I have deep respect for Ogilvy (that’s David Ogilvy, not the same as the agency he left behind). One of the key concepts he promoted was the one of the supremacy of the brand, with savvy marketers being its stewards.
I respect him as a marketer but I love his focus on getting the SALE. I sorely miss this perspective in today’s ad agencies. I’m re-reading his Confessions of an Advertising Man for N-th time.
Take almost any two paragraphs (these come from the chapter “How to be good client”):
Mail-order advertisers have found that a mere change of head-line can increase sales ten times; and I have seen television commercials sell five times as much of a product as other commercials written by the same man.
I know of a brewer who sells more of his beer to the people who never see his advertising than to the people who see it every week. Bad advertising can unsell a product.
That’s about four times “sell” (counting “unsell” as well). An amazing old book. Simply a must-have.