While a journalism student at Wichita State University in the early 80’s, I was introduced to the wonderful world of advertising. One of the foremost leaders in the industry was David Ogilvy. Ogilvy had written Confessions of an Advertising Man in 1963 – considered required reading for any of us wanting an exciting career in advertising. I enjoyed Confessions, but my favorite book by Ogilvy was published in 1985 and was titled Ogilvy on Advertising. While I had been out of college a couple of years and was working at my first agency, I grabbed the book with enthusiasm and read it all in one night. I still have the book and refer to it often. I think David Ogilvy was a brilliant man with innovative ideas – not just about advertising, but about how to run a business. While times have changed immensely - especially in advertising and marketing - Ogilvy on Advertising contains many good relevant ideas that I continue to embrace – like the following:
"It is bad manners to use products which compete with your clients’ products. When I got the Sears Roebuck account, I started buying all my clothes at Sears. This bugged my wife, but the following year a convention of clothing manufacturers voted me the best-dressed man in America. I would not dream of using any travelers checks except American Express, or drinking any coffee but Maxwell House, or washing with any soap except Dove. As the number of brands advertised by Ogilvy & Mather now exceeds two thousand, my personal inventory is getting complicated.” David Ogilvy from the book, Ogilvy on Advertising
It makes sense to me that I should do business with those that do business with me. If you come to my home, you will see that I use Roberts Dairy products (or Hiland Dairy products when I am in their markets), my car was purchased from Markel, I take my dry cleaning to Max I. Walker and I get a flu shot each year from the Visiting Nurse Association. While these are just four of the visible brands in my day-to-day life, I will always have preference for my clients' products and services because I believe in their brands. As Mr. Ogilvy stated, it is just polite, and with my clients, it's even more than that. After working with these brands, some for more than 20 years, I know they are the best out there.
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