The Most Sought After Wizard
in the Advertising Business
His influence on the advertising industry was so remarkable that Advertising Age called him "one of the greatest creative minds in the advertising business" …
Time Magazine called him "the most sought after wizard in the advertising business" …
And if there was a Copywriter’s Hall of Fame, I have no doubt there would be a bronze statue of him displayed prominently in the foyer; right next to Caples, Schwartz, Hopkins, Reeves and every other genius that paved the way for today’s greats.
I’m speaking, of course, of David Ogilvy.
Frankly, if you’re a copywriter and don’t have a copy of "Ogilvy on Advertising" – coffee-stained, worn, wrinkled and dog-eared – on your bookshelf, you’ve probably been ripping off your clients.
So imagine my surprise when I opened my mail one day to find an ordinary three-ring binder stuffed to the gills with well-preserved copies of direct response marketing classics …
Not the least of which is a collection of house ads that ran in the 60s and 70s for Ogilvy & Mather – the New York advertising agency Mr. Ogilvy founded in 1948 (then named Ogilvy, Benson and Mather) with just $6,000 in his account.
These ads are based upon the same timeless principles that guided him throughout his career. Namely, that the function of advertising is to sell and that successful advertising for any product is based on information about its consumer.
I recently unearthed this classic collection of ads again, so for this week’s Swipe of the Week, I’ve decided to share a few of them with you. Including one written by the great ad man himself titled, "How to create advertising that sells."
The scan quality isn’t the best (the quality of my copies isn’t the greatest either), but I guarantee you the wisdom they impart is priceless.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.
Until next time …
Yours for greater profits,
Paul Maxey
Makepeace-Trained Copywriter
Supplement to THE TOTAL PACKAGE
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4 Comments »
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Comment by mark — July 30, 2010 @ 8:12 am
Love your headline…
Great post…keep up the good info.
Comment by Roberta — July 30, 2010 @ 4:03 pm
It was a great time and they were all special campaigns. No 140 characters. No abbreviated words but still the headlines were strong, the message emotive. The principles have not changed just the delivery methods and the VOLUME of messages coming at people every day.
Thanks for the reminder.
Comment by Nick — July 30, 2010 @ 11:49 pm
Hey Paul - great post!
Yes - Ogilvy was the ad man - how about his nice little castle for when he had when he wasn’t in the office.
Thanks for building the nice swipe file - one can never have too many swipes.
You do have a place on my hard drive : )
Nick Teetzel … “Keep up the great work!”
Comment by walter daniels — July 31, 2010 @ 6:03 pm
These, like all the previous ones are great to have. Not to imitate, but to use for ideas. I will happily steal ideas from anyone that might spark a new headline for me. There are never enough good ideas floating around in my head.