Huub Koch | Creating Good Vibrations

david ogilvy

David Ogilvy
Confessions of an Advertising Man.

I could have chosen Ogilvy on Advertising, which is a mayor classic, but never outreaches the level of Ogilvy’s first time publication. Do we need to say more? If we should believe Confessions of an Advertising Man the answer should be yes!

Of course it takes a whole book to tell the reasons why. To be clear: There is one thing every designer should understand about advertising: Advertising is about sales. Sales means talking your way in by using words, or by writing copy. It means being a man of letters that raises interest by delivering huge promise and reaches his goals by being convincing.

Ogilvy, the lords mercy be upon him, was a copywriter and a former door-to-door salesman. He was a lot of other things too, for instance an entrepeneur who build an empire in advertising and lived in a castle, but you have to read the book to understand what this means and implies.

Everything that is written in this classical text is still true. It might be true that all depends on the levels you perform at, but when it is about business as usual everything remains the same.

Times have changed, David Ogilvy has left the planet and everybody is talking about experience design and interaction. Does oldtime advertising still matter? Just ask Ogilvy; you might be unpleasantly surprised to see that these old time stories still have meaning and hold truth … if you want to sell.