Confessions of An Advertising Man - Book Summary
Confessions of An Advertising Man - Book Summary
Confessions of An Advertising Man - Book Summary
fourminutebooks.com/confessions-of-an-advertising-man-summary
1-Sentence-Summary: Confessions Of An Advertising Man is the marketing bible of the 60s, written
by “the father of advertising,” David Ogilvy to inspire a philosophy of honesty, hard work and ethical
behavior in his industry.
When I started getting more interested in marketing in late 2012, I began to pay more attention
to the advertisements I saw on TV, billboards and around the web. As in the US, most ads run by
big corporations are bad. They either lack creativity, miss the point or the target audience, are
sloppily executed or downright confusing. But every once in a while, a really interesting spot
pops up.
Like this speed-reading train ride video for Deutsche Bahn, or this moving story of a truck driver
coming home for Christmas from Coca-Cola. I soon learned that these rare exemptions weren’t
due to a sudden spark of genius in those companies’ PR departments, but because they hired
advertising agencies.
In Germany (and across the globe) Ogilvy & Mather is one of the most famous ones, and it was
founded by the author of Confessions Of An Advertising Man, David Ogilvy, in 1948. Ogilvy is
known as the “father of advertising” and had a huge impact on the industry during his lifetime,
especially in the 60s, promoting honesty, ethics and hard work as a philosophy for marketers.
I love marketing, but I do believe there’s a lot to be done to bring these exact values back to it in
2016 and beyond, especially considering that today, every single one of us is a media company.
That’s why I’m excited to share 3 lessons from Confessions Of An Advertising Man with you:
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1. Only market things you believe in.
2. Advertising is meant to sell, not to entertain.
3. Use facts, mystery and the latest research to create good advertisements.
In marketing as in any other industry, the vast majority of players is looking for the quick fix, the
sale today, instead of playing the long game, which results in a lot of ads for products, which
probably shouldn’t be sold at all.
He believed in soft-spoken advertisements, delivering the facts, not the fiction and never ever
lying to people in your advertisements. That, of course, means you have to stand 100% behind
the product in question, whether it’s soap, a soft drink or an airline, so you can write ads
without lying – ads that you’d be comfortable with, even if your own family read them.
This is also what led David to only accept accounts for which he truly believed he could
outperform the previous agency. In marketing, it might be more important than anywhere else
that your north star is integrity.
Lesson 2: In the end, ads are meant to sell, not to entertain. Focus on
the basics.
Did that Coke video above move you? It moved me. I mean, how can you not feel for the lone,
hard-working truck driver, who finally gets a break and is reunited with his family on Christmas?
As inspiring as that story is, however, you can bet that if it hadn’t increased Coca-Cola sales,
Ogilvy would not have run this campaign.
The definition of an ad is that it’s made to sell something, which, while obvious, tends to be
forgotten easily over all the creative work and energy good advertising agencies put into their
campaigns. Sometimes I spot ads, which, while oozing with creativity, like clever puns and
stunning images, completely forget selling the product.
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Having to laugh, feeling inspired or being shocked are all side effects of great marketing, not the
goal. So instead of trying to win a painting competition or a Pulitzer Prize with your copy, go
simple. If your moisturizer makes women above 35 look younger, say “this is how women above
35 can look younger.”
Just because it’s a given that an airline implements comprehensive safety measures doesn’t
mean that marketing it as a benefit won’t work. When Ogilvy worked with KLM, that’s exactly
what they did – and since no other airline talked about safety, it worked well.
Images are a great way to open curiosity gaps, stop customers dead in their tracks and make
them think and ponder. An image of a new, mysterious symbol with a hint how to find out more
about it, is often a lot better than trying to explain the entire premise of The Hunger Games on
one poster.
Lastly, if scientific research shows that color photos work better than black and white ones, and
photos in general are a lot better than paintings, why ignore what researchers have put hard
work into finding out? Staying up to date on the latest research in marketing will be well worth
your time.
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