David Ogilvy Quotes

151 quotes in 1743 categories

• There is one catagory of advertising which is totally uncontrolled and flagrantly dishonest: the television commercials for candidates in Presidential elections.
• I never tell one client that I cannot attend his sales convention because I have a previous engagement with another client; successful polygamy depends upon…
• To advertisers: "Do not compete with your agency in the creative area. Why keep a dog and bark yourself?"
• Consumers don't think how they feel. They don't say what they think and they don't do what they say.
• Good products can be sold by honest advertising. If you don't think the product is good, you have no business to be advertising it.
• I was doing a campaign once for a manufacturer, and I couldn't think of an ideas, and I was kind of desperate about it. The…
• David Ogilvy made his copywriters come up 100 different headlines for every ad they wrote.
• Don't hire a dog, then bark yourself
• The majority of business men are not capable of an original thought, simply because they cannot escape the tyranny of reason.
• 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…
• Where people aren't having any fun, they seldom produce good work.
• Make sure you have a vice president in charge of your revolution, to engender ferment among your more conventional colleagues.
• As a private person, I have a passion for landscape, and I have never seen one improved by a billboard. Where every prospect pleases, man…
• Consumers still buy products whose advertising promises them value for money, beauty, nutrition, relief from suffering, social status and so on.
• I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information. When I write an advertisement, I don’t want…
• Talent, I believe, is most likely to be found among nonconformists, dissenters, and rebels.
• Don’t just create content to get credit for being clever — create content that will be helpful, insightful, or interesting for your target audience.
• 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,…
• Do not address your readers as though they were gathered together in a stadium. When people read your copy, they are alone. Pretend you are…
• Training should not be confined to trainees. It should be a continuous process, and should include the entire professional staff of the agency. The more…

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