David Ogilvy Quotes

Bite sized lessons on copywriting, business and life from David Ogilvy - "The most sought-after wizard in the advertising business"

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When you don't have a story to tell in your photograph, make your product the subject of your illustration.

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When you advertise in magazines and newspapers, you must start by attracting the reader's attention.

But in television the viewer is already attending; your problem is not to frighten her away.

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When you advertise in local newspapers, you get better results if you include the name of each city in your headline.

People are most interested in what is happening where they live.

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Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.

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The copy in most corporate advertisements is distinguished by a self-serving, flatulent pomposity which defies reading, and agencies waste endless hours concocting slogans of incredible fatuity.

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The better you write, the higher you go.

People who think well, write well.

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Success in running an agency depends on your ability to hire men and women of exceptional talent, to train them thoroughly, and to make the most of their talents.

The most difficult to find are those who can become good copywriters.

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Some copywriters, assuming that the reader will find the product as boring as they do, try to inveigle him into their ads with pictures of babies, beagles and bosoms.

A mistake.

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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.

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Helpful information is read by 75 per cent more people than copy which deals only with the product.

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Never write an advertisement which you wouldn't want your own family to read.

You wouldn't tell lies to your own wife.

Don't tell them to mine.

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Most copywriters believe that markdowns and special offers are boring, but consumers don't think so.

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Left alone, copywriters write house ads to impress other copywriters, and art directors make layouts to impress other art directors.

But trendy layouts and fancy copy don't impress prospective clients who have come up through finance, production or sales.

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If your headline doesn't sell your product, you have wasted 90 per cent of your money.

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If you want ACTION, don't write.

Go and tell the guy what you want.

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If you are lucky enough to write a good advertisement, repeat it until it stops selling.

Scores of good advertisements have been discarded before they lost their potency.

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I advise you to include the brand name in your headline.

If you don't, 80 per cent of readers who don't read your body copy will never know what product you are advertising.

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Good writing is not a natural gift.

You have to learn to write well.

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Good typography helps people read your copy, while bad typography prevents them doing so.

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Good photographs of your product cost more than bad ones, but they also sell more.