Famous Quotes & Sayings

David Ogilvy Quotes & Sayings

Enjoy the top 100 famous quotes, sayings and quotations by David Ogilvy.

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Pinterest Share on Linkedin

Famous Quotes By David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1581929

The success of a meeting often depends on having the right documents - proofs, artwork, schedules, research charts, etc. - present at the start of the meeting. All too often we arrive like plumbers, leaving our tools behind. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1117142

When you have nothing to say, sing it. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 557512

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. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1017808

Good copy can't be written with tongue in cheek, written just for a living. You've got to believe in the product. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 972849

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 this, you need all the ideas you can get. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1296937

You now have to decide what 'image' you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like people, have personalities, and they can make or break them in the market place. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1763704

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 night before I had to show something to my client I had a dream, an interesting dream. I woke up and for once in my life I wrote it down and went back to sleep Next morning I went to the office and had that dream out into a TV commercial which is still running thirty years after and which has made that particular product the leader in its field. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 668936

It is the inescapable duty of management to fire incompetent people. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 664077

Many manufacturers secretly question whether advertising really sells their product, but are vaguely afraid that their competitors might steal a march on them if they stopped. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1694288

You aren't advertising to a standing army; you are advertising to a moving parade. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1481390

Don't bunt. Aim out of the ballpark. Aim for the company of immortals. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 821458

Unless your campaign has a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1014647

Candor compels me to admit that I have no conclusive research to support my view that jingles are less persuasive than the spoken word. You'd run like hell if a salesman came to your door and began singing at you. Why do it in advertising? — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1269225

Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 2088150

Consumers don't think how they feel. They don't say what they think and they don't do what they say. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1996247

The worst fault a salesman can commit is to be a bore ... Pretend to be vastly interested in any subject the prospects shows an interest in. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1328843

Positioning should be decided before the advertising is created — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 777237

Give people a taste of Old Crow, and tell them it's Old Crow. Then give them another taste of Old Crow, but tell them it's Jack Daniel's. Ask them which they prefer. They'll think the two drinks are quite different. They are tasting images — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1624812

The trouble with many copywriters in general agencies are that they don't really think in terms of selling. They have never written direct-response; they have never tasted blood — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 529556

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 them to mine. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 564897

H. L. Mencken once said that nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. That is not true. I have come to believe that it pays to make all your layouts project a feeling of good taste, provided that you do it unobtrusively. An ugly layout suggests an ugly product. There are very few products which do not benefit from being given a first class ticket through life. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1449202

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. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 286061

It isn't the whiskey they choose, it's the image. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1086507

People don't buy a new detergent because the manufacturer told a joke on television last night. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1564235

It takes uncommon guts to stick to one style in the face of all the pressures to 'come up with something new' every six months. It is tragically easy to be stampeded into change. But golden rewards await the advertiser who has the brains to create a coherent image, and the stability to stick with it over a long period. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1560574

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 our people learn, the more useful they can be to our clients. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1527215

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

David Ogilvy Quotes 1505943

If you ever find a man who is better than you are - hire him. If necessary, pay him more than you pay yourself. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1467244

People who think well, write well — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1239597

The majority of business men are not capable of an original thought, simply because they cannot escape the tyranny of reason. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1338940

I never assign a product to a writer unless I know that he is personally interested in it. Every time I have written a bad campaign, it has been because the product did not interest me. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1444440

Ninety-nine percent of advertising doesn't sell much of anything. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1434693

Madison Avenue is full of masochists who unconsciously provoke rejection by their clients. I know brilliant men who have lost every account they have ever handled. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1394859

The consumer isn't a moron. She is your wife. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1883118

Committees can criticize, but they cannot create. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 2262812

Hard work never killed a man. Men die of boredom, psychological conflict, and disease. They do not die of hard work. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 2195881

I'd like to be remembered, as a copywriter who had some big ideas. That's what the advertising business is all about. Big ideas — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 2171262

A consumer is not a moron. She's your wife. Don't insult her intelligence, and don't shock her. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 2165462

The only marketers who know what the hell they're doing are those who have worked in sales — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 2132343

If you have a truly big idea, the wrong technique won't kill it. And if you don't have a big idea, the right technique won't help you — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 2089498

The 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 with your prospective client before you accept his account. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 2049369

When people aren't having any fun, they seldom produce good work. Kill the grimness with laughter. Encourage exuberance. Get rid of sad dogs that spread gloom. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 2018866

David Ogilvy made his copywriters come up 100 different headlines for every ad they wrote. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 2013536

On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1926248

There are very few men of genius in advertising agencies. But we need all we can find. Almost without exception they are disagreeable. Don't destroy them. They lay golden eggs. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1575285

A well-run restaurant is like a winning baseball team. It makes the most of every crew member's talent and takes advantage of every split-second opportunity to speed up service. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1871285

Why should a manufacturer bet his money, perhaps the future of his company, on your instinct? — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1856888

If you, my fellow copywriters or art directors, want to win the award, devote your genius to making the cash register ring. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1763328

If you can't advertise yourself, what hope do you have of advertising anything else? — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1753349

You can't save souls in an empty church. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1734453

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. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1705922

What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1701110

I always use my clients' products. This is not toady-ism, but elementary good manners. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1651307

The advertisers who believe in the selling power of jingles have never had to sell anything. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1637469

Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1586676

You make the best products you can, and you grow as fast as you deserve to. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 357120

Only amateurs use short copy. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 587038

Managing an advertising agency isn't all beer and skittles. After fourteen years of it, I have come to the conclusion that the top man has one principle responsibility: to provide an atmosphere in which creative mavericks can do useful work. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 579190

In most agencies, account executives outnumber the copywriters two to one. If you were a dairy farmer, would you employ twice as many milkers as you had cows? — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 519654

Within every brand is a product, but not every product is a brand. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 514241

The most important word in the vocabulary of advertising is TEST. If you pretest your product with consumers, and pretest your advertising, you will do well in the marketplace. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 503047

Develop your eccentricities while you are young. That way, when you get old, people won't think you're going gaga. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 476190

Play to win, but enjoy the fun. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 469270

Sound an alarm! Advertising, not deals, builds brands. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 421237

Don't hire a dog, then bark yourself — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 408109

Our offices must always be headed by the kind of men who command respect. Not phonies, zeros or bastards. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 382330

Big ideas are usually simple ideas. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 659835

Nowadays 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 the mediocre majority. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 345309

To advertisers: "Do not compete with your agency in the creative area. Why keep a dog and bark yourself?" — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 305532

Never use tricky or irrelevant headlines ... People read too fast to figure out what you are trying to say. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 302758

Supposing you've got an acute appendicitis. You've got to be operated on tonight. Would you like to have a surgeon who's read some books of anatomy and knows how to do that operation - or would you prefer to have a surgeon who refused to read all books about anatomy and relied on his own instinct? — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 270557

Write the way you talk. Naturally. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 243459

If 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 - that is the moment of truth which we all try to postpone as long as possible. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 234236

If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it, — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 224640

Remove advertising, disable a person or firm from proclaiming its wares and their merits, and the whole of society and of the economy is transformed. The enemies of advertising are the enemies of freedom. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 211443

You will never win fame and fortune unless you invent big ideas. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 201972

Advertising is the place where the selfish interests of the manufacturer coincide with the interests of society. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 166208

Any fool can write a bad advertisement, but it takes a genius to keep his hands off a good one. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 913460

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 writing to each of them a letter on behalf of your client. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1210463

Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1203411

Repeat 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 their potency. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1122770

Never allow two people to do a job which one could do. George Washington observed, 'Whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty by close application thereto, it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1111947

Don't bunt. Aim out of the ballpark. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 158860

The best leaders are apt to be found among those executives who have a strong component of unorthodoxy in their character. Instead of resisting innovation, they symbolize it. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1063909

Study the methods of your competitors and do the exact opposite. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1034127

The pursuit of excellence is less profitable than the pursuit of bigness, but it can be more satisfying. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1028661

At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1002684

I always said that mega-mergers were for megalomaniacs. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 943449

We exist to build the business of our clients. The recommendations we make to them should be the recommendations we would make if we owned their companies, without regard to our own short-term interest. This earns their respect, which is the greatest asset we can have. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 1230622

Viewers have a way of remembering the celebrity while forgetting the product. I did not know this when I paid Eleanor Roosevelt $35,000 to make a commercial for margarine. She reported that her mail was equally divided. "One half was sad because I had damaged my reputation. The other half was happy because I had damaged my reputation." Not one of my proudest memories. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 884439

Great hospitals do two things. They look after patients, and they teach young doctors. We look after clients, and we teach young advertising people. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 877049

The business community wants remarkable advertising, but turns a cold shoulder to the kind of people who can produce it. That is why most advertisements are so infernally dull ... our business needs massive transfusions of talent. And talent, I believe, is most likely to be found among nonconformists, dissenters, and rebels. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 851897

There is one catagory of advertising which is totally uncontrolled and flagrantly dishonest: the television commercials for candidates in Presidential elections. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 776211

The creative process requires more than reason. Most original thinking isn't even verbal. It requires 'a groping experimentation with ideas, governed by intuitive hunches and inspired by the unconscious.' The majority of business men are incapable of original thinking because they are unable to escape from the tyranny of reason. Their imaginations are blocked. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 771859

Few of the great creators have bland personalities. They are cantankerous egotists, the kind of men who are unwelcome in the modern corporation. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 750581

My motto has always been: Only first class business and that in a first class way — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 748157

It follows that your advertising should consistently project the same image, year after year. This is difficult to achieve, because there are always forces at work to change the advertising — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 736944

If 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 second time. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 708485

Lazy and superficial men and women do not produce superior work. — David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy Quotes 687445

Advertising reflects the mores of society, but it does not influence them. — David Ogilvy