David Ogilvy Quotes

Quotes about:

• Tell the truth, but make the truth fascinating.

  David Ogilvy

  Telling The Truth, Fascinating

  51 Copy quote

• Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.

  David Ogilvy

  Business, Trying, Jargon

  57 Copy quote

• It's not creative unless it sells.

  David Ogilvy

  Creative, Sells

  4 Copy quote

• Don't count the people that you reach, reach the people who count

  David Ogilvy

  People

  48 Copy quote

• Consumers do not buy products. They buy product benefits.

  David Ogilvy

  Benefits, Copywriting, Consumers

  16 Copy quote

• When you advertise fire extinguishers, open with the fire.

  David Ogilvy

  Fire, Fire Extinguishers

  8 Copy quote

• Consumers don't think how they feel. They don't say what they think and they don't do what they say.

  David Ogilvy

  Thinking, Emotion, Advertising

  26 Copy quote

• If you can’t be brilliant, at least be memorable

  David Ogilvy

  Memorable, Brilliant, Ifs

  11 Copy quote

• Every advertisement is part of the long term investment in the personality of the brand.

  David Ogilvy

  Long, Personality, Investment

  David Ogilvy (2012). “The Unpublished David Ogilvy”, p.65, Profile Books

  18 Copy quote

• Study the methods of your competitors and do the exact opposite.

  David Ogilvy

  Opposites, Study, Method

  David Ogilvy (2012). “The Unpublished David Ogilvy”, p.13, Profile Books

  27 Copy quote

• 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. You can help this process by going for a long walk, or taking a hot bath, or drinking half a pint of claret. Suddenly, if the telephone line from your unconscious is open, a big idea wells up within you.

  David Ogilvy

  Art, Business, Drinking

  7 Copy quote

• Write the way you talk. Naturally.

  David Ogilvy

  Writing, Way

  David Ogilvy (2012). “The Unpublished David Ogilvy”, p.53, Profile Books

  11 Copy quote

• Do not address your readers as though they were gathered together in a stadium. When people read your copy, they are alone. Pretend you are writing to each of them a letter on behalf of your client.

  David Ogilvy

  Business, Writing, People

  11 Copy quote

• The headline is the most important element in most advertisements. It is the telegram which decides the reader whether to read the copy.

  David Ogilvy

  Important, Elements, Headlines

  5 Copy quote

• Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand.

  David Ogilvy

  Perseverance, Business, Genius

  David Ogilvy (2012). “The Unpublished David Ogilvy”, p.87, Profile Books

  37 Copy quote

• The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.

  David Ogilvy

  Creativity, Humor, Thinking

  38 Copy quote

• If you want to be interesting, be interested.

  David Ogilvy

  Interesting, Want, Ifs

  8 Copy quote

• If you ever find a man who is better than you are - hire him. If necessary, pay him more than you pay yourself.

  David Ogilvy

  Men, Pay, Better Than You

  David Ogilvy (2012). “The Unpublished David Ogilvy”, p.97, Profile Books

  74 Copy quote

• I never write fewer than sixteen headlines for a single advertisement.

  David Ogilvy

  Writing, Sixteen, Headlines

  17 Copy quote

• Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.

  David Ogilvy

  Business, Testing Yourself, Advertising

  David Ogilvy (1963). “Confessions of an advertising man”, Holiday House

  16 Copy quote

• The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife.

  David Ogilvy

  Funny, Sarcastic, Witty

  Confessions of an Advertising Man (1963) ch. 5

  92 Copy quote

• Talent, I believe, is most likely to be found among nonconformists, dissenters, and rebels.

  David Ogilvy

  Business, Believe, Rebel

  David Ogilvy (1963). “Confessions of an advertising man”, Holiday House

  14 Copy quote

• Good products can be sold by honest advertising. If you don't think the product is good, you have no business to be advertising it.

  David Ogilvy

  Business, Thinking, Honest

  David Ogilvy (1963). “Confessions of an advertising man”, Holiday House

  28 Copy quote

• The best idea is the simplest.

  David Ogilvy

  Ideas, Simplest

  20 Copy quote

• Encourage innovation. Change is our lifeblood, stagnation our death knell.

  David Ogilvy

  Innovation, Stagnation

  David Ogilvy (2012). “The Unpublished David Ogilvy”, p.94, Profile Books

  22 Copy quote

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