David Ogilvy

I avoid clients for whom advertising is only a marginal factor in their marketing mix. They have an awkward tendency to raid their advertising appropriations whenever they need cash for other purposes.

The headline is the ‘ticket on the meat.’ Use it to flag down readers who are prospects for the kind of product you are advertising.

Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things.

Advertising reflects the mores of society, but it does not influence them.

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, the language they use every day, the language in which they think. We try to write in the vernacular.

Does advertising corrupt editors? Yes it does, but fewer editors than you may suppose… the vast majority of editors are incorruptible.

Ninety-nine percent of advertising doesn’t sell much of anything.

It’s not just about being better. It’s about being different. You need to give people a reason to choose your business.

Determine to do some thinking for yourself. Don’t live entirely upon the thoughts of others. Don’t be an automaton.

Owning a great golf course gives you great power.

I never trust an executive who tends to pass the buck. Nor would I want to deal with him as a customer or a supplier.

There is a time and place for all things to be successful. There is fate and destiny and opportunity, and you need all three things in line at the same time.

A monopoly of jobs in this country is just as bad as a monopoly of bread!

Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.

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.

Business is the art of extracting money from another man’s pocket without resorting to violence.

It’s a new endeavour for me. I’ve never run a territory. I’ve never talked publicly to people. I’ve got to try it just to see whether I like it.

Competition whose motive is merely to compete, to drive some other fellow out, never carries very far.

Do not spend too much time planning or trying to anticipate and solve problems before they happen. That is just another kind of excuse for procrastination. Until you start, you won’t know where the problems will occur. You won’t have the experience to solve them. Instead, get into action, and solve the problems as they arise.

Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine.

What’s the quickest way to become a millionaire? Borrow fivers off everyone you meet.