David Ogilvy Biography

David Ogilvy, Businessman
Born asDavid Mackenzie Ogilvy
Occup.Businessman
FromEngland
BornJune 23, 1911
West Horsley, Surrey in England
DiedJuly 21, 1999
Aged88 years
Early Life as well as Education
David Ogilvy was born upon June 23, 1911, in West Horsley, Surrey, England. He was of Scottish descent and was the son of a distinguished Gaelic scholar, Francis John Longley Ogilvy, and his better half, Dorothy Blew Fairfield. David was the youngest of his four brother or sisters-- Francis, Benton, and also Sheila.

David went to St. Cyprian's School, a boarding institution in Eastbourne, Sussex. While at the college, he excelled in sports and was known for his prowess in rugby, cricket, and running. Nevertheless, his scholastic performance was typically typical. Later, he got a scholarship to go to Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he continued to master sports as well as additionally in his studies.

In 1930, David won an additional scholarship to research history at Christ Church College, Oxford University. Nonetheless, David encountered monetary difficulties throughout his time at Oxford and also needed to leave previously completing his degree in 1931.

Early Career
After leaving Oxford, David Ogilvy used up a collection of tasks to make ends satisfy. He functioned as a traveling salesman, a chef, and also as a pupil at the Hotel Majestic in Paris. In 1935, he started working at the London advertising agency Mather & Crowther, which was founded by his sibling, Francis Ogilvy. This marked the beginning of David's renowned career on the planet of advertising and marketing.

World War II as well as Post-War Years
During World War II, David Ogilvy joined the British Intelligence Service, where he acted as a 2nd secretary at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., under the codename "Agent 1234". His job included performing study on American assumptions of England as well as assessing American propaganda approaches. In this duty, David established a solid understanding of customer psychology, which would prove useful in his later occupation in marketing.

After the war, David moved to America, where he functioned as a pollster and also scientist for George Gallup, the owner of the Gallup ballot company. This experience better refined his skills in understanding individuals and also their habits.

Starting of Ogilvy & Mather
In 1948, David Ogilvy founded his own ad agency, at first called Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather, in New York City with the sponsorship of his former company, Mather & Crowther. The company was later on renamed Ogilvy & Mather. David's strategy to advertising was rooted in his belief in the power of well-researched and also highly innovative marketing campaign to persuade and also involve consumers.

Ogilvy & Mather promptly acquired a reputation for crafting successful campaigns for customers such as Rolls-Royce, Dove, and also Hathaway Shirts. A few of David's most famous projects consist of the "Man in the Hathaway Shirt" and also the "Only Dove is one-quarter moisturizing lotion" advertisements. The firm's success led to its fast expansion, with new workplaces opening up throughout the United States as well as worldwide.

David Ogilvy's online reputation as an advertising master was additional strengthened with the magazine of his bestselling publication "Confessions of an Advertising Man" in 1963.

Retirement and Later Years
In 1973, David Ogilvy retired from energetic involvement in Ogilvy & Mather but continued to work as the firm's chairman up until 1989. During his retired life, he created an additional influential book, "Ogilvy on Advertising", which was published in 1983.

David Ogilvy passed away on July 21, 1999, in Bonnes, France, at the age of 88. He left an amazing tradition in the advertising industry and is commonly described as the "Father of Modern Advertising". His marketing concepts, cutting-edge ideas, and also innovative vision remain to influence generations of marketing professionals worldwide.

Our collection contains 48 quotes who is written / told by David, under the main topic Business.

Related authors: George Gallup (Businessman), Lawrence Taylor (Athlete)

David Ogilvy Famous Works:
Source / external links:

48 Famous quotes by David Ogilvy

Small: Never write an advertisement which you wouldnt want your family to read. You wouldnt tell lies to your
"Never write an advertisement which you wouldn't want your family to read. You wouldn't tell lies to your own wife. Don't tell them to mine"
Small: Develop your eccentricities while you are young. That way, when you get old, people wont think youre go
"Develop your eccentricities while you are young. That way, when you get old, people won't think you're going gaga"
Small: The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible
"The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible"
Small: The secret of long life is double careers. One to about age sixty, then another for the next thirty yea
"The secret of long life is double careers. One to about age sixty, then another for the next thirty years"
Small: The relationship between a manufacturer and his advertising agency is almost as intimate as the relatio
"The relationship between a manufacturer and his advertising agency is almost as intimate as the relationship between a patient and his doctor. Make sure that you can life happily with your prospective client before you accept his account"
Small: The pursuit of excellence is less profitable than the pursuit of bigness, but it can be more satisfying
"The pursuit of excellence is less profitable than the pursuit of bigness, but it can be more satisfying"
Small: The most important word in the vocabulary of advertising is TEST. If you pretest your product with cons
"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"
Small: The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be
"The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be"
Small: The headline is the ticket on the meat. Use it to flag down readers who are prospects for the kind of p
"The headline is the 'ticket on the meat.' Use it to flag down readers who are prospects for the kind of product you are advertising"
Small: The consumer isnt a moron she is your wife
"The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife"
Small: Many people - and I think I am one of them - are more productive when theyve had a little to drink.
"Many people - and I think I am one of them - are more productive when they've had a little to drink. I find if I drink two or three brandies, I'm far better able to write"
Small: Many manufacturers secretly question whether advertising really sells their product, but are vaguely af
"Many manufacturers secretly question whether advertising really sells their product, but are vaguely afraid that their competitors might steal a march on them if they stopped"
Small: Like a midwife, I make my living bringing new babies into the world, except that mine are new advertisi
"Like a midwife, I make my living bringing new babies into the world, except that mine are new advertising campaigns"
Small: Leaders grasp nettles
"Leaders grasp nettles"
Small: It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your
"It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big idea"
Small: It strikes me as bad manners for a magazine to accept one of my advertisements and then attack it edito
"It strikes me as bad manners for a magazine to accept one of my advertisements and then attack it editorially - like inviting a man to dinner then spitting in his eye"
Small: It is flagrantly dishonest for an advertising agent to urge consumers to buy a product which he would n
"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"
Small: In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also s
"In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create"
Small: If you ever have the good fortune to create a great advertising campaign, you will soon see another age
"If you ever have the good fortune to create a great advertising campaign, you will soon see another agency steal it. This is irritating, but don't let it worry you; nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else's advertising"
Small: If it doesnt sell, it isnt creative
"If it doesn't sell, it isn't creative"
Small: Can advertising foist an inferior product on the consumer? Bitter experience has taught me that it cann
"Can advertising foist an inferior product on the consumer? Bitter experience has taught me that it cannot. On those rare occasions when I have advertised products which consumer tests have found inferior to other products in the same field, the results have been disastrous"
Small: Advertising reflects the mores of society, but it does not influence them
"Advertising reflects the mores of society, but it does not influence them"
Small: Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals
"Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals"
Small: Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things
"Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things"
Small: Advertising is a business of words, but advertising agencies are infested with men and women who cannot
"Advertising is a business of words, but advertising agencies are infested with men and women who cannot write. They cannot write advertisements, and they cannot write plans. They are helpless as deaf mutes on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera"
Small: A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself
"A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself"
Small: There is no need for advertisements to look like advertisements. If you make them look like editorial p
"There is no need for advertisements to look like advertisements. If you make them look like editorial pages, you will attract about 50 per cent more readers"
Small: There are very few men of genius in advertising agencies. But we need all we can find. Almost without e
"There are very few men of genius in advertising agencies. But we need all we can find. Almost without exception they are disagreeable. Don't destroy them. They lay golden eggs"
Small: Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving
"Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving"
Small: What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it
"What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it"
Small: You now have to decide what image you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like peop
"You now have to decide what 'image' you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like people, have personalities, and they can make or break them in the market place"
Small: What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form
"What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form"
Small: Some manufacturers illustrate their advertisements with abstract paintings. I would only do this if I w
"Some manufacturers illustrate their advertisements with abstract paintings. I would only do this if I wished to conceal from the reader what I was advertising"
Small: On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have writte
"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"
Small: Political advertising ought to be stopped. Its the only really dishonest kind of advertising thats left
"Political advertising ought to be stopped. It's the only really dishonest kind of advertising that's left. It's totally dishonest"
Small: If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if eac
"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"
Small: I notice increasing reluctance on the part of marketing executives to use judgment they are coming to r
"I notice increasing reluctance on the part of marketing executives to use judgment; they are coming to rely too much on research, and they use it as a drunkard uses a lamp post for support, rather than for illumination"
Small: I have a theory that the best ads come from personal experience. Some of the good ones I have done have
"I have a theory that the best ads come from personal experience. Some of the good ones I have done have really come out of the real experience of my life, and somehow this has come over as true and valid and persuasive"
Small: I dont know the rules of grammar... If youre trying to persuade people to do something, or buy somethin
"I don't know the rules of grammar... If you're trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think. We try to write in the vernacular"
Small: I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information
"I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information"
Small: I did not feel evil when I wrote advertisements for Puerto Rico. They helped attract industry and touri
"I did not feel 'evil' when I wrote advertisements for Puerto Rico. They helped attract industry and tourists to a country which had been living on the edge of starvation for 400 years"
Small: I avoid clients for whom advertising is only a marginal factor in their marketing mix. They have an awk
"I avoid clients for whom advertising is only a marginal factor in their marketing mix. They have an awkward tendency to raid their advertising appropriations whenever they need cash for other purposes"
Small: Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will ai
"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"
Small: Good copy cant be written with tongue in cheek, written just for a living. Youve got to believe in the
"Good copy can't be written with tongue in cheek, written just for a living. You've got to believe in the product"
Small: First, make yourself a reputation for being a creative genius. Second, surround yourself with partners
"First, make yourself a reputation for being a creative genius. Second, surround yourself with partners who are better than you are. Third, leave them to go get on with it"
Small: Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand ima
"Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image"
Small: Dont bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals
"Don't bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals"
Small: Does advertising corrupt editors? Yes it does, but fewer editors than you may suppose... the vast major
"Does advertising corrupt editors? Yes it does, but fewer editors than you may suppose... the vast majority of editors are incorruptible"