A retrospective on David Ogilvy’s life and work
David Ogilvy believed in the power of copy – specifically, long-form copy – because he thought that those who were willing to read it were those who were deeply interested in the product, writes Jessica Swanda.
If you’re in advertising, you’ve no doubt heard the name David Ogilvy, the “Father of Advertising.” Some people believe he was the inspiration for the character Don Draper from the television hit Madmen.
Regardless, his ads in the 1950s and 1960s made quite a splash, because they were remarkably different from the day’s normal ads. Even today’s advertisers can look back and admire the creativity of his work and the genius of his advertising philosophies.
A life before advertising
To see a brief background of Ogilvy’s life, we must transport back to England in the early 1900s. His family couldn’t afford college tuition, so he attended Christ Church in Oxford on a scholarship. But he dropped out before graduating. For a short time, he was a cook for the Hotel Majestic in Paris but was unsatisfied with the job and returned to England.
When David Ogilvy was around there weren’t hundreds of thousands (millions?) of free websites potentially vying for your attention.
Not to mention the 100 years of gratis YouTube videos to watch. (With all those self-created experts (and good luck to them!) getting those big global audiences.
Agreed, of course, Ogilvy was one stylish, brilliant, pioneer.
Good point Rick!
But equally in a sea of crap content, it’s also easier to stand out than ever. When expectation is low, great need only be good.
The problem is that everyone is spending more time talking about algorithms and visibility than good ideas and human behaviour.
@ Rick – I guess you are saying that creating the best advertising ideas and copy is more important than ever ?
This article would be better if ‘Schweppes’ hadn’t been misspelled multiple times.
Thanks David, we’ve fixed those mistakes.
Regards,
Paul Wallbank
News Editor
I miss Flash Websites.
Both the craft, and the expense of creating them.
this article would have been better if they didn’t refer to a 38 year old as ‘middle aged’. you’ve ruined my day
Indeed.
Thanks for an excellent article on an exceptional man.
Happily, advertising occasionally attracts brilliant outliers like Ogilvy. His success and background proves that the person and the life they’ve lived is so much more important than their CV.
I was lucky enough to see Ogilvy speak in Toronto while he was promoting ‘Ogilvy on Advertising’. During the Q&A, a pompous lady in the audience asked him “Mr Ogilvy, how would you promote Canada?” He looked at her and slowly answered “Madam, I would only answer that, for money.”