Quote

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

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

David Ogilvy
Age: 88 †
Born: 1911
Born: June 23
Died: 1999
Died: July 21
Businessman
Businessperson
Economist
Writer
West Horsley
Surrey
David MacKenzie Ogilvy
People
Fire
Commercial
Advertise
Open
Seconds
Viewer
Attention
Screen
Commercials
Chance
Screens
Grab
Better
Holding
Viewers
Firsts
Dull
Frame
First
Surprise
Visuals
Something
Stand
Visual

More quotes by David Ogilvy

Image
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
Image
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
Image
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
Image
Positioning should be decided before the advertising is created
David Ogilvy
Image
A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.
David Ogilvy
Image
My motto has always been: Only first class business and that in a first class way
David Ogilvy
Image
Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand.
David Ogilvy
Image
A lot of today's campaigns are based on optimum positioning but are totally ineffective - because they are dull, or badly constructed, or ineptly written. If nobody reads your advertisement or looks at your commercial, it doesn't do you much good to have the right positioning.
David Ogilvy
Image
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
Image
Ninety-nine percent of advertising doesn't sell much of anything.
David Ogilvy
Image
On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy.
David Ogilvy
Image
I never tell one client that I cannot attend his sales convention because I have a previous engagement with another client successful polygamy depends upon pretending to each spouse that she is the only pebble on your beach.
David Ogilvy
Image
I can't stand callow amateurs who aren't sufficiently interested in the craft of advertising to assume the posture of students.
David Ogilvy
Image
Develop your eccentricities early, and no one will think you're going senile later in life
David Ogilvy
Image
I admire people with gentle manners who treat other people as human beings.
David Ogilvy
Image
Consumers do not buy products. They buy product benefits.
David Ogilvy
Image
Why should a manufacturer bet his money, perhaps the future of his company, on your instinct?
David Ogilvy
Image
I figure that my staff will be less reluctant to work overtime if I work longer hours than they do.
David Ogilvy
Image
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
Image
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.
David Ogilvy