DAVID OGILVY: WHERE MARKETING WENT WRONG

Morning!

I’m not big on public places - especially when working. Alone & silent. Those are my 2 essentials for a good work environment.

But I made the fantastic decision to finish my book & write this breakdown from a nice quiet local coffee shop.

30 minutes later: a singer turned up and played live music to a packed house.

Perfect. Just what I wanted.

Anyway, I managed to finally finish Ogilvy On Advertising and it’s honestly been a huge eye-opener.

Ogilvy is widely regarded as the greatest advertiser to ever live.

Today, I’m going to break down the 6 key marketing lessons he taught me (that every marketer should know).

Let’s get into it!

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BREAKING DOWN THE STRATEGY

Today, you go on social media and get bombarded with marketing advice.

• “Here is how you grow on Twitter:”

• “The best ads look like this:”

• “6 copywriting tips”

Yet everyone who writes them… really doesn’t know much about advertising or marketing.

Maybe they’ve gained a few thousand followers, started an agency, or even made a pretty penny in the space.

But are they really the best source of marketing or advertising advice? For me, the answer is no.

So who should you take advice from?

Maybe someone who worked with the likes of Rolls-Royce & Shell?

Or someone who built one of the top 5 biggest ad agencies on the planet?

Or someone who literally got coined “The father of advertising”?

Well, that man is David Ogilvy and in 1983 he published all of his lessons on advertising in his book - ‘Ogilvy On Advertising’. 

I spent the last month studying the book from cover to cover.

Here are the 6 key marketing lessons that every marketer should know:

(You’ll be surprised how many we overlook nowadays.)

Lesson 1: Long Copy Sells

The advice you get today is to shorten everything. Shorter paragraphs. Shorter sentences. Shorter advertisements.

I’ve literally spent the last 2 years telling my team to do just this.

The reasons (or excuses) we use for writing shorter copy:

• “Attention spans are getting shorter.”

• “People don’t stay engaged for long.”

• “You have to make your marketing digestible.”

I’ve used all 3 of these excuses over the last 12 months. Then I read this line by Ogilvy:

Ouch! I know I’m no Yoda of copywriting, but damn Ogilvy!

He then goes on to say:

I felt like everything I’d been taught about copywriting was getting ripped from underneath my feet with every word I read.

But this wasn’t just a minor point in the book, long copy was something Ogilvy drilled home in nearly every chapter.

He showed stats. He showed studies. He showed results.

Long copy just converts better.

The question Ogilvy asked that really drilled it home for me: If your life depended on it and you had to write a letter to a prospect that convinced them to buy, how long would it be?

My answer: Probably 2-3 pages.

That’s when it clicked. You don’t shorten your copy to keep attention - you make it more engaging.

Lesson 2: Create Story Appeal

This is one of the most famous (and successful) ads of all time:

It also happens to be an Ogilvy ad.

And if you’ve been staring at it for a second, there is something very peculiar about it isn’t there… the man… he has an eye patch on?

Why does he have an eye patch?
Does he have no eye?
Is he a pirate?

That, good sir, is what Ogilvy calls “Story appeal”.

Over the last decade, brands have loved to use perfect models or images in their marketing & advertising.

Ogilvy would claim this is an example of agencies turning their back on proven research. Because it has been shown that photographs with an element of story appeal attract far above-average attention.

So Ogilvy would find ways to add story appeal to every ad he ran.

Like the Hathaway example, the model had 2 perfectly working eyes, Ogilvy just added the eyepatch - and in doing so added a story!

(Don’t pretend it didn’t catch your attention!)

Lesson 3: The Consumer Isn’t a Moron, She’s Your Wife

A classic Ogilvy quote that will go down in history.

But it’s important to understand the message behind it too. Because so many people in marketing or advertising think their role is to convince people to buy their products.

They don’t respect the consumer, don’t see them as intelligent, don’t empathise with them.

They just want to manipulate them to buy.

Ogilvy takes the complete opposite approach, he says that you should focus on showcasing why they need to buy your product.

Here’s an example of the differences in action:

Way 1 (Manipulate):

This ad doesn’t attempt to show you the benefits of smoking cigarettes, it just tries to manipulate you into following in the footsteps of someone you trust - your doctor.

Way 2 (Fact-Based):

Whereas this ad focuses on giving facts that showcase the benefits of shopping at Sears.

Nowadays, people love to glorify those using marketing to manipulate.

Whereas Ogilvy believes marketing is just showcasing the great aspects of a product and highlighting the benefits the audience will gain from using them.

Lesson 4: Use Helpful Information

Ogilvy is also a huge fan of advertising that educates.

In the book, he shows this ad that he created for Rinso:

Then explains that it worked so well because it was actually helpful.

He says:

Now I think about it, the only ads I ever actually read are those that are helpful. Like the short-form video ads that will explain how to do something.

Clearly Ogilvy spear-headed that trend and this little snippet was our reminder to give before we ask!

Lesson 5: Say What Only You Can Say

This Rolls Royce ad by Ogilvy is one of the most famous ads of all time:

And it works for one simple reason - it says the thing that only Rolls Royce can say. 

Too many brands play the “Better than” game where they attempt to show why they are a slightly better option than their competitors. 

Whereas Ogilvy would say you should focus on the 1 line that only you can say.

For Rolls Royce, that’s the quote above.

For Ryanair that might be: “From London To Paris for under £20”

For Nike, that might be: “The shoes that the best athletes wear”

When you find a line like that, the value, the benefit, the outcome it can all be heard through that one line.

And let me tell you… Ogilvy knew how to find that line!

Lesson 6: No Benefit = No Sale

Ogilvy said the most important line of the entire book was this:

Honestly, I went back & forth as to whether to include this as a lesson. It’s a classic marketing tip and I hate including cliché advice.

But Ogilvy specifically highlighted it as the most important line, so I thought it would be a sin to not include.

So just know that if this week you are publishing any ads or marketing that don’t include a promise of a benefit… Ogilvy will be turning in his grave because of you!!!

 🌱 THE GREENHOUSE

Things I’ve saved this week that are worth seeing:

• Shaan Puri on how to master storytelling. (See here)

• MFM Podcast - one of the best episodes. (See here)

• 5 steps to writing a book in 30 days. (See here)

TL;DR

1/ Long Copy Sells
2/ Create Story Appeal
3/ The Consumer Is Your Wife
4/ Use Helpful Information
5/ Say What Only You Can Say
6/ No Benefit = No Sale

Truly, I could go on and on with lessons I have learned from Ogilvy, but at some point, I’m just rewriting his own book. 🤣

The really big takeaway for me though was the “long copy” point.

I’ve spent so much of my marketing career thinking that shorter copy meant better copy.

My mistake was thinking that to write copy with clarity it had to be short. Ogilvy reminded me that it doesn’t!

You can have clarity, and write long copy.

The irony is, it doesn’t feel like long copy if it has that clarity!

Until next Sunday.

— Niall

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THAT’S ALL!

This has been a breakdown of lessons we can learn from David Ogilvy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy in your business!

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