Ogilvy on Advertising

Classic book about how advertising a product comes about from the master, David Ogilvy

I bought this based on the opinion of Drayton Bird, who worked for Ogilvy. I found it immediately captivating, full of great advice, delivered with humour and insight. If you aspire to write better more engaging content, this is a great place to start. Will it make you a better writer? Probably help you avoid the biggest mistake, being boring in print.

Ogilvy presents his life's work in this book with such enthusiasm that it made me want to keep reading. The subjects of advertising style, research, copywriting execution, the use of creative images, and much more, were all covered, and covered very well. However, the one problem I found with this book is that the material is very dated. On subjects of market research, split testing and copywriting style, Ogivly discusses the way in which he improved the sales of literally thousands of different product-lines through successful advertising campaigns, but I couldn't help but to compare Ogilvy's dated methodology with the modern - and proven - methods which exist today. And some of Ogilvy's are wrong. For example, Ogilvy talks about the length of copy used in his ads. He states that longer copy works best to generate more sales revenue. Of course, this statement simply isn't true in today's world and is very much dependant on dozens of factors including medium of advert, product being advertised. The list goes on. I would highly recommend this book to anyone working in advertising and/or marketing, as the book provides some deep and meaningful advice for even the experienced marketing professional, but the reader should bear in mind the year in which this book was written before using some of the advice in his next advertising campaign.

I purchased this for a niece who is about to go to university because it is an outstanding book. It is also very well written.

Great book. Very instructional

Overall 5/5, some of the good aspects of the book: -actual layout and presentation, beautiful with coloured pictures, clear layout and font -quotes and research behind techniques -feels like you are talking to Ogilvy himself in the manner of the wording -covers all principles of advertising at that time drawbacks: -dated techniques (although Ogilvy states himself many times that its the principles to focus on, not the techniques) So for someone interested in advertising, its like a history book but feels very contemporary, it of course does not include the tech book hence much of advertising is not included such as the internet, social media etc but for its time and the principles covered 5/5

I thought this was a really interesting book written in an extremely honest, upfront and matter of fact way by a man who has done it all when it comes to the advertising industry. My only real problem with the book that it is now quite outdated, very obviously in many parts. However, this is really just a result of time and progress rather than a direct reflection on the book itself....and even allowing for this, it is a really interesting read and a book that I would recommend for anyone working in the advertising / branding industries.

A fantastic book on advertising and learning what works due to, ultimately, human habits and behaviour. I first heard of Ogilvy when I saw a Tweet by Rory Sutherland, who is hilarious and works for this advertising agency (check out his videos on YouTube by the way). It is amazing that in this book the author says that almost all of the things that work in advertising are well known, have been for some time (all methods are explained here too) and most of the creative people who work in Ad agencies all over the world ignore these principles and keep trying to reinvent the wheel. This frustrates the author more than anything! I also didn't know how to distinguish advertising between agencies. However, through illustrations of Ogilvy's big clients and campaigns over the years, this has increased my awareness from absolutely zero to quite a decent level. This was a great educational book to read and great to put ALL of these principles into practise if you want to promote your own business.

A must-read classic for every advertising professional. Excellent binding, print, and paper quality. Without reading this, your knowledge in advertising will always be incomplete.

Gran libro si estudias publicidad o afin.

Einer der Klassiker, die es sich auf jeden Fall lohnt, zu lesen. Erzählt ja indirekt vom Aufstieg der Konsumgesellschaft, und vom Wertewandel. Gerade wer nich aus der Werbebranche kommt, oder sich bestens mit Adblockern auskennt, kann hier etwas für sich mitnehmen, zumindest wenn er einen Draht für Zeitgeschichte hat. Es muß ja nicht immer Krieg und Kolonialpolitik sein.

Un libro senza tempo che - a dispetto dell'età - ogni persona che si occupa di marketing o advertising dovrebbe leggere. Ha il pregio di essere un libro pieno di concetti teorici abbinati a molti casi di studio/esempi pratici che non possono non tornare utili nel trasmettere la filosofia di Ogilvy. Alcune pagine/capitolo sono effettivamente anacronistici e poco irrilevanti ma nel complesso il libro rimane una pietra miliare nella letteratura di settore. Qualche punto in meno lo darei per la condizione non perfetta in cui ho ricevuto il libro ma quello è un altro aspetto.

A great read to get a base on marketing