Ogilvy On Advertising

David Ogilvy

📚 GENRE: Business & Finance

📃 PAGES: 224

✅ COMPLETED: September 2, 2023

🧐 RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Short Summary

David Ogilvy is considered one of advertising’s titans. In Ogilvy On Advertising, he shares tips and tricks designed to help readers improve their copywriting skills. 

Key Takeaways

1️⃣ Sales > Creativity/Originality — The goal of advertising is to communicate effectively, not to be original or entertaining. It’s ultimately about selling the product. Write copy that clearly outlines the benefits of the product to the consumer. It’s fun to write clever, creative, original ads that pop, but if the copy is not driving sales, it is not successful. Period. Even if it wins awards or generates public praise. Don’t get distracted — keep your focus on communicating the benefits of the product. 

2️⃣ Research — As a copywriter, it’s your job to know everything about the product or service you’re selling. The more you know about it, the more you have at your disposal when it’s time to write content. What are the key features and how do they translate to benefits to the customer? How is the product made? What makes it special or unique? You should also try to learn everything about your competition. Research is half the battle. 

3️⃣ Test & Analyze — Identify techniques that are working and repeat them in future campaigns. The way you do this is by testing different elements of an ad, like the headline, visual element, CTA button, etc. It’s fairly easy to see what is working and what isn’t. When you see something that is clearly working, bring it to other campaigns. Focus on post-campaign analytics that track actual sales and conversions instead of wasting time looking at irrelevant things such as ‘likes’, ‘reposts’, ‘impressions’, etc. 

Favorite Quote

“Advertising which promises no benefit to the consumer does not sell, yet the majority of campaigns contain no promise whatsoever (This is the most important sentence in this book. Read it again.).”

Book Notes 📑

Ch. 1: Overture

  • David Ogilvy — David Ogilvy was a British advertising tycoon, founder of Ogilvy & Mather, the author of this book, and known as the “Father of Advertising.” Trained at the Gallup research organization, he attributed the success of his campaigns to meticulous research into consumer habits. His most famous campaigns include Rolls-Royce, Dove soap, and Hathaway shirts.
  • Sell the Product! — It’s easy to get too cute and caught up in making a creative ad that rhymes and is clever instead of focusing on how the product is going to help the customer. But focusing on benefits is ultimately what sells. Being able to connect the product to the customer in a way that shows how the product will make the customer’s life better, easier, less painful, etc. should be the goal with any piece of advertising or communication.
    • Quote (P. 7): “When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it ‘creative.’ I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product.”
    • Quote (P. 7): “Consumers still buy products whose advertising promises them value for money, beauty, nutrition, relief from suffering, social status, and so on. All over the world.”
      • Takeaway — Don’t lose sight of this! Your end goal with any piece of advertising should be to show and communicate how the product will help the customer. Don’t get distracted with making something “cool” or “clever” that ultimately misses the mark. 

Ch. 2: How to Produce Advertising That Sells

  • Do Your Homework — You have to know the product you’re selling like the back of your hand. When you know everything about the product or service, you improve your chances of creating an effective ad. This takes diligent research. Investigate everything about the product. Learn as much as possible about it. Don’t forget to study your competitors’ ads for similar products, as well as consumer research. Getting your hands-on consumer research will give you insight into what the target audience is thinking and what their pain points are. The more you know, the more you have at your disposal when writing copy.
    • Quote (P. 11): “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.”
    • Quote (P. 11): “Now comes research among consumers. Find out how they think about your kind of product, what language they use when they discuss the subject, what attributes are important to them, and what promise would be most likely to make them buy your brand.”
  • Positioning — One of the big decisions you have to make when creating and ad, or any other marketing materials, is how you want to position the product or service. Positioning is basically what the product does and who it is for. This decision will dictate who your target audience is.
    • Ex. Dove Soap — Dove soap could have been positioned as a detergent bar for men with dirty hands when it first hit the market. Instead it was positioned as a toilet bar for women with dry skin. The ladder positioning sold much more soap.
  • Brand Image — Another big decision that has to be made involves brand imaging. Brand image essentially refers to a brand’s personality. Products, like people, have personalities, and they can make or break them in the marketplace. The personality of a product is the sum of many things — its name, its packaging, its price, the style of its advertising, and the nature of the product itself. In a world where products in every industry are very, very similar, brand imaging and positioning are huge differentiators. For most things, it’s good to apply an image of quality. People like high-quality things and are often willing to pay more for them.
    • Ex. Beer — The beer industry is a good example of how brand imaging and positioning can make a big difference. All beer, regardless of who makes it, is fairly similar. What separates beer companies is the brand image and personality they give off in their ads. Certain brands give off a certain image that appeals to certain categories of people. Jack Daniel’s exudes quality and class. Mike’s Hard Lemonade gives off a fun-loving personality that attracts younger people. 
    • Ex. Marlboro Cigarettes — In the 1960s, Marlboro changed their image by using a tough and rugged cowboy in all of their advertising. The shift in brand image and positioning worked instantly. 
    • Quote (P. 14): “Take whiskey. Why do some people choose Jack Daniel’s, while others choose Grand Dad or Taylor? Have they tried all three and compared the taste? Don’t make me laugh. The reality is that these three brands have different images which appeal to different kinds of people. It isn’t the whiskey they choose, it’s the image.”
  • Interesting Fact — Sugar maple can be burned to create charcoal, which is then used to smooth out whiskey. The charcoal essentially acts as a filter, removing unwanted flavors from whiskey. Many whiskey companies use this “charcoal mellowing” process. 
  • Big Ideas — As a copywriter, you always want to be thinking big. Big ideas are the ones that capture consumer attention and entice people to buy your product. The bigger the idea, the more of a splash you can create. Big ideas typically come from your subconscious mind, sometimes during sleep, when your brain is at its most creative. The key is to fill your mind with knowledge about the product and then let go. Take a break. Do something else for awhile as your subconscious mind works. A big idea will usually come to you out of nowhere. You know you have a big idea on your hands when you can say ‘yes’ to the following:
    • Did it make me gasp when I first saw it?
    • Do I wish I had thought of it myself?
    • Is it unique?
    • Does it fit the strategy to perfection?
    • Could it be used for 30 years? 
  • The Product Is the Hero — Don’t get it twisted: the product should always be the hero in your advertising and marketing materials. Using storytelling, you should always try to position the product as the savior to a customer’s problems. There’s no such thing as a boring product — only dull writers. Do your research, find out the target audience’s pain points and ambitions, then position your product or service as the solution. 
  • Measure Your Success — Analytics are crucial to any campaign, because the ultimate measure of success for any ad is whether or not it has made sales or generated new leads. That’s it. How are you supposed to know if a campaign was a success if you don’t know how it performed? Pull reports on your campaigns at regular intervals. Study them. Learn from them. If certain copywriting techniques are performing better than others, deploy those strategies in future campaigns.
    • Quote (P. 20): “The best way to settle such arguments is to measure the selling effectiveness of your campaign at regular intervals, and go on running it until the research shows that it has worn out.”
  • Fewer Cooks in the Kitchen — Simplify the review process as much as humanly possible. There are simply too many cooks in the kitchen when it comes to ad campaigns. The more people are involved, the more the message gets picked apart. By the end of the review process, the copy is usually lifeless and lacks any sort of clear, discernible message. Fight against this urge to overcomplicate things by removing people from the review stage. 
  • Lifelong Learning — As a copywriter, and a as a person in general, you should always be looking to learn and improve. The more you know, the better you are. Study advertising. Study marketing. Read books. Watch YouTube. Find ways to learn about your craft and improve your skills. Look to get 1% better every day. This mindset of lifelong learning and constantly pushing yourself to grow will set you apart in life. Look to become one of the best in the world at what you do.  
  • Study the Game — Similar to the above point about lifelong learning, always study the craft of copywriting. Through research and analytics, try to pinpoint the proven factors that are most effective at selling. Incorporate those factors and strategies into your copy. Psychology plays an important role here because many people make purchase decisions based on emotion. Learn about the strategies that are most persuasive. Analytics play an important role here.
    • Quote (P. 23): “Clients sometimes change agencies because one agency can buy circulation at a slightly lower cost than another. They don’t realize that a copywriter who knows his factors — the triggers which make people read advertisements — can reach many times more readers than a copywriter who doesn’t. For 35 years I have continued on the course charted by Gallup, collecting factors the way other men collect pictures and postage stamps. If you choose to ignore these factors, good luck to you. A blind pig can sometimes find truffles, but it helps to know that they are found in oak forests.”
  • Benefits, Benefits, Benefits — As mentioned in the first bullet of these notes, the most important thing to keep in mind when writing copy is this: clearly show and explain how your product or service will benefit the customer. It’s very easy to get distracted by the selfish desire to build something highly clever and creative (“this will really turn some heads!”), but that type of approach can easily confuse the reader. You have to resist this urge. Focus on clearly positioning your product as the solution to a customer’s pain point. Don’t just list features, either; tell the customer how various features of your product will help him live a better life. This approach isn’t sexy, but it’s the way to go. It’s what drives sales, because people ultimately buy things that they believe will help them in some way.
    • Quote (P. 23): “Do I practice what I preach? Not always. I have created my share fancy campaigns, but if you ask which of my advertisements has been the most successful, I will answer without hesitation that it was the first ad I wrote for industrial development in Puerto Rico. It won no awards for ‘creativity’; but it persuaded scores of manufacturers to start factories in that poverty-stricken island.”
    • Quote (P. 24): “What is a good advertisement? An advertisement which pleases you because of its style, or an advertisement which sells the most? They are seldom the same. Go through a magazine and pick out the advertisements you like best. You will probably pick those with beautiful illustrations, or clever copy. You forget to ask yourself whether your favorite advertisements would make you want to buy the product.”
    • Quote (P. 24): “The Benton & Bowles agency holds that ‘if it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.’ Amen.”
  • Chapter Takeaway — Outlined in this chapter are several proven techniques to writing effective ad and marketing copy, but everything ultimately comes down to clearly showing how the product helps the customer. This mindset should drive your writing. Don’t get distracted by trying to create something overly creative or clever — you will confuse and lose the prospect. 

Ch. 3: Jobs in Advertising — And How to Get Them

  • Headlines: Build Curiosity — Whether it’s an article or an ad, headlines are a really important part of copywriting. Headlines are what people first see, so well-crafted ones can help pique people’s curiosity and get them to click. It’s important to spend time creating strong headlines that will grab a person’s attention and entice them to read more. Copywriting is all about building curiosity so the reader clicks and continues to read all these way through.
    • Quote (P. 41): “I earn my living as a copywriter in an advertising agency. It is a matter of life and death for me to get people to read my advertisements. I have discovered that more than half the battle is to write headlines which grab people’s attention and force them to read the copy.”

Ch. 4: How to Run an Advertising Agency

  • Leadership — As the founder and CEO of his own advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather, Ogilvy shared a few of the things he’s learned about leadership. Some of notable tips he outlined include:
    • Conflicts — When it comes to settling conflicts, verbal communication is the best way for both parties come to a solution. Don’t allow “paper warfare.” Make your people settle their fights face to face.
    • Set High Standards — Don’t settle for subpar performance and results. Set the bar high, and hold people to it. Hold people accountable, when appropriate. 
      • Quote (P. 50): “It is suicide to settle for second-rate performance. Above all, insist that due dates are kept, even if it means working all night and over the weekend. Hard work, says the Scottish proverb, never killed a man. People die of boredom and disease. There is nothing like an occasional all-night push to enliven morale — provided you are part of the push. Never leave the bridge in a storm.”
    • Encourage Innovation — This point is also discussed in a few other books. As a leader, you have to build an environment where employees feel encouraged and empowered to take risks and create new things that will push the company forward. There can’t be a crippling fear of failure anywhere in the organization. The worst thing you can do is create a culture where employees do things the same way over and over, are scared of failure, and feel hopeless when bringing up new ideas. Encourage risk-taking, and don’t reprimand people for coming up short when they do try new things. 
      • Quote (P. 51): “The best leaders are apt to be found among those executives who have a strong component of unorthodoxy in their characters. Instead of resisting innovation, they symbolize it — and companies cannot grow without innovation.”
    • Confidence — Great leaders exude self-confidence. They aren’t petty. They pick themselves up after defeat. They have a “next play” mentality. 
    • Commitment — Great leaders are all-in. They love what they do, and that passion gets passed on to employees. They also work really hard. They aren’t worried about being “liked.” They’re not afraid to make tough decisions.
      • Quote (P. 52): “Great leaders are always fanatically committed to their jobs. They do not suffer from the crippling need to be universally loved. They have the guts to make unpopular decisions — including the guts to fire non-performers.”
    • Decisive — Great leaders are very decisive. Once they make a decision, they give everything they have to that course of action. 

Ch. 5: How to Get Clients

  • Provide Value — Add educational value in your copy whenever possible. Especially in today’s highly digital world, you have to offer the reader something valuable, or they will not be persuaded to read. Ogilvy cited his agency’s ads (ads promoting Ogilvy & Mather) as an example — in these ads, he wrote about how to launch new products, how to advertise travel, how to create food advertising, and much more. Ogilvy was able to tie in his agency’s offerings while giving readers something to learn.

Ch. 7: Wanted — A Renaissance in Print Advertising

  • Nail the Headline — Headlines, more than anything else, decide the success or failure of an ad. On average, five times as many people read the headlines as read your body copy. If your headline isn’t building curiosity and capturing people’s attention, you’re likely wasting most of your time and money. The headlines that are most effective are those that promise the reader a benefit — like a whiter smile, rapid weight loss, better athletic performance, etc. Headlines that deliver news are also very effective; they are recalled by 22% more people than ads that don’t carry news of some kind. Ultimately, the goal of a headline is to grab somebody’s attention and entice them to read the subhead. The subhead should be designed in a way that gets the reader to the first sentence. The first sentence should continue to build curiosity so the reader reads the body content. It’s all about using curiosity to get the reader to click and read through your entire message. 
    • Quote (P. 70): “I never cease to be struck by the consistency of consumer reactions to different kinds of headline, illustration, layout, and copy — year after year, country after country.”
    • Quote (P. 71): “On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy. It follows that unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90% of your money. The headlines which work best are those which promise the reader a benefit — like a whiter wash, more miles per gallon, freedom from pimples, fewer cavities.”
    • Quote (P. 71): “Headlines which contain news are sure-fire. The news can be the announcement of a new product, an improvement in an old product, or a new way to use an old product — like serving Campbell’s Soup on the rocks. On the average, ads with news are recalled by 22% more people than ads without news. If you are lucky enough to have some news to tell, don’t bury it in your body copy, which 9 out of 10 people will not read. State it loud and clear in your headline.”
    • Quote (P. 139): “Headlines get five times the readership of the body copy. If your headline doesn’t sell, you have wasted your money. Your headline should promise a benefit, or deliver news, or offer a service, or tell a significant story, or recognize a problem, or quote a satisfied customer.”
  • “How To” Headlines — “How to” headlines and ads signal that you have something of value to offer the reader. On average, helpful information I read by 75% more people than copy that only deals with the product. These value-driven headlines consistently produce more clicks; readers are curious to know “how to” do something and click to learn more. The “how to” ad below produced huge numbers. A few more headline tips:
    • Include Brand Name — Always try to mention the brand name in the headline. If you don’t, people won’t know what you’re advertising, especially since most don’t read the body copy. 
    • Stats / Be Specific — If you have a nice stat that paints the company or product in a good light, use it in the headline! Be specific in your headlines and avoid generalities. 
    • Use Quotes — Quotes in headlines increase recall by an average of 28%. 
    • Don’t Get Too Tricky — Going back to previous points in these notes, you want to avoid getting overly tricky or clever with your headlines and overall content. The trickier you get, the more you risk confusing and losing the reader. Readers look at headlines for less than a second (we all have a short attention span) — if your headline has a double-meaning or a pun, you risk them not getting it and moving on. 
  • Photos & Graphics — Visual elements of an ad are just as important, if not more so, than the actual text. The visual element of the ad is where everyone looks first. Then they more to the headline, then the subway and body copy. A few tips on the visual elements of an ad:
    • Curiosity — Just like with headlines and body copy, your photo or graphic should elicit curiosity from the reader. You want to get the reader’s attention.
    • Package — If you don’t have an interesting story to tell with your visual element, show the packaged product. 
    • End Product — Before and after photos perform very well. Try to show how something improved after the product was used. 
  • Body Copy — The sad truth is that most people don’t read body copy. Readers who are interested in the product will read it, but most people are simply going to ignore it. That’s why the photo and headlines are so important — if done well, they can build curiosity and get readers to the body copy. That said, it pays to write good body copy because that small percentage of people who do read it are prospects — they are interested in what you’re selling. A few tips on writing body copy:
    • First Sentence — Nail the first sentence. It should be short and attention-grabbing. If done well, it will entice the reader to continue and help establish reading momentum. 
    • Write to One Person — Pretend like you’re writing to one person, not a group. Write a letter to the person on behalf of the company. Try to write copy that makes the reader feel like you’re writing to them personally. One human being to another. 
    • Curiosity — You have to keep building curiosity throughout the body. It starts with the headline, visual, and first sentence, but you have to keep it up in the body as well. That’s the only way to keep readers interested and continuing their way down the “slippery slide,” as Joseph Sugarman calls it. 
    • Rhythm — Make it easy to read the content. You do this by creating a nice rhythm to it: short, medium, and long sentences with basic vocabulary. Keep the paragraphs fairly short. 
    • Make It Easy — Most people don’t read; they skim. White space is your friend. Use bullets and subheads. All of this makes it easy on the reader, which is what you want. 
    • Make a Story — Stories appeal to us. They interest us. It is human nature to love stories. Try to deliver your message through a story. This takes some creativity. 
    • Be Specific — Never lose sight of the fact that your job is to show how the product or service will help the consumer. Be very specific when describing the profit and how it is going to benefit the reader. A lot of the ads these ad tycoons wrote go into great detail about the features of the product, but they always do a great job of showing how those features will help the reader if they buy.
    • Testimonials — Testimonials make the copy and message far more credible and persuasive. People especially like testimonials from customers who have had success with the product. This is why the Amazon review section is always very influential. 
    • Quote (P. 139): “Body copy is seldom read by more than 10% of the readers of a publication. But that 10% consists of prospects — people interested enough in what you are selling to take the trouble to read about it. What you say to them determines the success of your advertisement.”
  • Copy! — Don’t be afraid to emulate somebody’s writing style or the way they present the content. Always be on the lookout for ways of improving, and don’t be afraid to incorporate what you find as you create your own style. Take pieces from multiple people. Steve Jobs and Joseph Sugarman have both said the same thing.
    • Quote (P. 88): “I’d like to propose a new idea for our age: until you’ve got a better answer, you copy. I copied Bob Gage for 5 years, I even copied the leading between his lines of type. And Bob originally copied Paul Rand, and Rand first copied a German typographer named Tschichold. I, too, started by copying. Working in a London agency, I used to copy the best American ads. Later, I began to do my own thing.”
  • Typography & Layout — Good typography and layout helps people read your content. You have to make it easy on the reader. There are techniques to use and a few to avoid. One example of bad technique involves capitalization. Copy set in all caps makes it hard on the reader — they have no ascenders or descenders to help recognize words. Another mistake is to put a period at the end of headlines. Periods are called full stops because they stop a reader in his tracks. You don’t want those in headlines. Other typography and layout tips include:
    • Subheads — Use a subhead that takes up two lines. This is the area between your main header and the body copy. 
    • Drop Initial — Use a drop initial to start the body copy. 
    • Opening Paragraph — Limit this to 11 words. It keeps things short and helps the reader build momentum. 
    • Use Body Headers — Headers within the body copy help separate the text and make the content more scannable. Again, you have to make things easy on the reader or they will bolt. Body headers are a great way to break up long blocks of text.
      • Quote (P. 146): “Cross-heads (body headers) give breathing space to your copy, and make it more readable. They should be written in such a way that skimmers get the main points of your sales story.”
    • Numbers & Bullets — Use bulleted and numbered lists often! These are especially useful when listing things out. 
  • Chapter Takeaway — The key to effective content writing is curiosity. You have to use headlines, subheads, body copy, and your visual element to grab and hold people’s attention. Most people do not read body copy, which is why headlines are critical. When it comes to body copy, the best thing you can do it make it easy on the reader with your layout.

Ch. 8: How to Make TV Commercials That Sell

  • TV Tips — Commercials are seen by a huge number of people and are therefore quite effective at selling products and services. Many of the techniques and strategies used in copywriting work very well in television. Curiosity is the key. Some tips for creating commercials:
    • Testimonials — People love testimonials, especially from folks who have bought an used the product. 
    • Problem & Solution — Show the viewer a problem and then show how your product solves it. Make it clear how your product or service will benefit the viewer. 
    • Show Product — Show the product in action. Get close-ups. Show it in its packaging. 
    • Voice Over vs. On Camera — People prefer to receive a message from someone who is on camera rather than hearing a voice over. 

Ch. 9: Advertising Corporations

  • Clear Objectives, Track Results — Most corporate campaigns fail because they don’t start with a clear objective and goal, and they don’t properly track the progress and performance of the campaign. A clear objective will help you make strong decisions on content, visual, and strategy. Data will tell you how good or bad the campaign performed, allowing you to make better decisions in future campaigns. 

Ch. 10: How to Advertise Foreign Travel

  • Show Location — When advertising destinations, make sure to provide great photos of popular locations. People dream about visiting foreign countries. Your job is to convert their dreams into action. This is best done by combining mouth-watering photos with how-to-do-it information. 

Ch. 12: Direct Mail, My First Love and Secret Weapon

  • Test, Test, and Test Some More — When it comes to putting together digital ads and email campaign, testing is the name of the game. You can use A/B testing to test different elements of your content, from the visual concept and headline, to the CTA and button text. It costs money, but there are valuable insights you gain through testing that can significantly improve your click through rate, leads, and conversions. Once you find a certain layout and copy that is successful, you can use it as your base and try to improve it through additional testing. 
    • Quote (P. 144): “The more you test, the more profitable your direct mail will become. Once you have evolved a mailing which produces profitable results, treat it as the ‘control’ and start testing ways to beat it. Try adding a premium, or putting in an expiration date, or adding enclosures — like a personalized letter from your President. They cost money, but if they increase your profit, why worry?”
  • Limited Time Only! — One of the most effective sales techniques that can be incorporated into your content involves the psychological law of scarcity. People are more likely to move and take action when they feel that they might miss their chance at something great. A few lines that can get people moving include: 
    • Limited Edition
    • Limited Supply
    • Limited Time Only
    • Time Is Running Out
    • Only A Few Spots Left 

Ch. 15: Eighteen Miracles of Research

  • Frame the Benefit — As discussed several times throughout this book and a few others, one of the keys to copywriting is focusing on how the product or service will benefit the customer. How will your product or service help the customer with a pain point or just generally live a better life? Don’t just list features; link them to the customer in a way that shows how the features will benefit him/her.
    • Quote (P. 160): “Advertising which promises no benefit to the consumer does not sell, yet the majority of campaigns contain no promise whatever. (That is the most important sentence in this book. Read it again.).”