Coming soon · Book Profile
Ogilvy on Advertising
A master adman distills decades of experience and research into a practical, opinionated guide to producing advertising that actually sells products.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
David Ogilvy, the legendary founder of Ogilvy & Mather, sets out everything he learned about creating advertising that makes the cash register ring. Rejecting the cult of 'creativity' for its own sake, he argues that advertising is a medium of information whose only legitimate purpose is to sell. Drawing on factor analyses, direct-response results, and his own celebrated campaigns for Rolls-Royce, Hathaway, Dove, Schweppes and Puerto Rico, Ogilvy lays out concrete principles for headlines, illustrations, body copy, layout, television commercials, direct mail, and corporate advertising. He also covers how to get a job in advertising, how to run an agency, how to win clients, and how to compete with giants like Procter & Gamble. Witty, dogmatic, and grounded in evidence, the book is both a how-to manual for practitioners and a manifesto for accountability in advertising.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- An ambitious copywriter, account executive, agency leader, or marketer who wants to produce advertising that sells and build a successful career or business.
- The problem
- Their advertising fails to move the sales curve and wastes their clients' money. They feel uncertain whether their work actually works, and anxious about failure.
- The plan
- Do your homework on product, competitors, and consumers.
- Position the product and decide on a consistent brand image.
- Invent a big idea and make the product the hero.
- Promise a benefit in your headline and use proven print and TV techniques.
- Test, learn from research and direct response, and repeat your winners.
- The payoff
- Advertising that measurably increases sales and market share. · A respected reputation and a flourishing career or agency. · Clients who trust you because your work makes their cash register ring.
See our guide
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Additional reading
- Marketing 3.0: From Products to Customers to the Human Spirit · Philip Kotler, Hermawan Kartajaya, and Iwan Setiawan
The book discusses the evolution of marketing to a more values-driven, human-centric approach, which aligns with the textbook's emphasis on social responsibility and holistic marketing.
- Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind · Al Ries and Jack Trout
Referenced in the textbook as a foundational work on the concept of brand positioning, a core topic of marketing strategy.
- The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference · Malcolm Gladwell
The book's concepts of 'Mavens, Connectors, and Salesmen' are discussed as a way to understand how ideas and trends spread through social networks, relevant to word-of-mouth and viral marketing.
- The Long Tail · Chris Anderson
Discussed in a 'Marketing Insight' box, this book proposes that the internet enables profitable selling of a large number of niche products, challenging traditional retail and market segmentation strategies.
- Marketing Management · Philip Kotler and Kevin Keller
The book mentions this text as the 'most widely used marketing textbook in graduate schools of business worldwide,' co-authored by the primary author of this book, suggesting it as a more advanced follow-up.
- Blue Ocean Strategy · W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
The book explicitly references and explains this strategic framework for creating 'uncontested market spaces,' presenting it as an alternative to head-to-head competition.
- Competitive Strategy · Michael Porter
The book recommends this text for readers who wish to explore the vital subject of competitive strategy in more depth, which is an essential prerequisite to setting appropriate marketing objectives.
- The Marketing Audit: translating marketing theory into practice · Malcolm H. B. McDonald
Mentioned in the preface as a companion text to this book, containing exercises designed to provide a practical bridge between marketing theory and practice for managers.
- Marketing in the Service Sector · John M. Rathmell
Cited frequently throughout the book as a foundational text that helped establish services marketing as a distinct field of study in the 1970s.
- Breaking Free from Product Marketing · G. Lynn Shostack
This seminal 1977 'Journal of Marketing' article is referenced by many authors in the proceedings for its powerful argument that services require a fundamentally different marketing approach and for introducing conceptual tools like 'molecular modeling'.