5 David Ogilvy Lessons To Help You Become A

Better Advertiser

Who was

?

Advertising Exec

Founder of Ogilvy & Mather

“The Father of Advertising”

Here are his five best lessons to help you become a better advertiser.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK“You don’t stand a tinker’s chance of

producing successful advertising unless

you start by doing your homework. I have

always found this extremely tedious, but

there is no substitute for it. First, study the

product you are going to advertise. The

more you know about it, the more likely you

are to come up with a big idea for selling it.”

DO YOUR HOMEWORK“You don’t stand a tinker’s chance of

producing successful advertising unless

you start by doing your homework. I have

always found this extremely tedious, but

there is no substitute for it. First, study the

product you are going to advertise. The

more you know about it, the more likely you

are to come up with a big idea for selling it.”

Buy the book!

Translation: Don’t cheat advertising.

“On the average, five times as many

people read the headline as read the

body copy. When you have written

your headline, you have spent eighty

cents out of your dollar.”

FOCUS ON YOUR HEADLINES

Or go headline-less.

MO’ INFO, MO’ DOLLARS“The more informative your advertising, the

more persuasive it will be.”

MO’ INFO, MO’ DOLLARS“The more informative your advertising, the

more persuasive it will be.”

Don’t be afraid of copy.

Yep, that’s more than enough info.

“If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or

buy something, it seems to me you should use their

language, the language they use every day, the language

in which they think. We try to write in the vernacular.”

WRITE LIKE YOU SPEAK

Just don’t be Ralphy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KUZro9rwVg

PERSONALITY = DIFFERENTIATION“There isn’t any significant difference between the various brands of whiskey

or cigarettes or beer. They are all about the same. And so are the cake mixes

and the detergents and the margarines . . . The manufacturer who dedicates

his advertising to building the most sharply defined personality for his brand

will get the largest share of the market at the highest profit.”

There you have it. Go be like David and create great ads.

Just…don’t.