Learn Copywriting from The Father of Advertising
Have you heard of David Ogilvy?
If you answered no, I hope you’re not into the advertising business… otherwise, you better get acquainted.
I’m new to Copywriting. Very, very new. But even though I’m so green, and my background has nothing to do with marketing or advertising, I still knew who Ogilvy was. No, not before getting into Copywriting, but almost as soon as. That’s how influential this man is in advertising. You probably saw this quote:
“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy.”
Yep, this famous quote belongs to Ogilvy. Want to learn more gold nuggets like this one? Confessions of an Advertising Man delivers.
Ogilvy was an advertising tycoon, founder of one of the most prestigious advertising agencies, and sometimes called “The Father of Advertising”. Not for nothing. This British man took the American advertising scene by storm with his genius ads and enthusiastic work ethic.
I was excited to read his book, and it didn’t disappoint me. It’s a mix of autobiography with advertising tips and tricks. The book has a lot to offer to both those who write and make the ads as well as those who need the ad. Confessions of an Advertising Man follows Ogilvy as he braves the world until he finds his place on Madison Avenue. And then, he gives a lot of insights into building an agency, getting clients, choosing an agency, ditching clients and creating ads.
If you’re into Copywriting, it truly is an insightful book. It doesn’t go into too many details, templates, formulas or any magical earn six figures while writing from the beach spiel, but it offers you a lot of knowledge from one of the tycoons in the industry. For instance, Ogilvy teaches the reader The Magic Lantern — his method to indoctrinate all new staff. It’s a fascinating framework that you can apply to your work today. And he also teaches How to Write Potent Copy, with several tips on how to write your headline and body copy in the most effective way, not only using his own experience but also based on research.
“It is a mistake to use highfalutin language when you advertise to uneducated people. I once used the word OBSOLETE in a headline, only to discover that 43 per cent of housewives had no idea what it meant. In another headline, I used the word INEFFABLE, only to discover that I didn’t know what it meant myself.”
Now, my main pet peeve with this book is that I, personally, didn’t warm up to Ogilvy as a person at all. The guy is an advertising genius–I’m not going to deny that. He knew his way around clients and words alike, even if I don’t like all his methods. And he did teach me a bunch regarding advertising and copywriting. So thank you, Ogilvy, I appreciate it.
His personality, on the other hand… yikes, that I didn’t like very much. Well, not his job to please me, neither mine to like him. So all is well in the world. Or kind of. It’s still very unsettling to read a book where the only mention a woman gets is as a wife, even if the ads are directed to them, they’re wives. It’s all about advertising men, businessmen, etc. Don’t try to give me the “he’s a man of his times” BS line, because he clearly isn’t. If he were just a man of his time, he wouldn’t have been as successful as he was. And I think that might be what bothers me even more. Ogilvy is undoubtedly a brilliant man who, for some things, could see way ahead of his times.
I will give it to Ogilvy that he isn’t even the first man in advertising I have come across with quite a sexist approach to the business. And from what I read, that is a recurring theme in advertising, marketing and business books, especially the old school ones — they’re written for men, by men and mostly about men, unless they’re trying to sell your wife something (oh, yeah… even when she’s the customer, a woman isn’t just a woman, she has to be connected to her man).
Sorry (but not too sorry) about the long rant. It’s something that really annoys me. And I think it needs saying. The good news is there are plenty of women in the advertising arena today, doing pretty well, earning high incomes, and making their mark in the advertising world. And some of the other advertising legends, such as Sugarman, are more inclusive and aware of the mistakes of the past.
Confessions of an Advertising Man is a worthwhile read, especially if you are interested in advertising. There are plenty of gold nuggets of wisdom to be taken from this book, and it’s a pleasurable read. Ogilvy has other books about advertising, and I’m looking forward to reading them too.
Get your copy on Amazon (affiliate link).
PS: Ogilvy himself wrote an ad for this book, and the headline read: “Every secret but one is in this book”.
In the ad, he says that the secret he doesn’t reveal is “a technique for selecting ‘basic promises’ in advertising, so valuable that his partners forbid him to reveal it.” He compares his partners forbidding him to reveal this secret to a family of obstetricians in the eighteenth century who kept the forceps a secret for three generations.
And he, in fact, doesn’t reveal this one secret in his book. And although I read the book and made many notes, I couldn’t figure it out… Maybe when I have a bit more experience, I’ll grasp it.
If you know the secret technique, though, please do share.
Get yours now on Amazon US or Amazon UK (affiliate links).
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