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David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes

Businessman

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Famous David Ogilvy Quotes

“I had a friend who was the King's surgeon in England. One day I asked him what makes a great surgeon. He replied, "What distinguishes a great surgeon is his knowledge. He knows more than other surgeons. During an operation he finds something which he wasn't expecting, recognizes it and knows what to do about it." It's the same thing with advertising people. The good ones know more. How do you get to know more? By reading books about advertising. By picking the brains of people who know more than you do. From the Magic Lanterns. And from experience.”

PeopleKnowsBookReadingBrainMagicKingsOne DayEnglandAdvertisingOperationsReading BooksExpectingSurgeonsLanterns
Author:David Ogilvy
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“I once found myself conspiring with a British Cabinet Minister as to how we might persuade Her Majesty's Treasury to cough up more money for the British Travel advertising in America. Said he, "Why does any American in his senses spend his vacation in the cold damp of an English summer when he could equally well bask under Italian skies? I can only suppose that your advertising is the answer." Damn right.”

WellsDoeSaidI CanMightAmericaFoundAnswersSkyColdSummerBritishSensesAdvertisingMinistersDamnItalianVacationMore MoneyMajestyCabinetsTreasuryDampConspiring
Book:Confessions of an advertising man
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“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 Garamond." Don't you believe it. What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form.”

IfsFirstsBelieveBodyFormHeardTenDearAdvertisingBrandsConsumersCopiesBusRidingToiletsSoapAvenuesHousewifeOnce Upon A Time
Author:David Ogilvy
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“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.”

YearsLastsMovingThreeNextMillionsSuccessfulMarriedStandingArmyAdvertisingConsumersHuntingLast YearNext YearParadesAdvertisementsSweepingProspectsRadarRefrigerators
Author:David Ogilvy
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“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.”

MenWritingEconomyPlansStageMen And WomenAdvertisingAgencyOperaHelplessDeafAdvertisementsAdvertising AgenciesMetropolitanGreat AdvertisingAdvertisement Negative
Book:Confessions of an advertising man
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“If you ever have the good fortune to create a great advertising campaign, you will soon see another agency steal it. This is irritating, but don't let it worry you; nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else's advertising.”

IfsBusinessWorryEconomyBuiltFortuneCampaignsStealingAdvertisingBrandsAgencyGood FortuneIrritatingIrritatedImitatingAdvertising AgenciesGreat AdvertisingAdvertisement Negative
Book:Confessions of an advertising man
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“I 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.”

PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsShouldWritingTryingUseSeemsLanguageBusinessMarketingAdvertisingGrammarVernacularGreat AdvertisingAdvertising And MarketingBuying SomethingOnline AdvertisingNever Stop Improving
Author:David Ogilvy
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“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.”

Has BeensFoundResultsEconomyFieldsTaughtProductsTestsBitterAdvertisingOccasionsConsumersInferiorsRare OccasionBitter Experience
Book:Confessions of an advertising man
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