David OgilvyIf you have all the research, all the ground rules, all the directives, all the data - it doesn't mean the ad is written. Then you've got to close the door and write something - t… ▶372TimeTruth
David OgilvyIf it is something important, get a colleague to improve it. ✨ David Ogilvy (2012). The Unpublished David Ogilvy, p.54, Profile Books351Reading
David OgilvyNever use tricky or irrelevant headlines… People read too fast to figure out what you are trying to say.373HumanityReading
David OgilvyThe consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife. You insult her intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid adjectives will persuade her to buy anything. She wants … ▶351Reflection
David OgilvyAdvertising is only evil when it advertises evil things.374Philosophy
David OgilvyThe psychiatrists say that everybody should have a hobby. The hobby I recommend is advertising ✨ David Ogilvy (1963). Confessions of an advertising man, Holiday House341Time
David OgilvyI did not feel 'evil' when I wrote advertisements for Puerto Rico. They helped attract industry and tourists to a country which had been living on the edge of starvation for 400 y… ▶375Life
David OgilvyThe best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.375HumorThought
David OgilvyRepeat your winners. If you are lucky enough to write a good advertisement, repeat it until it stops selling. Scores of good advertisements have been discarded before they lost th… ▶353Hope
David OgilvyDon't count the people that you reach, reach the people who count375Humanity
David OgilvyPolitical advertising ought to be stopped. It's the only really dishonest kind of advertising that's left. It's totally dishonest.354PoliticsTruth
David OgilvyMost agencies run scared, most of the time. . . .Frightened people are powerless to produce good advertising. . . . If I were aclient, I would do everything in my power to emancip… ▶343HumanityPoliticsTime
David OgilvyHard work never killed a man. Men die of boredom, psychological conflict, and disease. They do not die of hard work. ✨ David Ogilvy (1978). Blood, Brains and Beer354DeathThought
David OgilvyNowadays it is the fashion to pretend that no single individual is ever responsible for a successful advertising campaign. This emphasis on teamwork is bunkum - a conspiracy of th… ▶376Love
David OgilvyTalent, I believe, is most likely to be found among nonconformists, dissenters, and rebels. ✨ David Ogilvy (1963). Confessions of an advertising man, Holiday House332Truth
David OgilvyWhat really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form.366Humanity
David OgilvyNinety-nine percent of advertising doesn't sell much of anything.355Life
David OgilvyYou can't save souls in an empty church. ✨ David Ogilvy (2012). The Unpublished David Ogilvy, p.64, Profile Books366Reading
David OgilvyAs a private person, I have a passion for landscape, and I have never seen one improved by a billboard. Where every prospect pleases, man is at his vilest when he erects a billboa… ▶366HumanityLove
David OgilvyThe relationship between a manufacturer and his advertising agency is almost as intimate as the relationship between a patient and his doctor. Make sure that you can life happily … ▶367LifeTruth
David OgilvyNobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else's advertising. ✨ David Ogilvy (1963). Confessions of an advertising man, Holiday House334Thought
David OgilvyIf you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want. ✨ David Ogilvy (2012). The Unpublished David Ogilvy, p.54, Profile Books301Reading
David OgilvyThere is no need for advertisements to look like advertisements. If you make them look like editorial pages, you will attract about 50 per cent more readers. ✨ David Ogilvy … ▶313Reading
David OgilvyI 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 eve… ▶335HumanityThought
David OgilvyWhat you say in advertising is more important than how you say it.302Death
David OgilvyWithin every brand is a product, but not every product is a brand.346Humor
David OgilvySenior men have no monopoly on great ideas. Nor do creative people. Some of the best ideas come from account executives, researchers and others. Encourage this, you need all the i… ▶368HumanityReadingThought
David OgilvyIf you tell lies about a product, you will be found out - either by the Government, which will prosecute you, or by the consumer, who will punish you by not buying your product a … ▶313PoliticsTime
David OgilvyYou have only 30 seconds in a TV commercial. If you grab attention in the first frame with a visual surprise, you stand a better chance of holding the viewer. People screen out a … ▶291Humanity
David OgilvyTo advertisers: Do not compete with your agency in the creative area. Why keep a dog and bark yourself? ✨ David Ogilvy (1963). Confessions of an advertising man, Holiday Hou… ▶281Sadness
