David Ogilvy

The Father of Modern Advertising

David Ogilvy is considered to be the "father of modern advertising." His methodologies and professional philosophies revolutionized the marketing industry, and they continue to play an important role in the marketing industry today. The foundation of his marketing principles was research, creative brilliance, professional discipline and results.

Research

Research is the cornerstone of the Ogilvy marketing principle. This is because his background was in research, and this is what he knew. David Ogilvy felt that the success of any marketing campaign was dependent on the amount and quality of research that the marketing professional did. He felt that it was very important to know the target demographic that you were trying to reach before you started working on the advertising campaign.

Professional Discipline

Professional discipline was another cornerstone for the Ogilvy marketing philosophy. This element of his philosophy put a great deal of stock in the importance of professional training. Ogilvy felt that knowing your craft was as important to a successful marketing campaign as the creative aspects of the campaign's design.

Creative Brilliance

Another important element of the Ogilvy marketing campaign was creative brilliance. Ogilvy felt that generating "the Big Idea" was key to the success of a marketing firm, and a marketing campaign. Ogilvy himself was credited with several "Big Ideas" during his career including the slogan, "at 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock."

Results

The final element of the David Ogilvy successful marketing philosophy was results. He felt that creative genius was basically useless if you couldn't sell your ideas afterward. This means that successful marketing executives not only needed to be creative professionals, but they also needed to be able to sell themselves and their ideas to their clients.

Learning More about David Ogilvy

During his life David Ogilvy wrote three books on marketing and his marketing philosophy. These books included 'Confessions of an Advertising Man' published in 1963, 'Blood, Brains & Beer' published in 1974 and 'Ogilvy on Advertising.' All of these books are great reference materials for marketing professionals.

David Ogilvy's Legacy

The original Ogilvy advertising agency was opened back in 1948. It was very modest with only two employees and no clients on the opening roster. However, as his marketing methodologies delivered success the Ogilvy Empire grew. Today there are more than 350 Ogilvy offices located around the globe.