Ogilvy on Advertising

By David Ogilvy

A candid and indispensable primer on all aspects of advertising from the man Time has called "the most sought after wizard in the business."

Told with brutal candor and prodigal generosity, David Ogilvy reveals:

• How to get a job in advertising
• How to choose an agency for your product
• The secrets behind advertising that works
• How to write successful copy—and get people to read it
• Eighteen miracles of research
• What advertising can do for charities

And much, much more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9780804170055

David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy CBE is often described as the 'Father of Advertising'. Before founding New York agency Ogilvy & Mather in 1948, he pursued several career paths, working as a chef at the Majestic in Paris Ritz, an AGA salesman and a farmer. His iconic campaigns include legendary adverts for Dove, Hathaway, Rolls Royce and Guinness. He died in 1999.

Reviews for Ogilvy on Advertising

[gottfried_leibniz-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My first book on Advertisement. I took this book to understand the past of Advertisement. I appreciated the differences among cultures. Ogilvy talks about India, but I must say things have changed in India.

A Great read with humour, insights into Ogilvy's business. I would recommend this to anyone who is into Advertisement. Claude Hopkins book is classic in Advertisement.

--Deus Vult
Gottfried

[squealermusic-893611 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A quick, easy and enjoyable read that provides numerous insights into the advertising world (circa 1975, of course).

[breic-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Very fun. Ogilvy is such a caricature, so shallow and full of himself. I hope it gives an accurate view of the advertising industry at the time, because it is too funny not to be true. I read this book to learn a little about the advertising industry. Usually I find work stories fascinating; I love to learn how different careers work. Ogilvy does his best to share the lessons he has learned, but it comes across as a very shallow and dull field. > a French magazine lists me as the only survivor among a group of men who, they aver, contributed to the Industrial Revolution – alongside Adam Smith, Edison, Karl Marx, Rockefeller, Ford and Keynes> If more copywriters were ambitious, they too would find fame and fortune. This is Touffou, the medieval castle where the author holes up when he is not visiting one of the Ogilvy & Mather offices.> the concept of brand images, which I popularized in 1953, was not really new; Claude Hopkins had described it 20 years before. The so-called Creative Revolution, usually ascribed to Bill Bernbach and myself in the fifties, could equally well have been ascribed to N. W. Ayer and Young & Rubicam in the thirties> My first ad for Austin cars took the form of a letter from an "anonymous diplomat" who was sending his son to Groton with money he had saved driving an Austin. A combination of snobbery and economy. Unfortunately, a Time editor guessed that I was the anonymous diplomat> In the past, just about every advertiser has assumed that in order to sell his goods he has to convince consumers that his product is superior to his competitor's. This may not be necessary. It may be sufficient to convince consumers that your product is positively good. If the consumer feels certain that your product is good and feels uncertain about your competitor's, he will buy yours.> do your homework, avoid committees, learn from research, watch what the direct-response advertisers do, and stay away from irrelevant sex.> Never use a jingle without trying it on people who have not read your script. If they cannot decipher the words, don't put your jingle on the air.

[mlbowers-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was a quick read. Light and fun in parts. More directed toward someone looking to understand how the advertising business has worked, rather than instructive about good advertising. Had elements of a cranky old advertising master sitting back and telling stories about how other people had gotten it all wrong.

[jasonli_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Ogilvy on Advertising" is a primer on advertising by the founder and former head of Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency. Written from the perspective of a curmudgeonly but wizened old man, the book is a charismatic introduction to a business-centric view of advertising and a great slice of life of an agency in the 1980s.Replete with samples and examples, Ogilvy wades through many topics without ever becoming verbose. His pointed writing style work nicely with the subject and belie his favoritism towards copywriters. However, as the book is in large part an account of Ogilvy's own campaign successes, it carries a snide self-promotional zeal and the author does congratulate himself on multiple occasions.

[bensdad00 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An illustrated expansion of his classic "Confessions of an Advertising Man"