David Ogilvy Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old David Ogilvy quotes, David Ogilvy sayings, and David Ogilvy proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create. David Ogilvy
The pursuit of excellence is less profitable than the pursuit of bigness, but it can be more satisfying. David Ogilvy
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. David Ogilvy
Play to win, but enjoy the fun. David Ogilvy
Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine. David Ogilvy
Never use tricky or irrelevant headlines… People read too fast to figure out what you are trying to say. David Ogilvy
In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create. David Ogilvy
Great hospitals do two things. They look after patients, and they teach young doctors. We look after clients, and we teach young advertising people. David Ogilvy
In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create. David Ogilvy
Consumer accountability drives quality and efficiency David Ogilvy
The secret of long life is double careers. One to about age sixty, then another for the next thirty years. David Ogilvy
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. David Ogilvy
Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it . . . . Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine. David Ogilvy
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. David Ogilvy
The headline is the most important element in most advertisements. It is the telegram which decides the reader whether to read the copy. David Ogilvy
The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible. David Ogilvy
Develop your eccentricities early, and no one will think you're going senile later in life. David Ogilvy
Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving. David Ogilvy
The secret of long life is double careers. One to about age sixty, then another for the next thirty years. David Ogilvy
What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form. David Ogilvy
The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be. David Ogilvy
Nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else's advertising. David Ogilvy
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. David Ogilvy
The success of a meeting often depends on having the right documents— proofs, artworks, schedules, research charts, etc.— present at the start of the meeting. All too often we arrive like plumbers, leaving our tools behind. David Ogilvy
Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine. David Ogilvy
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. David Ogilvy
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. If you tell lies about a product, you will be found out. David Ogilvy
The most important word in the vocabulary of advertising is TEST. If you pretest your product with consumers and pretest your advertising, you will do well in the marketplace David Ogilvy