Six Ways to Excel in Business Today by Ruth McKay and Ben Cartwright
Ruth Mckay and Ben Cartwright from UNIQ The Academy for Entrepreneurs (www.souniq.co.uk) offer six ways to excel in business. Podcast recorded in Edinburgh on 15 September 2010.
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What would David Ogilvy (one of the original Mad Men) think of online marketing?
The American television series Mad Men has received rave reviews and awards for its depiction of a fictional New York advertising agency in mid 1960s. Part of it’s appeal is the attention to detail and thorough research the creators have given to everything, from the set, props, wardrobe and script. Indeed, several legendary advertising figures and campaigns are often mentioned in the boardroom conversations, David Ogilvy among them.
For viewers who are unfamiliar with advertising history and it’s key figures, David Ogilvy was an Englishman (born 1911) to a Scottish father and Irish mother. He attended Fettes College in Edinburgh then Oxford, but left before his degree to work as a chef in Paris, then returned to Scotland to sell AGA cookers, which he did very successfully.
His older and more successful brother, Francis, gave him a job in advertising agency in London, Mather & Crowther. David then moved to New York to seek new opportunities.
Between 1938 and 1948 he worked as a researcher for George Gallup, a British intelligence officer during the war and an Amish farmer in the post war years. During this time he read extensively on advertising and business management.
Returning to New York in 1948, he was instrumental in starting a new advertising agency Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson, & Mather. The agency would later be known as Ogilvy & Mather. His talent for writing and research (honed at George Gallup) coupled with hard work and a growing network of contacts, propelled Ogilvy’s fledgling agency to steadily win accounts for household brands and blue chip companies. Being British gave him a different perspective on American culture, which he used to his advantage.
Ogivily’s innovative theories on advertising were an antidote to what was prevalent at the time. Much advertising was too artistic, poetic and in his opinion, meaningless. Ogilvy believed advertising should sell the product and be memorable. Benefit and fact based headlines and copy was, in his view, the best way to achieve this, as this headline for Rolls Royce shows:
At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock
He also believed that any illustrations or photography in printed advertising should have story appeal and the ‘burr of singularity’, which is discussed later in this blog post.
While he personally created a handful of classic and enduring advertising campaigns for the likes of Rolls Royce, Hathway shirts, Dove, Guinness, Puerto Rico and British tourism, he eventually left the copy writing and creative input to his staff. Ogilvy ultimately became a figure head for the agency, regularly giving speeches, writing books, travelling around the world (he hated flying) and appearing on TV. In his later years, he believed he stopped working as a copywriter too early.
David Ogilvy’s Legacy
While Ogilvy wrote three books during his life time (he died in 1999) the most comprehensive about the man himself and his legacy is Ken Roman’s biography ‘The King of Madison Avenue’. Roman is one of the few people who could do justice to writing the first ever biography about David Ogilvy, since he started working at Ogilvy & Mather in 1963. Roman eventually became CEO and Chairman.
Ken Roman visited Edinburgh in 2009 to promote the book at a reading organised by The Drum magazine (see video clip below). This was followed by a visit to Ogilvy’s former school, Fettes College. Roman discussed the key moments of Ogilvy’s life, his qualities, failings and anecdotes from their decades of working together.
Having read Ogilvy’s two key books on advertising(‘Confessions’ and ‘Ogilvy on Advertising’) I was interested to find out more about the man himself and what lead him to create the legendary advertising and of course, the global agency. While his life was not without a dull moment (he married three times) it’s Roman’s assessment of Ogilvy’s legacy that helps us understand his relevance in advertising and business today. It also supports my views on what he would of thought of the new digital age we live in today.
It’s easy to focus solely on the advertising campaigns, Ogilvy influenced many aspects of the advertising business. We can credit him for:
- Encouraging business and corporations to adopt a brand image. He didn’t invent the idea but he championed it as early as 1955. All the Ogilvy & Mather offices had a consistent brand image, from the stationery, advertising and office interiors.
- He was instrumental in making the advertising a profession.
- Changed in the industry norm for charging commission to fees, like the legal profession
- Championed direct mail long before it’s prevalence in the 80s and 90s. Many organisations and businesses still appoint agencies to deliver direct mail campaigns today.
- Campaigns should be measured in terms of sales or results. Today many industry awards honour effectiveness in terms of sales, response or results.
- He abhorred agencies that created advertising to seek awards and recognition for creative inventiveness.
- He was a great leader, whose principles and values helped to build a major international agency that still exists today. Albeit, after a hostile takeover in 1989 by Martin Sorrell’s WPP Group.
- He showed respect for good manners in advertising, in dealing with clients, and in treating employees. In contrast to some of the petulant and egotistical personalities that have appeared in the marketing industry.
For me, one the most interesting sections in the book is the final chapter, titled ‘(More)Unpublished David Ogilvy’. This is a selection of memos, letters, speeches and articles from the files of his partners.
In one memo from 1973, Ogilvy supported working freelance or ‘moonlighting’: “We encourage moonlighting, particularly among our copywriters. It broadens their experience. It gives them more sense of responsibility. It increases their income – at no cost to us.”
He continues: “Only two rules. Chaps must not moonlight on competing accounts or for other agencies, and they must not be caught doing the work in office hours.”
What would David Ogilvy think of today’s digital platforms?
I agree with the author’s belief that Ogilvy would have approved of todays digital channels and social media, since they can be used for research, data capture as well as delivering a campaign. The web is full of dashboards for capturing data and statistics about an individual, brand or business. In addition to numbers, the sentiment can also be measured and filtered if needed. I am sure Ogilvy would have marvelled at these innovations and approved of their use in marketing.
Personalised content and location based advertising is the modern day equivalent of direct mail. However, from experience of working for large organisations, print based direct mail is still widely used, so digital channels haven’t replaced it entirely yet.
Incidentally, using the technology would have been beyond him. Ogilvy never used a typewriter, only freshly sharpened pencils. He rarely watched television and didn’t embrace it as an advertising medium. His contemporaries, such Bill Bernbach and Leo Burnett (often mentioned in Mad Men also) were the creatives blazing a trail with television.
Nowadays, you know, the creative departments and agencies are dominated by specialists in television. Their ambition is to win awards at festivals. They don’t give a damn whether their commercials sell, provided they entertain people and win awards. The won’t have anything to do with research if they can help it. These creative entertainer have done the advertising business appalling damage.
Using David Ogilvy’s advertising principles in your business
While many of today’s advertising creatives and writers owe a bigger debt to greats such as Bill Bernbach (Volkswagen adverts) and Leo Burnett (Malboro man and Jolly Green Giant campaigns) if your business needs to produce it’s own press or outdoor advertising they should adopt
Ogilvy’s approach of communicating the facts and benefits in an attractive and compelling way.
6 Degrees Networking, co-founder, Steven Mitchell adopted this approach for a series of shop window postcards for City Car Club. The postcards were nominated for a Chip Shop Award in 2008. The six cards simply convey the benefits of using City Car Club. You can view the postcards here.
Great advertising, Ogilvy was fond of saying, has a ‘burr of singularity’, something unusual enough to stick to the reader’s or viewer’s mind, the way a non-metaphoric burr sticks to your trousers. A burr could be a visual device in a print advertisement, like the eye patch conveying the aristocratic aura and story appeal of the Hathaway man. View this classic advert.
I keep on beating the drums for advertising that sells, and flogging those who think that advertising is entertainment. I will go to my grave believing that advertisers want results, and the advertising business may go its grave believing otherwise.
For anyone new to advertising and marketing Ogilivy’s first book Confessions (written in 1964) and his second one ‘Ogilvy on Advertising’ (written in 1982) are essential reading. He is a good writer and very quotable:
Search all the parks in all your cities. You’ll find no statues of committees.
Ogilvy’s third book was an autobiography ‘Blood, Beer and Brains’ which received mixed reviews, however, it was re-released in 1997 with new a title and additional material two years before he died at Château de Touffou, France on 21 July 1999.
Ultimately, Ogilvy has inspired many to embark on advertising as a career and his principles are widely advocated by many marketers and industry figures today. A recent campaign for Dos Equis beer pays homage to the Hathaway shirt campaign.
Not only did he pioneer a new direction for advertising he created successful advertising for many UK companies (such as Guinness, Rolls Royce and Schweppes) who were exporting to the US for the first time (view some these classic adverts here). This feat was recognised and he was awarded a CBE (he thought he deserved a Knighthood). Today Ogilvy & Mather creates campaigns for brands such as Cisco, Coca-Cola, IBM, Ikea and Yahoo! The agency employs 16,000 people spread over 173 cities around the world.