Watched a great documentary on BBC4 last night about David Ogilvy.
Short of knowing Ogilvy had the best shade of red this side of the Economist I knew little about their history.
Ogilvy was behind this line, At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock. This is probably the most famous in advertising history.
He appreciated long copy, and I really liked his reasons for doing so. When they won the Shell account in 1960 the ads he came up with were copy heavy. He said it gave the brand a professional feel, one backed up by plenty of research. I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit lately for a piece I’m doing about writing in advertising and branding, so good for more ideas.
Ogilvy was also a champion of lists. I love lists, and run my life by them, so too did he, and to be sure his third wife Herta knew he really wanted to marry her he wrote her a list headed I love you because:
Another great hour of BBC goodness.