David Ogilvy quotes

David Ogilvy was a British advertising executive, often called the "Father of Advertising." His innovative campaigns and emphasis on research transformed the advertising industry. He is remembered for his lasting influence on modern marketing and creative strategy. Here are 88 of his quotes:

The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.

David Ogilvy

The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be.

David Ogilvy

Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.

David Ogilvy

The consumer isn't a moron she is your wife. You insult her intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid adjectives will persuade her to buy anything. She wants all the information you can give her.

David Ogilvy

There are now unmistakeable signs of a trend in favor of superior products at premium prices. The consumer is not a moron, she is your wife.

David Ogilvy

Always hold your sales meetings in rooms too small for the audience, even if it means holding them in the WC. 'Standing room only' creates an atmosphere of success, as in theatres and restaurants, while a half-empty auditorium smells of failure.

David Ogilvy

Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.

David Ogilvy

Big ideas are usually simple ideas.

David Ogilvy

At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.

David Ogilvy

Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine.

David Ogilvy

Advertising is a business of words, but advertising agencies are infested with men and women who cannot write. They cannot write advertisements, and they cannot write plans. They are helpless as deaf mutes on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera.

David Ogilvy

When someone is made the head of an office in the Ogilvy & Mather chain, I send him a Matrioshka doll from Gorky. If he has the curiosity to open it, and keep opening it until he comes to the inside of the smallest doll, he finds this message: If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.

David Ogilvy

Political advertising ought to be stopped. It's the only really dishonest kind of advertising that's left. It's totally dishonest.

David Ogilvy

Viewers have a way of remembering the celebrity while forgetting the product. I did not know this when I paid Eleanor Roosevelt $35,000 to make a commercial for margarine. She reported that her mail was equally divided. "One half was sad because I had damaged my reputation. The other half was happy because I had damaged my reputation."

David Ogilvy

A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.

David Ogilvy

If you always hire people who are smaller than you are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. If, on the other hand, you always hire people who are bigger than you are, we shall become a company of giants.

David Ogilvy

Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things.

David Ogilvy

I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information.

David Ogilvy

Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.

David Ogilvy

What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it.

David Ogilvy

In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create.

David Ogilvy

First, make yourself a reputation for being a creative genius. Second, surround yourself with partners who are better than you are. Third, leave them to go get on with it.

David Ogilvy