The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising

Le génie et le panache de David Ogilvy transpirent à chaque page de cette délicieuse biographie.

Lectura obligatoria para la asignatura de ingles en la carrera de publicidad

Having worked with/for David Ogilvy I find most people/writersare charmed by one of the greatest self-promoters of all time.Ken Roman, who was an Executive at Ogilvy Headquarters, gets inside the "God".And he does it with great integrity and style.This book reminded me why I respected the man yet argued with him whenhe visited the Toronto office.Quote,"If anyone else was in this room I would fire you!"

When Author Kenneth Roman was a 33-year-old account executive at what was to become the storied Ogilvy & Mather ad agency, David Ogilvy (the king) wrote a letter to one of Roman's clients. "After listing eight reasons why some ads prepared by the company's design department would not be effective, he delivered his ultimate argument: `The only thing that can be said in favor of the layouts is that they are `different.' You could make a cow look different by removing the udder. But that cow would not produce results.'"That word picture was classic Ogilvy. Advertising must produce results--they must sell products. His sales background (door-to-door stove sales in England) fueled his impeccable copyrighting talent. His distinctive ideas on ad design and copy (including his 39 rules of advertising) earned him a spot in the Advertising Hall of Fame. He was mentored in excellence by a French chef and this book is a feast of ad wisdom, insight and a back-to-ad-basics for new and experienced communicators. His body of work was memorable: Hathaway shirts (the black eye patch man), Maxwell House Coffee (good to the last drop), and the most famous auto ad of all time ("At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.").I often skip boring chapters. Not this book. I read every page. I underlined insights and ideas on more than 100 pages. This inside-advertising love letter was good to the last page. More than 35 years ago, having read Ogilvy's 1963 best-seller (one million copies), Confessions of an Advertising Man, I was immediately hooked on advertising. Author Kenneth Roman, who rose to chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather, understands leadership. His page-turning anecdotes in this book, peppered with Ogilvyisms and astute management commentary (how you build an organization), put this on my "must-read-again" list.Start by reading "The True Church," Roman's chapter on creating corporate culture (the color red was the king at Ogilvy & Mather). Then you'll find the biography chapters more interesting. Ogilvy, Scottish kilt and all, messed up his personal life frequently (three marriages), but he was big on integrity. Go figure. Today there are 359 offices in 100 countries and the Ogilvy & Mather corporate logo is Ogilvy's signature.

Kenneth Roman, former chairman and CEO of Oglivy and Mather, chronicles the life and influence of advertising pioneer and maverick David Oglivy in "King of Madison Avenue."Oglivy was one of the most famous men in advertising. Upon his death in 1999 at age 88, advertising executive Jerry Della Femina said, "He (Oglivy) will be the last advertising man whose death will be marked on the front of the New York Times."In 1935, the 24-year-old Oglivy joined an advertising agency in London owned by his older brother. He went on to work for Gallup and British Intelligence in World War II before starting his own agency in 1948.The 1950's was the golden age for Oglivy's advertising company. He handled accounts such as Helen Rubenstein, Dove, Hathaway Shirts (the man with the eye patch), Schweppes and Rolls Royce. The agency was so successful by 1957 that Oglivy turned away 50 clients that year.In the 1960's, Oglivy handled accounts such as Sears, General Foods, Shell, American Express and Campbell Soup. But Oglivy's agency was not on the front lines of the creative revolution of the 1960s and 1970s.Oglivy is perhaps best known for being the "apostle of brand image." He believed that every ad is part of a long-term investment in the personality of the brand.He also believed that advertising is based on the ability to sell, not entertain, and that it should be based on research about what consumers want. He said there was nothing clever about good advertising. That it is a question of common sense and obeying certain proved principles.Oglivy is also well known for his comment, "The consumer is not a moron. She's your wife. Don't insult her intelligence."Oglivy retired in 1973 and sold the agency in 1989. The 1990s marked a downward spiral for Oglivy and Mather, which once had been the third largest advertising agency in the country.Roman offers a balanced view of Oglivy, portraying his eccentricities and shortcomings. He points out that Oglivy, a product of the print generation, was slow to appreciate television and the power of music to evoke emotion and sell products.This book is interesting, thoroughly researched and well documented. Roman writes well and never lets the book bog down in places where it might have.