David Ogilvy

It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big idea.

The advertisers who believe in the selling power of jingles have never had to sell anything.

Like a midwife, I make my living bringing new babies into the world, except that mine are new advertising campaigns.

Advertising is a business of words, but advertising agencies are infested with men and women who cannot write. They cannot write advertisements, and they cannot write plans. They are helpless as deaf mutes on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera.

Advertising reflects the mores of society, but it does not influence them.

Set exorbitant standards, and give your people hell when they don’t live up to them. There is nothing so demoralizing as a boss who tolerates second rate work.

Nothing can be made except by makers, nothing can be managed except by managers. Money cannot make anything and money cannot manage anything.

When you are in real estate, you are going to make some mistakes.

A touch of the jitters sharpens the mind, gets the adrenaline flowing and helps you to focus.

There are good examples of companies – Coca-Cola is one – that invested before there was a huge market in countries, and I think that ended up playing out to their benefit for decades to come.

This is serious business. But it doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun along the way.

Exchange ideas frequently.

Sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make.

We can serve our customers well only if our buying jobs are right. You cannot sell if you haven’t ordered wanted goods into your store.

When people are ‘stung’ in false investment schemes there are three causes; greed of something for nothing; sheer inability to know their mind; or infantile trustfulness.

I always kind of see how I want things to be better, and I’m generally not happy with how things are or the level of service that we’re providing for people or the quality of the teams that we built. But if you look at this objectively, we’re doing so well on so many of these things. I think it’s important to have gratitude for that.

[On his first job in the mailroom of William Morris a casting agency] It was the first time in the my life that I thought ‘I can do that.’

Hire character. Train skill.

It was always my practice to train salespeople under my direct supervision, and to treat children with the utmost consideration.

What’s the quickest way to become a millionaire? Borrow fivers off everyone you meet.

Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.