26 Inspiring David Ogilvy Quotes That Give You Business And Advertising Lessons

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

David Ogilvy  

I don't know the rules of grammar. If you're trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language.

You Me Trying I

David Ogilvy  

The consumer isn't a moron. She is your wife.

David Ogilvy  

Hard work never killed a man. Men die of boredom, psychological conflict, and disease. They do not die of hard work.

Never

David Ogilvy  

Where people aren’t having any fun, they seldom produce good work.

David 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.

You

David Ogilvy  

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

You

David Ogilvy  

Develop your eccentricities while you are young. That way, when you get old, people won’t think you’re going gaga.

You Think Young

David Ogilvy  

Much of the messy advertising you see on television today is the product of committees. Committees can criticize advertisements, but they should never be allowed to create them.

You Never

David Ogilvy  

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  

Don't bunt. Aim out of the ballpark. Aim for the company of immortals.

David Ogilvy  

In my experience, committees can criticize, but they cannot create. ‘Search the parks in all your cities You’ll find no statues of committees.

Experience

David Ogilvy  

Don't bunt. Aim out of the ballpark.

David Ogilvy  

Sound an alarm! Advertising, not deals, builds brands.

David Ogilvy  

Consumers still buy products whose advertising promises them value for money, beauty, nutrition, relief from suffering, social status and so on.

Money

David Ogilvy  

The most effective leader is the one who satisfies the psychological needs of his followers.

David Ogilvy  

It isn’t the whiskey they choose, it’s the image.

David Ogilvy  

Only amateurs use short copy.

David Ogilvy  

Committees can criticize, but they cannot create.

David Ogilvy  

Said Winston Churchill, ‘PERFECTIONISM is spelled PARALYSIS.

David Ogilvy  

On average, helpful information is read by 75 per cent more people than copy which deals only with the product. This ad told how Rinso gets out stains. It was read and remembered

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.

You Business

David Ogilvy  

Concentrate your time, your brains, and your advertising money on your successes. Back your winners, and abandon your losers.

Money Time

David Ogilvy  

Any fool can write a bad advertisement, but it takes a genius to keep his hands off a good one.

David Ogilvy  

A psychologist flashed hundreds of words on a screen and used an electric gadget to measure emotional reactions. High marks went to darling. So I used it in a headline for Dove.

I

David Ogilvy  

Advertisements with long copy convey the impression that you have something important to say, whether people read the copy or not.

You

David Ogilvy