11 Timeless lessons from the Father of Advertising

​In 1962, Time magazine called David Ogilvy “the most sought-after wizard in today’s advertising industry.” In his years as an advertising executive and copywriter, David Ogilvy (often called the father of advertising) created some of the world’s most successful and iconic marketing campaigns. 

His lessons on advertising from the pre-internet era are still quite relevant and important in a world dominated by the internet. I’ve compiled a list of 11 such lessons that are important for every Digital Marketer today. Sticking to these 11 pearls of wisdom by David Ogilvy can give you phenomenal success in the world of digital advertising.

Here’s what David Ogilvy has to say:

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

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

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.

A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.
I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information.

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

If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think. We try to write in the vernacular.

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

It has been found that the less an advertisement looks like an advertisement and the more it looks like an editorial, the more readers stop, look, and read.

Do not address your readers as though they were gathered together in a stadium. When people read your copy, they are alone. Pretend you are writing to each of them a letter on behalf of your client.

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