Quote

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.

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
First
Fail
Enough
Eight
Sometimes
Products
Cereals
Failure
Cereal
Failing
Consumer
Cold
Rejected
Often
Consumers
Firsts
Ten

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I can't stand callow amateurs who aren't sufficiently interested in the craft of advertising to assume the posture of students.
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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.
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While you are responsible to your clients for sales results, you are responsible to consumers for the kind of advertising you bring into their homes.
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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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We all have a tendency to use research as a drunkard uses a lamppost – for support, not for illumination.
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Every ad is an investment in the long-term image of a brand.
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No sale, no commission. No commission, no eat. That made an impression on me.
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Consumers don't think how they feel. They don't say what they think and they don't do what they say.
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It has been found that the less an advertisement looks like an advertisement and the more it looks like an editorial, the more readers stop, look, and read.
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The pursuit of excellence is less profitable than the pursuit of bigness, but it can be more satisfying.
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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.
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