deep insights into consumer psychology, whose works had a profound impact on the global advertising industry.

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Famous David Ogilvy Quotes

“We exist to build the business of our clients. The recommendations we make to them should be the recommendations we would make if we owned their companies, without regard to our own short-term interest. This earns their respect, which is the greatest asset we can have.”

Ifs Should Term Interest Company Regard Assets Clients Short Term Recommendations

Author:David Ogilvy

“We like people who are honest. Honest in argument, honest with clients, honest with suppliers, honest with the company - and above all, honest with consumers.”

People Company Honest Argument Consumers Clients Suppliers

Book:The Unpublished David Ogilvy

Source: The Unpublished David Ogilvy

“While you are responsible to your clients for sales results, you are responsible to consumers for the kind of advertising you bring into their homes.”

Kind Home Results Responsible Advertising Consumers Clients

Author:David Ogilvy

“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.”

Years Lasts Moving Three Next Millions Successful Married Standing Army Advertising Consumers Hunting Last Year Next Year Parades Advertisements Sweeping Prospects Radar Refrigerators

Author:David Ogilvy

“You will never win fame and fortune unless you invent big ideas.”

Ideas Bigs Winning Fame Fortune Big Ideas

Author:David Ogilvy

“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.”

Character Found Strong Leader Innovation Executives Components Resisting Best Leader

Author:David Ogilvy

“The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be. Before people making a buying decision, they have many questions. For example, why they should buy from you, why your product is better than other similar products, why they should trust you, and why they should buy it now, etc.”

People Should Decision Example Products Advertising Buying Etc Persuasive Informative

Author:David Ogilvy

“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. People love to read stories. They like to know you as a real person who has your struggle, pain, success and failure, etc. One well-known example is Jared Fogle's weight loss story which made millions of dollars for Subway. Start to collect your stories from today and use them in your ad campaigns.”

“Never 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.”

Made Use Used Easy Results Internet Tools Decades Experiments Advertising Online Splits Google Improving Testing Marketers Never Stop Improving

Author:David Ogilvy

“...consumers do not buy one brand of soap, or coffee, or detergent. They have a repertory of four or five brands, and move from one to another. They almost never buy a brand which has not been admitted to their repertory during its first year on the market.”

Years Firsts Moving Five Four Coffee Brands Consumers Soap

Author:David Ogilvy

“I always use my clients' products. This is not toady-ism, but elementary good manners.”

Use Products Manners Good Man Clients Good Manners Isms Toady

Book:Confessions of an advertising man

Source: Confessions of an advertising man

“It is important to admit your mistakes, and to do so before you are charged with them. Many clients are surrounded by buckpassers who make a fine art of blaming the agency for their own failures. I seize the earliest opportunity to assume the blame.”

Art Important Opportunity Mistake Fine Blame Assuming Agency Clients Fine Arts

Book:Confessions of an advertising man

Source: Confessions of an advertising man

“The worst fault a salesman can commit is to be a bore...... Pretend to be vastly interested in any subject the prospects shows an interest in.”

Shows Interest Worst Subjects Faults Commit Bores Salesman Prospects

Book:The Unpublished David Ogilvy

Source: The Unpublished David Ogilvy

“Study the methods of your competitors and do the exact opposite.”

Study Opposites Method Competitors

Book:The Unpublished David Ogilvy

Source: The Unpublished David Ogilvy

“The best idea is the simplest.”

Author:David Ogilvy

“The mission of a great school is not to cram you with facts so that you can regurgitate them...This gives many boys such a distaste for learning that they never read another book as long as they live. No, the mission is to inspire you with a taste for scholarship - a taste which will last you all your life.”

Giving Long Book Facts School Lasts Boys Inspire Taste Missions Scholarship Distaste Great Schools

Author:David Ogilvy

“Consumers do not buy products. They buy product benefits.”

Products Benefits Consumers Copywriting

Author:David Ogilvy

“Compete with the immortals”

Author:David Ogilvy

“I don't believe in tricky advertising, I don't believe in cute advertising, I don't believe in comic advertising. The people who perpetrate that kind of advertising never had to sell anything in their lives”

People Believe Kind Sells Don't Believe Advertising Comic Cute Tricky

Author:David Ogilvy

“Try and inject into every commercial you make a touch of singularity; a bird that will hook on to the consumers mind”

Trying Mind Bird Consumers Hook Singularity

Author:David Ogilvy

“The more story-appeal there is in the picture or in the photograph, the more people would look at your ad”

People Looks Stories Photograph Appeals Ads

Author:David Ogilvy

“If 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”

Ifs Ideas Helping Bigs Technique Big Ideas

Author:David Ogilvy

“It's the lack of ambition that cripples most people, and makes them so pedestrian in the advertising/creative business”

People Creative Ambition Advertising Cripples Pedestrians Creative Business Lack Of Ambition

Author:David Ogilvy

“The general advertisers and their agencies know almost nothing for sure, because they cannot measure the results of their advertising. They worship at the altar of creativity, which really means 'originality': The most dangerous word in the lexicon of advertising”

Knows Mean Results Creativity Dangerous Worship Advertising Agency Originality Altars Really Mean Advertisers Lexicon

Author:David Ogilvy

“Nobody should be allowed to create general advertising until he has served his apprenticeship in direct-response”

Should Direct Response Advertising Apprenticeship

Author:David Ogilvy

“The 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”

Thinking Term Written Trouble Blood Direct Response Selling Agency

Author:David Ogilvy

“My motto has always been: Only first class business and that in a first class way”

Way Firsts Class Motto First Class My Motto

Author:David Ogilvy

“I have noticed that agencies which are full of fun and ferment seem to create the best advertising. If you are not happy in advertising, for goodness sake find a job in which you would be happy. For as far as I know, we pass this way only once”

Ifs Knows Way Seems Would Be Jobs Fun Goodness Sake Advertising Agency Not Happy

Author:David Ogilvy

“I'd like to be remembered, as a copywriter who had some big ideas. That's what the advertising business is all about. Big ideas”

Ideas Bigs Advertising Remembered Big Ideas Advertising Business

Author:David Ogilvy

“The only marketers who know what the hell they're doing are those who have worked in sales”

Knows Hell Marketers

Author:David Ogilvy

“It's not creative unless it sells.”

Author:David Ogilvy

“Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.”

Trying Business Idiot Impress Pretentious Jargon Pretentiousness

Author:David Ogilvy

“If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.”

People Ifs Inspirational Business Company Bigger Giants Dwarfs Recruitment

Author:David Ogilvy

“The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.”

Thinking Ideas Humor Creativity Design Jokes Innovation Marketing Advertising Marketers Great Marketing Advertising And Marketing Advertising Business Advertising Industry

Author:David Ogilvy

“I 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.”

Use Support Too Much Judgment Research Marketing Posts Rely Executives Lamps Promotion Illumination Drunkards Reluctance

Book:Confessions of an advertising man

Source: Confessions of an advertising man

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

People Thinking Way Young Economy Old People Eccentricity Gaga

Book:The Unpublished David Ogilvy

Source: The Unpublished David Ogilvy

“A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.”

Business Attention Products Sells Drawing Advertising Advertisements Advertising Agencies Great Advertising Drawing Attention

Book:Confessions of an advertising man

Source: Confessions of an advertising man

“If it doesn't sell, it isn't creative.”

Ifs Humor Creative Wise Design Sells Witty Advertising Deep Thought

Author:David Ogilvy

“Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things.”

Evil Economy Marketing Advertising Motivational Business Adverts Evil Things Great Advertising Advertising Business Business Marketing

Author:David Ogilvy

“Political advertising ought to be stopped. It's the only really dishonest kind of advertising that's left. It's totally dishonest.”

Kind Political Left Economy Ought Advertising Dishonesty

Author:David Ogilvy

“Advertising is a business of words, but advertising agencies are infested with men and women who cannot write. They cannot write advertisements, and they cannot write plans. They are helpless as deaf mutes on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera.”

Men Writing Economy Plans Stage Men And Women Advertising Agency Opera Helpless Deaf Advertisements Advertising Agencies Metropolitan Great Advertising Advertisement Negative

Book:Confessions of an advertising man

Source: Confessions of an advertising man

“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.”

People Looks Business Aim Management Advertising Settling Remarkable Routine Hiring Better Than You Service Culture Leadership And Management Top Management Managing People Great Managers Great Management

Author:David Ogilvy

“Don't bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals.”

Company Design Balls Aim Excellence Parks Immortal Marketers Advertising And Marketing Business Marketing

Author:David Ogilvy

“I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information.”

Art Form Information Regard Entertainment Mediums Advertising

Author:David Ogilvy

“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.”

People Ifs Thinking Writing Littles Two Able Three Work Drink Productive Brandy

Author:David Ogilvy

“Never 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.”

Want Writing Lying Business Wife Mines Marketing Advertising Advertisements Advertising Agencies Adverts Great Advertising Advertising And Marketing

Author:David Ogilvy

“First, make yourself a reputation for being a creative genius. Second, surround yourself with partners who are better than you are. Third, leave them to go get on with it.”

Firsts Leadership Creativity Creative Genius Thirds Partners Reputation Surround Better Than You Surround Yourself Creative Genius

Book:Blood, Brains and Beer

Source: Blood, Brains and Beer

“The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife.”

Funny Wife Marketing Witty Advertising Consumers Sarcasm Sarcastic Moron Adverts Copywriting Great Advertising Great Marketing Advertising And Marketing Business Marketing Vapid Consumer Protection

Author:David Ogilvy

“In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create.”

Source: Confessions of an advertising man

“Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image.”

Should Business Complexes Marketing Advertising Symbols Brands Contribution Advertisements Advertising Agencies Advertising And Marketing

Book:Confessions of an advertising man

Source: Confessions of an advertising man

About the Author

Born: June 23, 1911
Died: July 21, 1999
Known for: Businessman
Quotes: 223

Related Topics

Advertising Ifs People Business Products Advertisements Consumers Economy Marketing Agency

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

Confessions of an advertising manRelated source material

The Unpublished David OgilvyRelated source material

An autobiographyRelated source material

Blood, Brains and BeerRelated source material

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