David Ogilvy | Master Marketers | Long Lost Marketing Secrets

David Ogilvy (1911-1999)

David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy had been a cook, a door-to-door oven salesman, a diplomat and a farmer. But at the age of 38 he was unemployed.

He knew nothing about marketing and had never written any copy but was interested in advertising.

He went on to become one of the mosst revered marketing minds in the world. One of the most sought after copywriters and advertising men in history.

He helped to establish modern advertising with his big ideas. He produced many of the world's most famous and sophisticated ad campaigns. His style, wit, and convictions were well-received.

His forte was that he knew how to sell. His copy followed the basic rules of advertising, that is, research and position the product, develop a brand image, build culture, and have a big idea.

Here's his story:

Born in England in 1911 he went on to Oxford but did not graduate. In his words he: "got thrown out."

After his failure at Oxford, he went to Paris and worked in the kitchens of the Hotel Majestic.

After he returned to England, he worked as a door-to-door salesman for Aga Cookers. He sold stoves to nuns, drunkards, and everyone in between. In 1935 he wrote a guide for Aga salesmen that fortune Magazine later described as "probably the best sales manual ever written."

In 1936, his older brother Francis got him an internship at the London ad agency Mather and Crowley.

He emigrated to the United States in 1938 and became associate director of George Gallup's Audience Research Institute in Princeton, New Jersey.

During World War II, he worked with British Security Co-ordination and served as second secretary to the British Embassy in Washington. After the war, he lived among the Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and worked as a farmer.

But he thought he could never earn his living as a farmer, so at the age of 38, he decided to start his own advertising agency.

Once again, he went to his brother for assistance. S.H. Benson Ltd., another London shop, also invested $45,000, but insisted that Ogilvy, who had been out of aadvertising for 10 years, hire someone who knew how to run an agency. Ogilvy chose Anderson Hewitt, an accountant he had met briefly in 1941. The business opened as Hewitt, Ogilvy Benson and Mather (HOB&M).

One of the first ads he wrote as the head of his own agency was "Guinness Guide to Oysters."

Ogilvy always stressed that "every advertisement must contribute to the complex symbol which is the "Brand Image."

"Brand Image" meant the personality of the product - a combination of its name, packaging, price, its advertising style, the nature of the product etc.

An ad campaign, Ogilvy said, must always revolce around a sharply defined personality - a coherent image that you must stick to year after year.

In 1951, a small shirtmaker, C.F. Hathaway, came asking for help. This led Ogilvy to create the image of a man with the black eye patch, and "The Man in The Hathaway Shirt" campaign was born. This narraative, creative campaign ran for 25 years.

For Schweppes, Ogilvy persuaded the client, Commander Whitehead, to appear in his own advertisements. This campaign featuring the distinguished looking, bearded Brit in verious ads and commercials ran fro 18 years.

For Rolls-Royce, he used the headline: "At 60 Miles An Hour The Loudest Noise in This New Rolls-Royce Comes From The Electric Clock." This remains the most famous automobile advertisement of all time.

By 1960, he had achieved his ambition to run a great agency that spread around the golbe and firmly in place as one of the top agencies.

In 1965, Ogilvy dropped his title of chairman of what had become Ogilvy & Mather's U.S. operations (remaining chairman of O&M International) to become creative director - a position he kept for nearly 10 years, before reetiring to Touffou (France) in 1973.

Ogilvy came out of retirement in the 1980's to serve as Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather in India. He also spent a year acting as temporary chairman of Ogilvy & Mather, Germany. He visited branches of the company around the world and continued to present Ogilvy & Mather at gathering clients and business audiences.

When in 1989, Ogilvy group was purchased by WPP, two events occurred simultaneously: WPP became the largest marketing communciations firm in the world, and David Ogilvy was named the company's non-executive chairman, a position he held for 3 years.

He gave this interview:

In July 1999 he died at his home in Touffou.

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