Quote

The worst fault a salesman can commit is to be a bore...... Pretend to be vastly interested in any subject the prospects shows an interest in.

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
Interest
Fault
Shows
Pretend
Commit
Faults
Vastly
Subject
Prospects
Subjects
Salesman
Interested
Bore
Worst
Bores

More quotes by David Ogilvy

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What is a good advertisement? An advertisement which pleases you because of its style, or an advertisement which sells the most? They are seldom the same.
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Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.
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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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Many of the greatest creations of man have been inspired by the desire to make money...If Oxford undergraduates were paid for their work, I would have performed miracles of scholarship and become Regius Professor of Modern History.
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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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Don't hire a dog, then bark yourself
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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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Set exorbitant standards, and give your people hell when they don't live up to them. There is nothing so demoralizing as a boss who tolerates second rate work.
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The mission of a great school is not to cram you with facts so that you can regurgitate them...This gives many boys such a distaste for learning that they never read another book as long as they live. No, the mission is to inspire you with a taste for scholarship - a taste which will last you all your life.
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The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be.
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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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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.
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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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If you can’t advertise yourself, what hope do you have of advertising anything else?
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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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If you always hire people who are bigger than you are, we shall become a company of giants
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Readers travel so fast they don't stop to decipher the meaning of obscure headlines.
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Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image.
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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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Do not address your readers as though they were gathered together in a stadium. When people read your copy, they are alone. Pretend you are writing to each of them a letter on behalf of your client.
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