David Ogilvy citations

“Les téléspectateurs ont tendance à se souvenir de la vedette et à oublier le produit. je ne savais pas cela quand j'ai payé Eléanor Roosevelt 35 000 dollars pour faire un film publicitaire pour de la margarine. Elle me dit par la suite que son courrier était partagé en deux: "La moitié de mes correspondants étaient tristes parce que j'avais porté atteinte à ma réputation. L'autre moitié était heureuse parce que j'avais porté atteinte à ma réputation."”

“Tenez toujours vos réunions commerciales dans des pièces trop petites pour le nombre de participants, même s'il faut pour cela, les tenir dans les WC. Les salles bourrées créent une atmosphère de succès, comme dans les théatres et les restaurants, alors qu'une pièce à moitié vide inspire l'échec.”

“A 60 miles à l'heure dans cette nouvelle Rolls-Royce on n'entend que le bruit de la pendule électrique”

“Quand quelqu'un est nommé directeur d'un bureau du groupe Ogilvy & Mather, je lui envoie une poupée matrioshka de Gorky! S'il a la curiosité de l'ouvrir, et s'il continue à ouvrir jusqu'à ce qu'il arrive à la plus petite poupée, à l'intérieur il trouvera ce message: "Si chacun d'entre nous engage des gens qui sont plus petits que nous, nous deviendrons une société de nains. Mais si chacun d'entre nous engage des gens plus grands que nous ne sommes, nous deviendrons une société de géants.”

“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.”

“Hard work never killed a man. Men die of boredom, psychological conflict, and disease. They do not die of hard work.”

“The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife. You insult her intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid adjectives will persuade her to buy anything. She wants all the information you can give her.”

“Where people aren’t having any fun, they seldom produce good work.”

“When someone is made the head of an office in the Ogilvy & Mather chain, I send him a Matrioshka doll from Gorky. If he has the curiosity to open it, and keep opening it until he comes to the inside of the smallest doll, he finds this message: If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.”

“… there are now unmistakeable signs of a trend in favor of superior products at premium prices. The consumer is not a moron, she is your wife.”

“At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.”

“Always hold your sales meetings in rooms too small for the audience, even if it means holding them in the WC. 'Standing room only' creates an atmosphere of success, as in theatres and restaurants, while a half-empty auditorium smells of failure.”

“Never Write an Advertisement Which You Wouldn't Want Your Own Family To Read. You wouldn't tell lies to your own wife. Don't tell them to mine. Do as you would be done by.”

“Viewers have a way of remembering the celebrity while forgetting the product. I did not know this when I paid Eleanor Roosevelt $35,000 to make a commercial for margarine. She reported that her mail was equally divided. "One half was sad because I had damaged my reputation. The other half was happy because I had damaged my reputation."”

“When someone is made the head of an office in the Ogilvy & Mather chain, I send him a Matrioshka doll from Gorky. If he has the curiosity to open it, and keep opening it until he comes to the inside of the smallest doll, he finds this message: If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs.”