Ogilvy on Advertising

Author: David Ogilvy
Publisher: Vintage
Classification: Advertising, Marketing

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David Ogilvy is one of the original true greats of advertising. He headed up the still extremely successful Ogilvy agency and of course wrote books on the topic. He’s also responsible for the infamous eyepatch for Hathaway shirts and that Rolls-Royce line:

At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock

It’s 217 pages contain a wealth of, admitably, old fashioned adverts (but I actually like that about this book), and covers a range of hands on advice, learnt the hard way:

How to get a job in advertising
How to run an advertising agency
How to choose an agency for your product
How to create advertising that makes the cash register ring
Twelve kinds of TV commercials that sell and four that don’t
How to write successful copy — and get people to read it
Sex in advertising — good and bad
Secrets of success in direct mail
Eighteen miracles of research
How to create successful campaigns for good causes
All you need to know about business-to-business advertising
What advertising can do for charities
The six giants who made modern advertising
What the future holds in store for advertising

Like I mentioned earlier, the examples and ways in which he suggest adverts should be executed can feel a little old-fashioned. However, this really is a must read for anyone who’s a student of advertising, and particularly if you’d like to enter the business.

For more up-to-date examples, and for a writing style that’s less like being infront of an angry preacher, I’d still recommend you read Hey Whipple, Squeeze This.

But you kind of have to read Ogilvy, this is part of advertising‘s glorious (?) past…

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