10 Important Quotes from the Father of Advertising David Ogilvi

On customer behavior: “Consumers [decide] to buy or not to buy [based on] the content of your advertising, not its form.”

“The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife.”

On the importance of headlines: “On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”

On hiring:* “Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine.”*

“If you always hire people who are smaller than you are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. If, on the other hand, you always hire people who are bigger than you are, we shall become a company of giants.”* ***

On ideas:  *“*The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.”

On partnership: “First, make yourself a reputation for being a creative genius. Second, surround yourself with partners who are better than you are. Third, leave them to go get on with it.”

On professionalism and work ethics: “Never write an advertisement which you wouldn’t want your family to read. You wouldn’t tell lies to your own wife. Don’t tell them to mine.”

“Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things.”

On improving your work:  “Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.”