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If you ever have the good fortune to create a great advertising campaign, you will soon see another agency steal it. This is irritating, but don't let it worry you nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else's advertising.

David Ogilvy

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David Ogilvy
Age: 88 †
Born: 1911
Born: June 23
Died: 1999
Died: July 21
Businessman
Businessperson
Economist
Writer
West Horsley
Surrey
David MacKenzie Ogilvy
Business
Fortune
Steal
Else
Soon
Brand
Another
Built
Agency
Ever
Nobody
Campaign
Great
Somebody
Brands
Good
Worry
Stealing
Imitating
Economy
Campaigns
Irritated
Create
Advertising
Irritating

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I always said that mega-mergers were for megalomaniacs.
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Unless your campaign has a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night.
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What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form.
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Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image.
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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.
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Write the way you talk. Naturally.
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Big ideas are usually simple ideas.
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Why do eight out of ten new consumer products fail? Sometimes because they are too new. The first cold cereals were rejected by consumers. More often new products fail because they are not new enough.
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If you always hire people who are bigger than you are, we shall become a company of giants
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Great hospitals do two things. They look after patients, and they teach young doctors. We look after clients, and we teach young advertising people.
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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.
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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.
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If you ever find a man who is better than you are - hire him. If necessary, pay him more than you pay yourself.
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I figure that my staff will be less reluctant to work overtime if I work longer hours than they do.
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The 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 all the information you can give her.
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The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be. Before people making a buying decision, they have many questions. For example, why they should buy from you, why your product is better than other similar products, why they should trust you, and why they should buy it now, etc.
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Develop your eccentricities early, and no one will think you're going senile later in life
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