David Ogilvy (businessman) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
David Ogilvy
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David Mackenzie Ogilvy
23 June 1911 West Horsley, Surrey, England, United Kingdom
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| Died | 21 July 1999 (aged 88) Château de Touffou, Bonnes, France
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| Occupation | Advertising executive |
| Children | David F. Ogilvy |
| Relatives | Ian Ogilvy (nephew) |
David Mackenzie Ogilvy was a famous British advertising expert. He started the well-known company Ogilvy & Mather. Many people called him the "Father of Advertising" because of his big impact on the industry.
David Ogilvy believed that good advertising came from careful research. He studied what people liked and how they behaved. This helped him create very successful ad campaigns for products like Rolls-Royce cars, Dove soap, and Hathaway shirts.
Contents
Early Life and First Jobs (1911–1938)
David Mackenzie Ogilvy was born in England on June 23, 1911. His father was a stockbroker, and his mother was Dorothy Blew Fairfield.
He went to school at Fettes College in Edinburgh. Later, he won a scholarship to Oxford University to study history. However, he left Oxford after two years without finishing his exams.
In 1931, David worked as a kitchen helper at a hotel in Paris. After a year, he went back to Scotland. There, he started selling AGA cooking stoves door-to-door. He was so good at selling that his boss asked him to write a guide for other salespeople. This guide, called The Theory and Practice of Selling the AGA Cooker, was later called the best sales manual ever written by Fortune magazine.
David's older brother, Francis, worked at an advertising agency in London called Mather & Crowther. When Francis saw David's sales manual, he helped David get a job there in 1935.
Working with George Gallup (1938–1948)
In 1938, David Ogilvy convinced his agency to send him to the United States. He went to work for George Gallup's Audience Research Institute. Gallup was a big influence on Ogilvy. He taught David the importance of careful research and sticking to facts.
During World War II, Ogilvy worked for the British Intelligence Service in Washington, D.C. He studied how people behaved to help with diplomacy and security. He even suggested using Gallup's research methods for secret intelligence work. This idea was used successfully in Europe during the war.
After the war, Ogilvy bought a farm in Pennsylvania and lived among the Amish people. He enjoyed the peaceful life there for several years. But he soon realized farming wasn't for him, so he moved to Manhattan to start a new career.
Starting Ogilvy & Mather (1949–1973)
In 1949, David Ogilvy started his own advertising agency in New York. He had some help from Mather and Crowther, the London agency where his brother worked. The new company was called Ogilvy, Benson, and Mather. David started with only $6,000.
Ogilvy & Mather was built on David's strong beliefs. He thought that advertising should always aim to sell products. He also believed that successful ads came from knowing a lot about the people who would buy the product. He didn't like ads that were loud or talked down to customers. He felt customers should be treated as smart people.
His agency became famous for many well-known ad campaigns:
- The "man in the Hathaway shirt" with his eye patch.
- "The man from Schweppes is here," which introduced Commander Edward Whitehead and "Schweppervescence" to the U.S.
- A famous headline for Rolls-Royce: "At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock."
Ogilvy believed that the best way to get new clients was to do amazing work for the clients he already had. His early successes helped him get big clients like Rolls-Royce and Shell. His company grew very quickly. In 1962, Time magazine called him "the most sought-after wizard in today's advertising industry."
In 1973, Ogilvy retired as chairman of Ogilvy & Mather. He moved to his estate, Touffou, in France. Even though he wasn't running the company day-to-day, he stayed in touch. He wrote so many letters that the local post office in Bonnes had to be upgraded! A film called "The View From Touffou" was made at his home, where he shared his advertising tips.
Later Years and Legacy (1989–1999)
David Ogilvy came out of retirement in the 1980s. He served as chairman of Ogilvy, Benson, & Mather in India. He also spent a year as temporary chairman of the agency's German office. He traveled around the world, visiting company branches and meeting clients.
In 1989, a British company called WPP Group bought The Ogilvy Group. David Ogilvy was 75 years old at this time.
David Ogilvy received many honors for his work. He was made a Commander of the Order of British Empire (CBE) in 1967. He was also added to the U.S. Advertising Hall of Fame in 1977. In 1990, France gave him the Order of Arts and Letters. He also helped many important organizations, like the Lincoln Center and the World Wildlife Fund.
David Ogilvy passed away on July 21, 1999, at his home in France.
Books and Philosophy
David Ogilvy wrote four books about advertising and his life:
- Confessions of an Advertising Man (1963)
- Blood, Brains & Beer: The Autobiography of David Ogilvy (1978)
- Ogilvy on Advertising (1983)
- The Unpublished David Ogilvy (1986)
His book Confessions of an Advertising Man is a classic guide to advertising. Ogilvy on Advertising shares his general thoughts on the industry.
Ogilvy's advertising ideas were based on four main principles:
- Creative brilliance: He believed in having a strong "BIG IDEA" for every campaign.
- Research: He always stressed how important research was. He even called himself the research director when he first opened his agency.
- Real results for clients: He said it's not enough to be creative; you also have to sell what you create.
- Professional discipline: He preferred to work with knowledge rather than guessing. He created training programs for young advertising professionals.
While he was famous for building brands, Ogilvy was also very interested in direct marketing. This is advertising that tries to get an immediate response, like ordering something right away. He even used direct mail to promote his own agency when he started it.
See also
In Spanish: David Ogilvy para niños
