He was known as the father of advertising and one of the greatest pioneers of conceptual thinking. David Ogilvy made advertising great. He didn’t start out in advertising, but he certainly took it to new heights, and his humility was exceptional which only made him even more interesting. Ogilvy essentially wrote the rules on the fundamentals of advertising, and all agencies still use them today.
Creative Genius
After graduating and then moving to France to work as an apprentice chef, David Ogilvy went home to Scotland and tried his hand at door-to-door sales. His approach to selling was a natural ability to see insights and work on those. His sales shot through the roof and Ogilvy came to the attention of his managers who asked him to write a manual on selling. Many years later it was rated by Fortune Magazine as the best sales manual ever written. David Ogilvy had found his niche.
Once he had started working in advertising full-time, he was given an account by a client who had very little money to spend. As the novice copywriter David Ogilvy was handed the hotel account. With only $500 to spend, Ogilvy used the whole budget on sending postcards to people through the telephone directory, inviting them to the opening of a hotel. The hotel was subsequently fully-booked with a packed party on opening night.
After a while he was sent to the United States to study at George Gallup’s research institute which specialised in audience research, and insights into human behaviour. As copywriting is largely centred around feelings and reactions, David Ogilvy cited this as one of the building blocks of his illustrious advertising career. His creative talent is not surprising as Ogilvy’s brother was head of Mather & Crowther which originally backed David when he started Ogilvy & Mather in the 1940s.
Ogilvy & Mather grew quickly as David’s creativity increased client’s return on their investments into advertising. His campaigns for Hathaway, Schweppes, and Dove are still considered amongst the most brilliant adverts to date.
In the 1970s David Ogilvy retired from the world of advertising by stayed in touch with his now worldwide agency. He came out of retirement in the 1980s and went back to run Ogilvy Benson & Mather’s Indian branch. He travelled from country to country working at his advertising agencies, but eventually retired when Ogilvy & Mather was bought over by WPP in a hostile takeover.
David Ogilvy’s talent has spawned some of the most brilliant advertising concepts, and even though the man hated rules, his suggestions are still used as the crux of all advertising today and his books such as ‘Ogilvy on Advertising’ are still used in every agency in the world. David Ogilvy was no doubt the blueprint for the ‘Mad Men’ series.[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’][/author_image] [author_info]
Vida Denning is a freelance writer who studied copywriting before writing articles on offices to rent, fashion, and health. She has always admired David Ogilvy and has all his books.
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