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 OgilvyRead
On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Most people only pay attention to headlines rather than the detailed content.
This quote by David Ogilvy emphasizes the importance of crafting engaging headlines because they capture the attention of a larger audience compared to the body of the text. It suggests that marketers, writers, and communicators must focus on creating compelling headlines to draw readers in, as the majority will not delve deeper into the content unless the headlines pique their interest.
Themes
HeadlinesReadingContentAttentionEngagement
In practice
Example use cases
In a marketing seminar, you could use this quote to highlight the significance of headlines in advertising.
More from David Ogilvy
All quotes βOur business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.
David OgilvyRead
Some manufacturers illustrate their advertisements with abstract paintings. I would only do this if I wished to conceal from the reader what I was advertising.
David OgilvyRead
Much of the messy advertising you see on television today is the product of committees. Committees can criticize advertisements, but they should never be allowed to create them.
David OgilvyRead
The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.
David OgilvyRead
Experience has taught me that advertisers get the best results when they pay their agency a flat fee. It is unrealistic to expect your agency to be impartial when its vested interest lies wholly in the direction of increasing your commissionable advertising.
David OgilvyRead
Similar quotes
And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or thinks anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformity up to the highest possible point. A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are still young and tender; therein they are pressed into certain standard shapes and covered from head to heels with official rubber-stamps.
H. L. MenckenRead
This is the sense in which I am obliged to be a listener. To listen to the student's doubts, fears, and incompetencies that are part of the learning process. It is in listening to the student that I learn to speak with him or her.
Paulo FreireRead
Give your child a single valuable idea, and you have done more for his education than if you had laid upon his mind the burden of bushels of information.
Charlotte MasonRead
Knowledge is not simply another commodity. On the contrary. Knowledge is never used up. It increases by diffusion and grows by dispersion.
Daniel J. BoorstinRead
The librarian's mission should be, not like up to now, a mere handling of the book as an object, but rather a know how (mise au point) of the book as a vital function.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
There are kids don't want to do something because they're afraid of looking stupid to their peers. There comes a time when they start protecting themselves, instead of extending. I want to make sure that they're always trying to extend themselves.
Mike KrzyzewskiRead