Set exorbitant standards, and give your people hell when they don't live up to them. There is nothing so demoralizing as a… — David Ogilvy Boss Copy Share Image
Our offices must always be headed by the kind of men who command respect. Not phonies, zeros or bastards. — David Ogilvy Advertising Copy Share Image
When people aren't having any fun, they seldom produce good work. Kill the grimness with laughter. Encourage exuberance. Get rid of sad… — David Ogilvy Comedy Copy Share Image
Try and inject into every commercial you make a touch of singularity; a bird that will hook on to the consumers mind — David Ogilvy Bird Copy Share Image
In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you… — David Ogilvy Business Copy Share Image
Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim… — 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 Abstract Copy Share Image
First, make yourself a reputation for being a creative genius. Second, surround yourself with partners who are better than you are. Third,… — David Ogilvy Creative Copy Share Image
“Look for young men and women who can one day lead your agency. Is there any way of predicting the capacity to… — David Ogilvy Leadership 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 Advertising 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 Advertising Copy Share Image
Shakespeare wrote his sonnets within a strict discipline, fourteen lines of iambic pentameter, rhyming in three quatrains and a couplet. Were his… — David Ogilvy Couplets Copy Share Image
At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock. (1958 Rolls-Royce print ad - sometimes… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
I don't know the rules of grammar... If you're trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to… — 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 Advertising 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 Advertising 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 Advertising Copy Share Image
We like people who are honest. Honest in argument, honest with clients, honest with suppliers, honest with the company - and above… — David Ogilvy Argument Copy Share Image
The worst fault a salesman can commit is to be a bore… Pretend to be vastly interested in any subject the prospects… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Many people - and I think I am one of them - are more productive when they've had a little to drink.… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Every advertisement is part of the long term investment in the personality of the brand. — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
“In my experience, committees can criticize, but they cannot create. ‘Search the parks in all your cities You’ll find no statues of… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
A consumer is not a moron. She's your wife. Don't insult her intelligence, and don't shock her. — David Ogilvy Consumer Copy Share Image
The only marketers who know what the hell they're doing are those who have worked in sales — David Ogilvy Hell Copy Share Image
Nobody ever arrives at a very big idea through a conscious, rational thought process. It comes from your unconscious. — David Ogilvy Big idea Copy Share Image
If you, my fellow copywriters or art directors, want to win the award, devote your genius to making the cash register ring. — David Ogilvy Art 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 Advertising 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 Advertising Copy Share Image
Advertising is the place where the selfish interests of the manufacturer coincide with the interests of society. — David Ogilvy Advertising Copy Share Image
The headline is the most important element in most advertisements. It is the telegram which decides the reader whether to read the… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
If you have a truly big idea, the wrong technique won't kill it. And if you don't have a big idea, the… — David Ogilvy Big idea Copy Share Image
There is one category of advertising which is totally uncontrolled and flagrantly dishonest: the television commercials for candidates in Presidential elections. — David Ogilvy Advertising Copy Share Image
It strikes me as bad manners for a magazine to accept one of my advertisements and then attack it editorially - like… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
Many manufacturers secretly question whether advertising really sells their product, but are vaguely afraid that their competitors might steal a march on… — David Ogilvy Advertising Copy Share Image
The more story-appeal there is in the picture or in the photograph, the more people would look at your ad — 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 Advertising Copy Share Image
Don’t just create content to get credit for being clever — create content that will be helpful, insightful, or interesting for your… — David Ogilvy Audience Copy Share Image
I know of a brewer who sells more of his beer to the people who never see his advertising than to the… — David Ogilvy Advertising Copy Share Image
In most agencies, account executives outnumber the copywriters two to one. If you were a dairy farmer, would you employ twice as… — David Ogilvy Copy Share Image
People don't buy a new detergent because the manufacturer told a joke on television last night. — David Ogilvy Comedy Copy Share Image
