David Ogilvy

Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image.

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

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 a business of words, but advertising agencies are infested with men and women who cannot write. They cannot write advertisements, and they cannot write plans. They are helpless as deaf mutes on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera.

It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big idea.

A well-run restaurant is like a winning baseball team. It makes the most of every crew member’s talent and takes advantage of every split-second opportunity to speed up service.

Investors are visionaries in some respects – they look beyond the present.

The union organizers are asking us to sit still while it sells our men the jobs that have always been free.

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

When two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary.

Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman – not the attitude of the prospect.

The relationship between a manufacturer and his advertising agency is almost as intimate as the relationship between a patient and his doctor. Make sure that you can life happily with your prospective client before you accept his account.

I will build a motor car for the great multitude – constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. So low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one-and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God’s great open spaces.

It’s all too easy to miss out on the important moments in life because you’re too busy staring at your phone.

The thought in my mind was that I must be a good merchant. If I were a good merchant, the rest would probably take care of itself.

You now have to decide what ‘image’ you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like people, have personalities, and they can make or break them in the market place.

Only a fool never changes his mind.

This is serious business. But it doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun along the way.

Some people have so much respect for their superiors they have none left for themselves.

A brand is two words: the ‘Promise’ you telegraph, and the ‘Experience’ you deliver.

Burdening people with debt is an old deal not a new deal.