Quotes by David Ogilvy

“A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.”

“Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things.”

“What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form.”

“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.”

“Never write an advertisement which you wouldnt want your family to read. You wouldnt tell lies to your own wife. Dont tell them to mine.”

“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.”

“Once upon a time I was riding on the top of a First Avenue bus, when I heard a mythical housewife say to another, Molly, my dear, I would have bought that new brand of toilet soap if only they hadnt set the body copy in ten point Garamond. Dont you believe it. What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form.”

“Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.”

“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.”

“Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image.”

“The most important word in the vocabulary of advertising is test. If you pretest your product with consumers, and pretest your advertising, you will do well in the marketplace.”

“Dont bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals.”

“Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine.”

“If it doesnt sell, it isnt creative.”

“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”

“The consumer isnt a moron. She is your wife.”

“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.”

“I dont know the rules of grammar. If youre trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language.”

“A well-run restaurant is like a winning baseball team. It makes the most of every crew members talent and takes advantage of every split-second opportunity to speed up service.”

“Develop your eccentricities while you are young. That way, when you get old, people wont think youre going gaga.”