David Ogilvy's 20 Most Valuable Advertising Rules!

If a Chinese advertiser only knows the name of one foreign advertiser, he will most likely know David Ogilvy ; similarly, if he only knows one advertising classic, that book will most likely be "Confessions of an Advertising Man".

David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy is an immortal legend in the advertising industry and the entire business world. He summed up his rich but somewhat chaotic first half of his life before entering the advertising industry: "He is 38 years old and unemployed. He dropped out of college and worked as a chef, salesman, diplomat, and farmer. He knows nothing about marketing and has never written any advertising copy.

But he claimed that he was interested in advertising and hoped to make a career in this industry (at the age of 38), and he was also prepared to accept a salary of $5,000 a year. ”

Three years after entering the industry, he became the most famous advertising copywriter in the world, and soon founded the world-renowned Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Company with $6,000. He subsequently won countless honorific titles throughout his career - "Pope of Modern Advertising", "The Most Creative Promoter of Modern Advertising", "The Most Sought-after Advertising Wizard in Today's Advertising Industry", "Father of Brand Image"...

After retiring as chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Group, Ogilvy ended this legend in a fascinating way: he lived with his wife in a French heritage-level private castle, tending flowers and plants, and summoned senior Ogilvy executives from around the world every year to preach and answer questions, until he went to heaven on July 21, 1999 to continue his advertising career.

During his summer sabbatical in 1962, Ogilvy wrote his first and most important book, Confessions of an Advertising Man, and gave the copyright to his 21-year-old son as a birthday present. He thought the book would sell 4,000 copies, but it became a runaway hit—a bestseller that has been translated into more than 20 languages ​​and sold more than 1.5 million copies.

The most convincing explanation for why a book can continue to be a bestseller for 40 years is that it has content that deserves such attention from readers and that it can attract a wide readership.

In this book, Ogilvy pours out his advertising philosophy and experience, setting many of the most basic principles and standards for modern advertising. At the same time, he also proposes high standards of social responsibility for advertising - tell the truth, don't deceive, and don't create ads that you don't want your family to see...

His advertising philosophy and the many effective methods he taught formed the backbone of Ogilvy's internal training materials, and at the same time became the advertising "secret" coveted by countless advertising professionals.

In "Confessions of an Advertising Man", Ogilvy said, "My career began as an investigator, and then I became an advertising copywriter. As far as I know, I am the only "creative master" who started out as an investigator." This fact makes me always look at creative work with the eyes of an investigator.

These are the most valuable lessons I learned:

1 We advertise to sell products, otherwise it is not advertising.

2 You can't let people buy your product just because they are annoyed by you. You have to make them interested in your product.

3 We prefer the discipline of knowledge to the anarchy of ignorance. We pursue knowledge like pigs pursue edible tubers underground. A blind pig might occasionally come across an edible tuber, but it was good to know that such tubers grew in an oak forest.

4 We hire gentlemen with brains.

5 Consumers are not morons. She is your wife. Don't insult her intelligence.

6 Unless your plan contains brilliant ideas, it will pass by like a ship in the night and no one will notice it.

7 Only do first-class business, so use first-class methods.

8. Don't run a commercial you wouldn't want your family to see.

9 Go to all the parks in your city and you won't find any sculptures by the commission.

10 Creating successful advertising is a craft that depends partly on inspiration but mostly on knowledge and hard work. If you have a certain talent and know what techniques work behind the cash register, you can do it for a long time.

11 The temptation to entertain rather than to sell is a contagious disease.

12 The difference between one ad and another, measured on a sales force scale, can be as much as 19:1.

13 It's worthwhile to research the product before you start writing your ad.

14 The key to success is to promise consumers benefits—things like better taste, whiter wash, more miles per gallon, a better complexion, and so on.

15 The job of most advertising is not to persuade people to try your product but to persuade them to use your product more than they would use other brands in their daily lives.

16 What works in one country almost always works in others.

17 Magazine editors are better communicators than advertising people; copy their techniques.

18 Most advertising programs are too complex, reflecting too many objectives and trying to cater to the different views of too many account executives. Try to cover too much and you'll accomplish nothing; the ad will look like the minutes of a committee meeting.

19. Don't let men write advertisements for products that women buy.

20. Good advertising can last for years without losing its selling power.

Author: Advertising Department Store

Source: Advertising Department Store