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I never write fewer than sixteen headlines for a single advertisement.

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
Fewer
Single
Write
Writing
Never
Advertisement
Advertisements
Headlines
Sixteen

More quotes by David Ogilvy

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Madison Avenue is full of masochists who unconsciously provoke rejection by their clients. I know brilliant men who have lost every account they have ever handled.
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...consumers do not buy one brand of soap, or coffee, or detergent. They have a repertory of four or five brands, and move from one to another. They almost never buy a brand which has not been admitted to their repertory during its first year on the market.
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I prefer the discipline of knowledge to the anarchy of ignorance.
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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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We all have a tendency to use research as a drunkard uses a lamppost – for support, not for illumination.
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I figure that my staff will be less reluctant to work overtime if I work longer hours than they do.
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Candor compels me to admit that I have no conclusive research to support my view that jingles are less persuasive than the spoken word. You'd run like hell if a salesman came to your door and began singing at you. Why do it in advertising?
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The success of a meeting often depends on having the right documents - proofs, artwork, schedules, research charts, etc. - present at the start of the meeting. All too often we arrive like plumbers, leaving our tools behind.
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There are now unmistakeable signs of a trend in favor of superior products at premium prices. The consumer is not a moron, she is your wife.
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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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Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand.
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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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Our offices must always be headed by the kind of men who command respect. Not phonies, zeros or bastards.
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A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.
David Ogilvy
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Positioning should be decided before the advertising is created
David Ogilvy
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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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I know of a brewer who sells more of his beer to the people who never see his advertising than to the people who see it every week. Bad advertising can unsell a product.
David Ogilvy
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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.
David Ogilvy
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Don't hire a dog, then bark yourself
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You make the best products you can, and you grow as fast as you deserve to.
David Ogilvy