Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.
David OgilvyRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The headline serves as a critical tool to attract potential customers to your advertisement.
David Ogilvy emphasizes the importance of headlines in advertising, stating that they function as an invitation for readers who are likely to be interested in the advertised product. A compelling headline not only grabs attention but also targets the right audience, ultimately guiding prospects toward the product being promoted.
Themes
HeadlineAdvertisingMarketingProspectsProduct
In practice
Example use cases
At a marketing seminar to highlight the importance of headlines in effective advertisements.
More from David Ogilvy
All quotes βSome 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
The creative process requires more than reason. Most original thinking isn't even verbal. It requires 'a groping experimentation with ideas, governed by intuitive hunches and inspired by the unconscious.' The majority of business men are incapable of original thinking because they are unable to escape from the tyranny of reason. Their imaginations are blocked.
David OgilvyRead
Similar quotes
You can say the right thing about a product and nobody will listen. Youβve got to say it in such a way that people will feel it in their gut. Because if they donβt feel it, nothing will happen.
William BernbachRead
A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stores and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer's decision to choose one product or service over another.
Seth GodinRead
Anyone who thinks that people can be fooled or pushed around has an inaccurate and pretty low estimate of people - and he won't do very well in advertising.
Leo BurnettRead
Marketing is not the art of finding clever ways to dispose of what you make. It is the art of creating genuine customer value.
Philip KotlerRead
Advertising nourishes the consuming power of men.
Winston ChurchillRead
Kodak sells film, but they don't advertise film; they advertise memories.
Theodore LevittRead