Quotes from David Ogilvy

Some copywriters write tricky headlines – double meanings, puns and other obscurities. This is counter-productive. In the average newspaper your headline has to compete with 350 others. Readers travel fast through this jungle. Your headline should telegraph what you want to say.

The hallmarks of a potentially successful copywriter include: Obsessive curiosity about products, people and advertising. A sense of humor. A habit of hard work. The ability to write interesting prose for printed media, and natural dialogue for television. The ability to think visually. Television commercials depend more on pictures than words. The ambition to write better campaigns than anyone has ever written before.

Tell your prospective client what your weak points are, before he notices them. This will make you more credible when you boast about your strong points.

It isn't the whiskey they choose, it's the image.

The headlines which work best are those which promise the reader a benefit

Never allow two people to do a job which one could do. George Washington observed, 'Whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty by close application thereto, it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein.

Sound an alarm! Advertising, not deals, builds brands.

Big ideas come from the unconscious. This is true in art, in science and in advertising. But your unconscious has to be well informed, or your idea will be irrelevant. Stuff your conscious mind with information, then unhook your rational thought process.

Only amateurs use short copy.

On average, helpful information is read by 75 per cent more people than copy which deals only with the product. This ad told how Rinso gets out stains. It was read and remembered

In my experience, committees can criticize, but they cannot create. 'Search the parks in all your cities You'll find no statues of committees.

Consumers still buy products whose advertising promises them value for money, beauty, nutrition, relief from suffering, social status and so on.

Concentrate your time, your brains, and your advertising money on your successes. Back your winners, and abandon your losers.

Said Winston Churchill, 'PERFECTIONISM is spelled PARALYSIS.

Don't bunt. Aim out of the ballpark.

A consumer is not a moron. She's your wife. Don't insult her intelligence, and don't shock her.

The advertisers who believe in the selling power of jingles have never had to sell anything.

Our offices must always be headed by the kind of men who command respect. Not phonies, zeros or bastards.

One half was sad because I had damaged my reputation. The other half was happy because I had damaged my reputation.

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

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.

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.

The secret of long life is double careers. One to about age sixty, then another for the next thirty years.

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.