The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife.
DAVID OGILVY
DAVID OGILVY
More from David Ogilvy
Remove advertising, disable a person or firm from proclaiming its wares and their merits, and the whole of society and of the economy is transformed. The enemies of advertising are the enemies of freedom.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy Ninety-nine percent of advertising doesn’t sell much of anything.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy Many manufacturers secretly question whether advertising really sells their product, but are vaguely afraid that their competitors might steal a march on them if they stopped.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy It strikes me as bad manners for a magazine to accept one of my advertisements and then attack it editorially – like inviting a man to dinner then spitting in his eye.
David OgilvyDavid 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 OgilvyDavid Ogilvy I notice increasing reluctance on the part of marketing executives to use judgment; they are coming to rely too much on research, and they use it as a drunkard uses a lamp post for support, rather than for illumination.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy You now have to decide what ‘image’ you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like people, have personalities, and they can make or break them in the market place.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy Like a midwife, I make my living bringing new babies into the world, except that mine are new advertising campaigns.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy Never write an advertisement which you wouldn’t want your family to read. You wouldn’t tell lies to your own wife. Don’t tell them to mine.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy Some manufacturers illustrate their advertisements with abstract paintings. I would only do this if I wished to conceal from the reader what I was advertising.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy Advertising reflects the mores of society, but it does not influence them.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy The secret of long life is double careers. One to about age sixty, then another for the next thirty years.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy The advertisers who believe in the selling power of jingles have never had to sell anything.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.
David OgilvyDavid Ogilvy
Original quotes
From our community writers
You were fully clothed in lies, I was naked in truth. Still, when morning came It was I who survived the cold.
Obehi Vessel A.Obehi Vessel A. I loved you as Icarus loved the sun- too close, too much.
David JonesDavid Jones We attract who our souls need to grow.
Mark AnthonyMark Anthony You’re my bad habit, on this dark planet, light up my world like stars, now they’re ashes.
Chris AllchinChris Allchin Permanence is a wonderful magician. Now you see him, next he goes on to perform the greatest disappearing act of all time.
Hamilton K. AmadiHamilton K. Amadi Live to be happy not to impress.
Hayley EvansHayley Evans You shined your light on all the things I’ve been trying so hard to hide.
CindyCindy You are the love I could never escape not that I would ever want to.
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Meet the writers
More on consumer
To get into the consumer’s mind, you have to sacrifice.
Al RiesAl Ries A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer.
Al RiesAl Ries Brand leadership, of course. Leadership is the single most important motivating factor in consumer behavior.
Al RiesAl Ries When a company is able to establish a dominant market position, consumers lose meaningful choices.
Al FrankenAl Franken I don’t that they’re very keen to reduce the price of oil. The consumers are those who are the victims so I think that the producers, the governments, some of them, they’re enjoying the high revenue that they get.
Ahmed Zaki YamaniAhmed Zaki Yamani We must become expressions of, not consumers of, realization.
AdyashantiAdyashanti It is not really about them though it targets them as consumers.
Adrienne RichAdrienne Rich I love market research because you really have an idea of what your consumers are looking for.
Aerin LauderAerin Lauder