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

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
Signals
Ignore
Advertising
Research
Dangerous
Enemy
Business
Adverts
People
Generals

More quotes by David Ogilvy

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Ninety-nine percent of advertising doesn't sell much of anything.
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A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.
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You 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 lot of commercials because they open with something dull. When you advertise fire-extinguishers, open with the fire.
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The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.
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Tell the truth, but make the truth fascinating.
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Every ad is an investment in the long-term image of a brand.
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The best idea is the simplest.
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If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.
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Much of the messy advertising you see on television today is the product of committees. Committees can criticize advertisements, but they should never be allowed to create them.
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When you advertise fire extinguishers, open with the fire.
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Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving. Testing was used in advertising decades ago. The internet has made testing so easy that every online marketer can use it to improve advertising results. Google content experiment is a free tool for you to do split testing.
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What is a good advertisement? An advertisement which pleases you because of its style, or an advertisement which sells the most? They are seldom the same.
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People don't buy a new detergent because the manufacturer told a joke on television last night.
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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 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.
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Why should a manufacturer bet his money, perhaps the future of his company, on your instinct?
David Ogilvy
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Compete with the immortals
David Ogilvy
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Can advertising foist an inferior product on the consumer? Bitter experience has taught me that it cannot. On those rare occasions when I have advertised products which consumer tests have found inferior to other products in the same field, the results have been disastrous.
David Ogilvy
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You make the best products you can, and you grow as fast as you deserve to.
David Ogilvy
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No sale, no commission. No commission, no eat. That made an impression on me.
David Ogilvy