Quote

We all have a tendency to use research as a drunkard uses a lamppost – for support, not for illumination.

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
Drunkards
Illumination
Tendency
Uses
Tendencies
Research
Support
Lamppost
Use
Drunkard

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Creativity Is a fancy word for the work we have to do by Friday.
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Write the way you talk. Naturally.
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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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You can't save souls in an empty church.
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Experience has taught me that advertisers get the best results when they pay their agency a flat fee. It is unrealistic to expect your agency to be impartial when its vested interest lies wholly in the direction of increasing your commissionable advertising.
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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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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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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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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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It is flagrantly dishonest for an advertising agent to urge consumers to buy a product which he would not allow his own wife to buy.
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The more story-appeal there is in the picture or in the photograph, the more people would look at your ad
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When you advertise fire extinguishers, open with the fire.
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My motto has always been: Only first class business and that in a first class way
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Advertising reflects the mores of society, but it does not influence them.
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Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.
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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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Most headlines are set too big to be legible in the magazines or newspaper. Never approve a layout until you have seen it pasted into the magazine or newspaper for which it was destined. If you pin up the layouts on a bulletin board and appraise them from fifteen feet, you will produce posters.
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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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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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Big ideas are usually simple ideas.
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