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David Mackenzie Ogilvy (; 23 June 1911 – 21 July 1999) was a British
advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...
tycoon, founder of
Ogilvy & Mather Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging with a New York City a ...
, and known as the "Father of Advertising." Trained at the Gallup research organisation, he attributed the success of his campaigns to meticulous research into consumer habits. His most famous campaigns include
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
,
Dove Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...
soap, and Hathaway shirts.


Early life (1911–1938)

David Mackenzie Ogilvy was born on 23 June 1911 at
West Horsley West Horsley is a semi-rural village between Guildford and Leatherhead in Surrey, England. It lies on the A246 road, A246, and south of the M25 motorway, M25 and the A3 road, A3. Its civil parishes in England, civil parish ascends to an ancient ...
, Surrey in England. His mother was Dorothy Blew Fairfield, daughter of Arthur Rowan Fairfield, a civil servant from Ireland. His father, Francis John Longley Ogilvy, was a
stockbroker A stockbroker is an individual or company that buys and sells stocks and other investments for a financial market participant in return for a commission, markup, or fee. In most countries they are regulated as a broker or broker-dealer and ...
. He was the first cousin once removed of the writer
Rebecca West Dame Cecily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...
and of Douglas Holden Blew Jones, who was the brother-in-law of Freda Dudley Ward and the father-in-law of
Antony Lambton Antony Claud Frederick Lambton (10 July 1922 – 30 December 2006), also known as Lord Lambton or Tony Lambton, was a British aristocrat who served as a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1951 to 1973. Styled as Viscount Lambton from 1941 t ...
, 6th Earl of Durham. Ogilvy attended
St Cyprian's School St Cyprian's School was an English preparatory school for boys, which operated in the early 20th century in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Like other preparatory schools, its purpose was to train pupils to do well enough in the examinations (usual ...
, Eastbourne, on reduced fees because of his father's straitened circumstances and won a scholarship at age thirteen to
Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational private boarding and day school in Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in ...
, in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
. In 1929, he again won a scholarship, this time in history, to
Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...
. He left Oxford after two years, having failed his exams. In 1931, he became a kitchen hand at the Hotel Majestic in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. After a year, he returned to Scotland 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, ''The Theory and Practice of Selling the AGA Cooker'', for the other salesmen. Thirty years later, ''
Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...
'' magazine editors called it the finest sales instruction manual ever written. After seeing the manual, Ogilvy's older brother Francis Ogilvy—the father of actor
Ian Ogilvy Ian Raymond Ogilvy (born 30 September 1943) is an English actor, playwright and novelist. Early life Ogilvy was born in Woking, Surrey, England, to Francis Fairfield Ogilvy, brother of advertising executive David Ogilvy, and actress Aileen R ...
—showed the manual to management at the London advertising agency Mather & Crowther where he was working. They offered the younger Ogilvy a position as an account executive, which he took up in 1935.


At Gallup (1938–1948)

In 1938, Ogilvy persuaded his agency to send him to the United States for a year, where he went to work for
George Gallup George Horace Gallup (November 18, 1901 – July 26, 1984) was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a statistics, statistically-based survey sampling, survey sampled measure of opinion polls, public ...
's Audience Research Institute in
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. Ogilvy cites Gallup as one of the major influences on his thinking, emphasizing meticulous research methods and adherence to reality. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Ogilvy worked for the British Intelligence Service at the British embassy in Washington, DC. There he analysed and made recommendations on matters of diplomacy and security. According to a biography produced by
Ogilvy & Mather Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging with a New York City a ...
, "he extrapolated his knowledge of human behaviour from
consumerism Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...
to
nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
in a report which suggested 'applying the Gallup technique to fields of secret intelligence.
Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
's Psychological Warfare Board picked up the report and successfully put Ogilvy's suggestions to work in Europe during the last year of the war. Also during World War II, Ogilvy was a notable alumnus of the secret
Camp X Camp X was the unofficial name of the secret Special Training School No. 103, a Second World War British paramilitary installation for training covert agents in the methods required for success in clandestine operations. It was located on the n ...
, located near the towns of
Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...
and
Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...
in Ontario, Canada. According to an article on the camp: Although Ogilvy was trained in sabotage and close combat, he was ultimately tasked with projects that included successfully ruining the reputation of businessmen who were supplying the Nazis with industrial materials. After the war, Ogilvy bought a farm in
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster County (; ), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States ...
, and lived among the
Amish The Amish (, also or ; ; ), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church fellowships with Swiss people, Swiss and Alsace, Alsatian origins. As they ...
. The atmosphere of "serenity, abundance, and contentment" kept Ogilvy and his wife in Pennsylvania for several years, but eventually he admitted his limitations as a farmer and moved to
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
.


The Ogilvy & Mather years (1949–1973)

Having worked as a chef, researcher, and farmer, Ogilvy then started his own advertising agency with the backing of Mather and Crowther, the London agency being run by his elder brother, Francis, which later acquired another London agency, S.H. Benson. The new agency in New York was called Ogilvy, Benson, and Mather. David Ogilvy had just $6,000 ($59,726.72 in 2016 dollars) in his account when he started the agency. He writes in ''Confessions of an Advertising Man'' that, initially, he struggled to get clients. Ogilvy also admitted (referring to the pioneer of British advertising Bobby Bevan, the chairman of Benson): "I was in awe of him but Bevan never took notice of me!" They would meet later, however. Ogilvy & Mather was built on David Ogilvy's principles; in particular, that the function of advertising is to sell and that successful advertising for any product is based on information about its consumer. He disliked advertisements that had loud patronizing voices, and believed a customer should be treated as intelligent. In 1955, he coined the phrase, " The customer is not a moron, she's your wife" based on these values. His entry into the company of giants started with several iconic advertising campaigns. Former First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
did a commercial for Good Luck Margarine in 1959. In his autobiography, ''Ogilvy on Advertising'', he said it had been a mistake to persuade her to do the ad – not because it was undignified, but because he had grown to realize that putting celebrities in ads was a mistake. Ogilvy & Mather instead created celebrities in several campaigns, such as its work for Hathaway shirt, which used
George Wrangell Baron George Wrangell (September 1, 1903, Russian Empire - June 8, 1969, New York City) was a Russian-American advertising model, noted as originating the role of "The Man in the Hathaway Shirt" in a long-running advertising campaign, one of Ameri ...
as ''"the man in the Hathaway shirt"'' sporting his aristocratic eye patch, and
Schweppes Schweppes ( , ) is a soft drink brand founded in the Republic of Geneva in 1783 by the German watchmaker and amateur scientist Johann Jacob Schweppe; it is now made, bottled, and distributed worldwide by multiple international conglomerates, de ...
, which introduced Commander
Edward Whitehead Walter Edward Whitehead (20 May 1908 – 16 April 1978), also known as Commander Whitehead, was an advertisement representative of Schweppes Tonic Water, playing himself as a suave and cosmopolitan man of taste and distinction in a widely-distrib ...
, the elegant bearded Briton, to bring Schweppes and "Schweppervescence" to the U.S. with the line ''"The man from Schweppes is here"''. The firm also promoted the
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
automobile with the famous headline, ''"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 notable work for his existing clients. Success in his early campaigns helped Ogilvy get big clients such as Rolls-Royce and
Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...
. New clients followed and Ogilvy's company grew quickly. He was widely hailed as the "Father of Advertising". In 1962, ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' called him "the most sought-after wizard in today's advertising industry". In 1973, Ogilvy retired as chairman of Ogilvy & Mather and moved to Touffou, his estate in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. While no longer involved in the agency's day-to-day operations, he stayed in touch with the company. His correspondence so dramatically increased the volume of mail handled in the nearby town of Bonnes that the post office was reclassified at a higher status and the postmaster's salary raised. The film "The View From Touffou" was made at the estate; in it, Ogilvy recounts his advertising guidelines. Ogilvy & Mather linked with H.H.D Europe in 1972.


Life with WPP and afterward (1989–1999)

Ogilvy came out of retirement in the 1980s to be chairman of Ogilvy, Benson, & Mather in India. He also spent a year acting as temporary chairman of the agency's German office, commuting weekly between Touffou and
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
. He visited branches of the company around the world, and continued to represent Ogilvy & Mather at gatherings of clients and business audiences. In 1989, The Ogilvy Group was bought by
WPP Group WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It is the world's largest advertising company, as of 2023. WPP plc owns many companie ...
, a British parent company, for $864 million (US) () in a
hostile takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (law), company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast t ...
made possible by the fact that the company group had made an
IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
as the first company in marketing to do so. During the takeover procedures, Sir
Martin Sorrell Sir Martin Stuart Sorrell (born 14 February 1945) is a British businessman and the founder of WPP plc, the world's largest advertising and PR group, both by revenue and the number of staff. Sorrell was the longest-serving chief executive of a ...
, the founder of WPP, was described by Ogilvy as an "odious little shit", and he promised to never work again. (Reports softened it to "odious little jerk", and when Martin Sorrell signed his next company report, he followed the signature with the letters OLJ.) Two events followed simultaneously, however: WPP became the largest marketing communications firm in the world, and David Ogilvy was named the company's non-executive chairman (a position he held for three years). Eventually he became a fan of Sorrell. A letter of apology from Ogilvy adorns Sorrell's office, which is said to be the only apology David Ogilvy ever offered in any form during his adult life. Only a year after his derogatory comments about Sorrell, he was quoted as saying, "When he tried to take over our company, I would have liked to have killed him. But it was not legal. I wish I had known him 40 years ago. I like him enormously now." At age seventy-five, Ogilvy was asked if there was anything he'd always wanted but had somehow eluded him. His reply was, "Knighthood. And a big family - ten children." His only child, David Fairfield Ogilvy, was born during his first marriage, to Melinda Street. That marriage ended in divorce (1955) as did a second marriage to Anne Cabot. Ogilvy married Herta Lans in France in 1973. Ogilvy was appointed
Commander of the Order of British Empire Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries, t ...
(CBE) in the
1967 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1967 were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, on the occasion of the official birthda ...
. He was elected to the U.S. Advertising Hall of Fame in 1977 and to France's
Order of Arts and Letters The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...
in 1990. He chaired the Public Participation Committee for
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
in Manhattan and was a member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 100th Anniversary Committee. He was appointed Chairman of the
United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities. ...
in 1968, and trustee on the Executive Council of the
World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...
in 1975. Ogilvy was inducted into the Junior Achievement Worldwide Global Business Hall of Fame in 1979. David Ogilvy died on 21 July 1999 at his home, the Château de Touffou, in Bonnes, France.


Works

Ogilvy authored four books: * '' 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 book on advertising. His book ''Ogilvy on Advertising'' is a general commentary on advertising. His book ''The Unpublished David Ogilvy'' publishes selections from his private papers. Ogilvy appears in one film: * ''The View From Touffou'' The film was made at his estate Château de Touffou in Bonnes, France. In the film, he recounts his life in advertising and gives his advice, principles, and guidelines for his advertising campaigns and strategies. Ogilvy's advertising philosophy followed these four basic principles: * Creative brilliance: had a strong emphasis on the " BIG IDEA". * Research: coming, as he did, from a background in research, he never underestimated its importance in advertising. In fact, in 1952, when he opened his own agency, he billed himself as research director. * Actual results for clients: "In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create." * Professional discipline: "I prefer the discipline of knowledge to the anarchy of ignorance." He codified knowledge into slide and film presentations he called Magic Lanterns. He also instituted several training programs for young advertising professionals. While Ogilvy was most famous for building and establishing brands, he was primarily interested in direct marketing. He initially built his agency using a direct mail promotion. He ran direct response advertisements in major newspapers to generate leads. In a video titled, "We Sell or Else", he praised direct marketers and direct marketing while pillorying "general" or branding advertising, at one point saying that branding people "worship at the altar of creativity."


Notes


References

* Ogilvy, D. (1983), ''Ogilvy on Advertising'', John Wiley and Sons, Toronto, 1983 (and Pan Books, London, 1983 ). * Ogilvy, D. (1963), '' Confessions of an Advertising Man'', Atheneum, Revised edition, 1988, . * Terry, Dan'l (1994), "David Ogilvy" in ''The Ad Men & Women'', Edd Applegate, ed., Greenwood, Westport, CT, 1994 * Roman, Kenneth (2009) ''The King of Madison Avenue''. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 6XS, England


Further reading

* Conant, Jennet ''The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington'' (Simon and Schuster, 2008)


External links

*
Ogilvyisms, timeline and classic ads.


—contains lengthy excerpt from a speech by Ogilvy

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogilvy, David 1911 births 1999 deaths British advertising executives Advertising theorists British copywriters Anglo-Scots People educated at Fettes College People educated at St Cyprian's School Marketing theorists British marketing people Branding theorists 20th-century British economists People from Surrey (before 1965) WPP plc people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire