David Ogilvy has my back.
How do I know?
Well, it says so on the mug I drank my coffee from this morning. đ
I want to talk about him todayâŚand not because he is responsible for buying my houseâŚwhich is a reference to last weekâs 2-minute video where O.G. copywriter Drayton Bird gave Ogilvy credit for buying hisâŚbecause he bought Draytonâs business).
Thatâs just a fun fact.
But I want to talk about Ogilvy in a different way todayâŚin terms of how he lived his lifeâŚboldly, confidently, and with a commitment to his core valuesâŚand excellenceâŚwith a healthy dose of humility.
Of the six legends profiled in my first book, The Advertising SolutionâŚand the advertising industry in generalâŚit is Ogilvy where all âadvertisingâ (and dare I say direct response marketing) flows from.
And why did Ogilvy see the value in buying Draytonâs agency?
In this 48-second video, he will tell you in his own words.
Also, Dan Kennedy assured me in his endorsement of my second book, Overdeliver, that Ogilvy would still have my back if he was around today:
Ogilvy was right when he ranted to his own agencyâs staff [like he did in the 49-second video above] that only the mail-order [i.e. direct response marketing] people knew what the hell they were doing, and were Ogilvy alive, he would applaud Brianâs work here.
Dan made my day with that oneâand added some additional credibility to my book as well.
Ogilvy and Kennedy are both heroes of mine.
One I never met but have studied; and one who I have had the privilege of working with and partnering with and have studied as well. But today we will focus on Ogilvy and save Kennedy for another day.
Why do I revere David Ogilvy?
Because he was the most pronounced direct marketer trapped in a general advertiserâs body.
But being trapped didnât keep him silent. Watch the 48-second video above.
And he was the inspiration for Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm), the main character of the TV series Mad Men, without the bawdy stuff (well, I canât say for sure how much of Don is derived from Ogilvy).
Also without full throated loyalty to advertising without a direct return on investment.
That is, Ogilvy was a stand for measurable and accountable advertising.
He was a creative genius (Ogilvy, not Draper or Hamm) âŚand a pioneerâŚwho understood âdirect marketingâ before it was ever talked about separately from âadvertising.â
Also, Ogilvy did NOTâŚ
ââŚregard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information. When I write an advertisement, I donât want you to tell me that you find it âcreative.â I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product.â
Imagine that. Writing ads that work. đ
The subject line of todayâs post refers to one of the most famous headlines Ogilvy ever wrote (and pays homage to his monumental book, Confessions of an Advertising Man)âand I was able to find a copy of the original ad for you:
It’s not a classic direct response ad but the words are pure poetry (embedded with unique benefits)âŚI am not going to critique the ad today (nor am I qualified to do that)âŚbut note that it says there is a list of dealers listed on the opposite page and a phone number at the bottom of the ad.
So there’s that.
In addition to his yearning addiction to measure everything he did, whenever I think of David Ogilvy, maybe sitting alone in that quiet car, or at his desk, or even on the set of âThe David Letterman Show,â I think more about his humility rather than his fame and fortune.
Although in the Letterman interview (link above), his healthy ego also comes through.
But it ainât bragging if you did itâŚthe pride he talks about when referring to his work was earned.
Partially by following his own advice:
He has been deemed the âFather of Advertisingââbut there is so much in his writing that tells me he understood that one of the keys to life was surrounding yourself with people smarter than yourself.
I found this quote from him which supports that thesis:
Relating this Ogilvy-ism to the car ad above, the moral is that you donât get very far, even in a quiet Rolls-Royce travelling at 60 miles an hour, without having people in your life who can lift you up to be your best and who are ââŚbetter than you areâŚâ
And that premise should be good enough for us too to practice this brand of humility as standard operating procedure in our lives.
I labeled this as “confident humility” in a post from 2018, which led off with another classic quote from Ogilvyâand talked about the thin line between confidence and arrogance (with a dash of humility):
I love quoting Ogilvy (obviously) because he followed a philosophy that all the greats of direct marketing followed (and you can extend this philosophy to other industries and career paths).
When it comes to copywriters, Iâve spoken in the past that it never bothered the companies I grew up with in the 1980âs, nine and even ten figure companies like Phillips Publishing and Agora), a practice that is still alive in some circles (although AI is whittling away at that practice, often fraudulently).
It was (is?) to pay copywriters what they deserved and earnedâŚoften more in royalties for a winning promotion than what they paid any of their full-time employees in salaryâŚincluding what the owners of those companies took home as well.
That is the extremeâŚbut you get the idea.
You must pay to playâand pay even more to play with the best.
Which leads to todayâs theme, going a bit deeper than âconfident humilityâ, along with a homework exercise:
If you can combine supreme confidence in yourself with a huge dose of humility (and not a hint of arrogance), you will have a wonderful life and career.
Using this formula, the best-of-the-best will flock to you and always want to work with you and for youâand not just because you are paying them the most money.
Since I believe that has been my prescription for success (he says without arrogance), it led me to the most difficult task during the writing of my book, Overdeliver.
The acknowledgements section.
The good news is that I have been around long enough (Iâm entering my 45th year in direct response) to meet so many amazing people in all areas of direct marketing, copywritingâand everything related to this wonderful industryâand in that section I had an opportunity to acknowledge all of them.
The bad news is I didnât want to forget anyoneâand I know I probably did.
One thing I realized while compiling the list of acknowledgments is all that âmeeting and greetingâ (and many meals) was a lot less superficial than I thoughtâŚevery person I mentioned in this section of my book (itâs well over 500, and as I said, I know I forgot at least a few), contributed something meaningful to me.
And hopefully I did enough for them to make their âacknowledgements sectionâ someday. However, I am not seeking reciprocal recognition.
Which leads me to your homeworkâa beginning-of-the-year exercise (note that itâs only February, not too late to be the beginning)âand an exercise I highly recommend you do, one that will be a lot more fulfilling than thinking about a bunch of New Yearâs resolutions you have broken already:
Write the acknowledgments section of YOUR book right now, based on your life to this pointâŚeven if you never have any intention of ever writing a book.
I think you will be surprised (and feel incredibly blessed) when you see how many people have contributed to your successâŚand how many lives you have changed for the better as well.
You may even have a âGeorge Bailey momentâ while doing thisâ and if you donât, go watch the classic film Itâs a Wonderful Life immediatelyâand then write your acknowledgements. đ
Another bonus of doing this exercise will be to keep your ego in check as we begin the New Yearâbut hopefully it will also give you additional confidence too.
On keeping your ego in check, heed the warning of the great John Caples (another âMad Manâ in the spirit of Ogilvy, also profiled in The Advertising Solution.
If you decline my invitation to do this âacknowledgments exercise,â beware the dark cloud of hubris creeping into your work (as Caples warned marketers and copywriters with this quote):
âThe most frequent reason for unsuccessful advertising is advertisers who are so full of their own accomplishments (the worldâs best seed!) that they forget to tell us why we should buy (the worldâs best lawn!).â
Hopefully I havenât dwelled on my own accomplishments too muchâŚI am aware I often doâŚbut itâs in the spirit of making you âbuyâ (i.e. my arguments more than my educational products).
If these things have worked for me for almost 45 years in business, they have been at a minimum road tested for a long time.
Thatâs something, isnât it?
Back to Ogilvy and his craft:
âNever stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improvingâ
To give you additional confidence, if you do this exercise, you will have a written document (i.e. âyour complete list of acknowledgments through 2025â) reminding you how many people have your back.
And as a bonus, you’ll have something written so you can’t complain about where to begin when you sit down to write your opus. Consider this a head start. đ
Iâll proclaim like everyone else to lose 10 pounds as a New Yearâs resolutionâŚbut while I know that I will forget about that declaration by January 15th, I also know that I will never forget all the people who participated in getting me so âfatâ in the first place.
Even in February.
You know, the âgood fat,â like avocadosâŚand enabling me to be light enough to stand on the shoulders of giants.
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. If you couldn’t tell from this post–or almost every post I write–“standing on the shoulders of giants” is as close to my mantra as anything else.
I wear it like a badge of honorâŚand I thank my lucky stars every day for those giants paying attention to meâŚand in return, I never pass up an opportunity to be their director of public relations.
And that’s coming from someone who has said “public relations (along with “publicity” and “branding”), in a silo with no measurability, gives me hives.”
I have shared this 13 minute video in the pastâŚit was scheduled for 10 minutes but I got a little carried awayâŚand it’s one of my favorites to prove how standing on the shoulders of giants (who invented stuff we use every day) has shaped my careerâŚand the careers of thousands.
And I would love your feedback, insights, or anything you would like to share regarding your own heroes and how they have shaped your careers.
Who do you stand on the shoulders of?
While I make nothing on the sales of my books, if you would like to check out either one (or both), click on the links below (rather than going directly to Amazon)âŚso you get a host of bonuses which are actually more valuable than my books.
Which I am not sad about.
In fact, it makes me giddy to share some of the most valuable resources (books, courses, swipe files and more)–all free–from the greats of direct response marketing when you buy my two books here:
For The Advertising Solution, click here.
I’ll show you what it means to be the best public relations director for my mentors. đ