Confession of an advertising man is a must read the book for any individual that seeks to make a great idea in the industry of advertisements. David Ogilvy is one of the role models of what one needs to be the great advertiser. As a Scotsman, he was expelled from Oxford in the year 1931. Then he went through several carriers beginning as a chef in Paris, then the door to door salesman, working in the social worker in Edinburgh, later a research assistant in motion picture industry, an assistant to Sir William Stephenson in British Security Co-ordination and also as a farmer in Pennsylvania. From all these, it is hard to imagine that he could have had anything successful. One could just assume that he is a failure that is merely trying anything out. However, one thing that stands out is that through all these trial and error a great advertiser was under the process of crafting. He later founded Ogilvy Benson and Mather and built period to become one of the most prominent advertising agencies. The book is a classic look at the essential concepts that an advertiser should develop. Many have referred the book as the advertising bible.

One of the aspects that the book points out is the idea that one should only sell stuff they believe in. Ogilvy, think that if every marketer would have lived with such a mantra, then there could be nothing like the negative connotation that seems to go around the marketing industry. Just like in other companies around the world, everyone is merely rushing for a quick fix. The net effect is there are a lot of ads for products that should not be sold at all. The problem that marketers are doing is that they are not looking at the bigger picture, and the result is that we have people that are just to put things to the market. However, if such a belief could change then, there could be a new look at what marketing is, and only products that have value would be selling. The idea that David has is that in a soft-spoken advertisement the focus should be on delivering facts and not trying to coax the client to buy the product. It would thus mean that a marketer should stand by the product 100%. The thing here is that the advertiser should be able to use the same products for their use and not only in the ads. It is this approach that David believed in and helped him to rise and become one of the best marketers in the world.

David also makes an important observation. Marketing an ad is aimed at selling and not entertaining. Therefore, one should focus on the basics. For instance, one would ask, did the coke video move you? Looking at the video one would not help to feel for the hardworking truck driver that finally gets a break and is reunited with his family on Christmas day. However, it is important to mention that the company could not have advertised if it did not translate to sell for Coca-Cola. The basic principle of any ad is to make sells. While this concept might seem obvious to most of the advertisement companies, it is quickly forgottenover all the creativity and the energy that advertisement companies put on ads. At times it is visible that most of the ads would ooze with creativity and stunning images but entirely forget to sell the product. Having to laugh, being inspired or being shocked is the side effect of great marketing and not the ultimate goal. Therefore, the focus is not to win the best ad competition but rather to make a great sale.

Consequently, it is essential to go simple directly. Therefore, if one is selling a moisturizer, the most that make women above 35 looks younger then tell out precisely how the products make one look more youthful. Therefore, the most critical aspect is only to make the ad simple and sell the message to the people. The focus is to ensure that people understand the product and more sells come out and not the ad entertaining people. It is in this way that one becomes good at the advertisement.

Another important aspect that seems to come out is that it is important to use facts, intrigues and scientific research to create an advertisement. The world is getting nosier; it has become even harder to create unique marketing campaigns.

David argues that one should use a three-pronged approach that seems useful in 2018 just as it was when the book was realized in 1963. First, it is essential to give the people facts even in the cases where they do not seem unusual. Secondly, it is necessary to use mysterious and intriguing images. And lastly, integrate research finding into the ads. For instance, when working with KLM Ogilvy focused on the aspect of safety in its advertisement, and this seemed to work. None of the other companies were using the element of, and this seemed to be the missing link. Besides, images have an effective way of opening up curiosity gaps. Using a model of a new mysterious symbol with a hint on finding out more is the best way to make a point than trying to explain so much. Finally, scientific research shows that color photos work better than black and white and phots work better than images; then it is a surprise to overlook these aspects. It is from this view that David argues that there are just simple aspects that one should follow and this will define a great ad. While advertiser might focus on other elements to make the ad great, they forget the primary goals that the ad should sell the products. The ads should thus focus on these aspects.

There are three clear aspects that the author has focused on. These are the use of facts, making the ads sell and only selling products that one believes in through the use of these three aspects one might be sure to make greats ads. However, in recent times, things seem to have changed in the ad industry. Today most of the ads focus so much on entertainment rather than making great sells. While the approach appears to be achieving much on entertaining people, I think it is not making great sells. Therefore, the change has not been active in making sells. The basis of an advertisement should not be anything rather than increasing sells. Thus, creativity might be a great thing in the ads, but if creativity is not leading to an increase in sales, then it fails to achieve the intended goal. An advertiser would thus need to refocus their energy to make excellent sales.

References

Ogilvy, D., & Horgan, P. (1963). Confessions of an advertising man (p. 45). New York: Atheneum.

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