How To Create Advertising That Sells Ad By David Ogilvy

How to create advertising that sells

by David Ogilvy

Ogilvy & Mather has created over $1,480,000,000 worth of advertising, and spent $4,900,000 tracking the results.

Here, with all the dogmatism of brevity, are 38 of the things we have learned. 1. The most important decision. We have learned that the effect of your advertising on your sales depends more on this decision than on any other: How should you position your product? 2. Large promise. The second most important decision is what you promise. The promise is the benefit which you offer, and it must be important to the consumer. 3. Brand image. Every advertisement should contribute to the complex symbol which is the brand image. 4. Big ideas. Unless your advertising is built on a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. 5. A first-class ticket. It pays to give most products an image of quality—a first-class ticket. 6. Don't be a bore. Nobody was ever bored into buying a product. 7. Innovate. Start trends instead of following them. 8. Be suspicious of awards. The pursuit of creative awards seduces creative people from the pursuit of sales. 9. Psychological segmentation. Any good agency knows how to position products for psychological segments of the market. 10. Don't bury news. It is easier to interest the consumer in a product which has news value. 11. Go the whole hog. Most advertising campaigns are too complicated. 12. Testimonials. Avoid irrelevant celebrities. 13. Problem-solution. Before and after. 14. News. News can be a powerful selling tool. 15. Go the limit on research. Use research to find out what kind of advertising is most likely to sell your product. 16. Be well-mannered. A patronizing style will make people resent you. 17. Don't be a copy-cat. Nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else's advertising. 18. Be suspicious of committees. Committees can criticize advertisements, but they cannot write them. 19. Stand-up. The stand-up pitch can be effective if it is delivered with straightforward honesty. 20. Burrowing similarity. The average consumer now sees 20,000 commercials a year. 21. Animation & cartoons. Less than five percent of television commercials use cartoons or animation. 22. The consumer and identify herself with the character in the cartoon. 23. Facts. Factual commercials can be more effective than emotional commercials. 24. Humor. Ogilvy & Mather has made some emotional commercials which have been successful in the marketplace. 25. Headlines. On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. 26. Editorial layout. Ogilvy & Mather has discovered that photographs which arouse curiosity work well. 27. Story appeal. The more you tell, the more you sell. 28. Photographs. Ogilvy & Mather has discovered that photographs which arouse curiosity work well. 29. Editorial layout. Ogilvy & Mather has discovered that photographs which arouse curiosity work well. 30. Use photographs. Ogilvy & Mather has discovered that photographs which arouse curiosity work well. 31. Story appeal. The more you tell, the more you sell. 32. Photographs. Ogilvy & Mather has discovered that photographs which arouse curiosity work well. 33. Editorial layout. Ogilvy & Mather has discovered that photographs which arouse curiosity work well. 34. Use photographs. Ogilvy & Mather has discovered that photographs which arouse curiosity work well. 35. Story appeal. The more you tell, the more you sell. 36. Photographs. Ogilvy & Mather has discovered that photographs which arouse curiosity work well. 37. Editorial layout. Ogilvy & Mather has discovered that photographs which arouse curiosity work well. 38. Use photographs. Ogilvy & Mather has discovered that photographs which arouse curiosity work well.