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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.

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
Viewers
Better
Holding
Frame
Firsts
Dull
First
Surprise
Visuals
Something
Stand
Visual
Advertise
People
Fire
Commercial
Viewer
Open
Seconds
Commercials
Attention
Screen
Grab
Chance
Screens

More quotes by David Ogilvy

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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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It follows that unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90 percent of your money.
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Big ideas are usually simple ideas.
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Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand.
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Creativity needs discipline and freedom.
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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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Compete with the immortals
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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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Positioning should be decided before the advertising is created
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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
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I don't believe in tricky advertising, I don't believe in cute advertising, I don't believe in comic advertising. The people who perpetrate that kind of advertising never had to sell anything in their lives
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The manufacturer who finds himself up the creek is the short-sighted opportunist who siphons off all his advertising dollars for short-term promotions.
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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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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.
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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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Some manufacturers illustrate their advertisements with abstract paintings. I would only do this if I wished to conceal from the reader what I was advertising.
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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
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The secret of long life is double careers. One to about age sixty, then another for the next thirty years.
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My motto has always been: Only first class business and that in a first class way
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