The headline is the 'ticket on the meat.' Use it to flag down readers who are prospects for the kind of product… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Talent, I believe, is most likely to be found among nonconformists, dissenters, and rebels. — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
The psychiatrists say that everybody should have a hobby. The hobby I recommend is advertising — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
It is flagrantly dishonest for an advertising agent to urge consumers to buy a product which he would not allow his own… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Political advertising ought to be stopped. It's the only really dishonest kind of advertising that's left. It's totally dishonest. — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image. — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
It's the lack of ambition that cripples most people, and makes them so pedestrian in the advertising/creative business — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
To advertisers: "Do not compete with your agency in the creative area. Why keep a dog and bark yourself?" — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving. Testing was used in advertising decades ago. The internet has made testing… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Never write an advertisement which you wouldn't want your own family to read. You wouldn't tell lies to your own wife. Don't… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Much of the messy advertising you see on television today is the product of committees. Committees can criticize advertisements, but they should… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Give people a taste of Old Crow, and tell them it's Old Crow. Then give them another taste of Old Crow, but… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline,… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
It has been found that the less an advertisement looks like an advertisement and the more it looks like an editorial, the… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
There are very few men of genius in advertising agencies. But we need all we can find. Almost without exception they are… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
I once found myself conspiring with a British Cabinet Minister as to how we might persuade Her Majesty's Treasury to cough up… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
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… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Our offices must always be headed by the kind of men who command respect. Not phonies, zeros or bastards. — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Consumers still buy products whose advertising promises them value for money, beauty, nutrition, relief from suffering, social status and so on. — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
You aren’t advertising to a standing army; you are advertising to a moving parade. — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
The manufacturer who finds himself up the creek is the short-sighted opportunist who siphons off all his advertising dollars for short-term promotions. — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Consumers don't think how they feel. They don't say what they think and they don't do what they say. — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Advertising is the place where the selfish interests of the manufacturer coincide with the interests of society. — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Great hospitals do two things. They look after patients, and they teach young doctors. We look after clients, and we teach young… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals. — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
While you are responsible to your clients for sales results, you are responsible to consumers for the kind of advertising you bring… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Can advertising foist an inferior product on the consumer? Bitter experience has taught me that it cannot. On those rare occasions when… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
What is a good advertisement? An advertisement which pleases you because of its style, or an advertisement which sells the most? They… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
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… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Candor compels me to admit that I have no conclusive research to support my view that jingles are less persuasive than the… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
I never tell one client that I cannot attend his sales convention because I have a previous engagement with another client; successful… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Nowadays it is the fashion to pretend that no single individual is ever responsible for a successful advertising campaign. This emphasis on… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Some manufacturers illustrate their advertisements with abstract paintings. I would only do this if I wished to conceal from the reader what… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be. Before people making a buying decision, they have many questions. For… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
A lot of today's campaigns are based on optimum positioning but are totally ineffective - because they are dull, or badly constructed,… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
If you ever have the good fortune to create a great advertising campaign, you will soon see another agency steal it. This… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
“The easiest way to get new clients is to do good advertising. During one period of seven years, we never failed to… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
The general advertisers and their agencies know almost nothing for sure, because they cannot measure the results of their advertising. They worship… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Managing an advertising agency isn't all beer and skittles. After fourteen years of it, I have come to the conclusion that the… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
I figure that my staff will be less reluctant to work overtime if I work longer hours than they do. — David Ogilvy Copy Share
In most agencies, account executives outnumber the copywriters two to one. If you were a dairy farmer, would you employ twice as many milkers… — David Ogilvy Copy Share
“Your alcoholics may include some of your brightest stars. The problem is to identify them, protected as they always are by their secretaries and… — David Ogilvy Copy Share
It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a big… — David Ogilvy Copy Share
Many manufacturers secretly question whether advertising really sells their product, but are vaguely afraid that their competitors might steal a march on them if… — David Ogilvy Copy Share
Once upon a time I was riding on the top of a First Avenue bus, when I heard a mythical housewife say to another,… — David Ogilvy Copy Share
In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create. — David Ogilvy Copy Share
Consumers don't think how they feel. They don't say what they think and they don't do what they say. — David Ogilvy Copy Share
The worst fault a salesman can commit is to be a bore. Foster any attempt to talk about other things; the longer you stay… — David Ogilvy Copy Share
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… — David Ogilvy Copy Share
I never assign a product to a writer unless I know that he is personally interested in it. Every time I have written a… — David Ogilvy Copy Share
Talent, I believe, is most likely to be found among nonconformists, dissenters, and rebels. — David Ogilvy Copy Share
