David MacKenzie Ogilvy (June 23, 1911–July 21, 1999) has been often called 'The Father of Advertising'. He was known for a career of expanding the bounds of both creativity and morality. His first ad showed a naked woman, something he later admitted he was ashamed of. He reiterated in his book, "Ogilvy on Advertising", that nudes should be shown only they serve a functional purpose, not irrelevently. He mentions in his book about a series of three ads in 1981 in France. (This was not done by him.) The first ad showed a beautiful woman in a bathing suit and the caption said "On September 2, I will take off my top". On September 2 a second ad showed the same woman wearing only the thong from her bathing suit and the caption said "On September 4, I will take off the bottom". By September 4th the buzz was intense. Every man was eager to see if she would keep her promise. She did. (If you wish to see the three ads they are in (Ogilvy, D 1983 : page 26 - 27) Ogilvy was a staunch believer in Research.
His book "Ogilvy on Advertising" is a commentary on advertising, and not all the ads shown in the book are his.
Timeline
The Early Years (1911–1938)
David Mackenzie Ogilvy was born on June 23 1911 at West Horsley , Surrey, the son of a classics scholar and financial broker. At the age of 13 he attended a Fettes, preparatory school in Edinburgh, and won a scholarship in history to Christ Church College, Oxford six years later in 1929. Without the scholarship he would have been unable to attend university because his father's business was badly hit by the depression of the mid-twenties. In the event, his studies were unsuccessful and he left Oxford for Paris in 1931 without graduating. He became an apprentice chef in a hotel. After a year in Paris he returned to England and started selling Aga cooking stoves door-to-door. His success at this marked him out to his employer, who asked him to write an instruction manual for the other salesmen. His older brother Francis, who was working for the London advertising agency Mather & Crowther, showed this manual to the agency management, who offered Ogilvy a position as an account executive. In 1938 he persuaded the agency to send him to the United States for a year.
At Gallup (1938–1948)
In 1938 Ogilvy came to America and joined Gallup.
The O&M Years (1965–1973)
He retired in 1973.
Life with WPP and afterwards (1989–1999)
In 1989 The Ogilvy Group was bought by WPP, a British holding company, for US$864 million. The purchase made WPP, which also owned the advertising agency J.Walter Thompson and a number of other companies, the largest marketing communications firm in the world. Ogilvy served as WPP's non-executive chairman for three years.
External links
References
- Ogilvy, D. (1983), Ogilvy on Advertising, John Wiley and Sons, Toronto, 1983 ISBN 051755075X (and Pan Books, London, 1983 ISBN 0330269852).
- Ogilvy, D. (1985), Confessions of an Advertising Man, Atheneum, Revised edition, 1988, ISBN 0689708009
