I came across this article about how David Ogilvy's 10 principles of advertising have not really changed in 50 years. Totally agree.
It seems that these days people are too caught up in techniques and new media, when the core of advertising hasn't changed at all. It's a bout great ideas that get people involved in brands. Not coincidentally, that's the mission of HQvB.
Some Ad Tactics Don't Age
Why 9 Out of 11 Ogilvy Commandments Still Ring True Four Decades
Later
By John Sweeney
Published: August 04, 2008
I am one of those struggling veterans trying to keep up with all the changes hitting the advertising world. I'm trying, on the one hand, to keep up with the latest fashions in TV writing while understanding the revolutions in social media, search and other forms of interactive.
Even though my current challenge is the classroom, trying to separate the wheat from the chaff of everything new is numbing, to say the least.
Why that sent me thumbing through David Ogilvy's "Confessions of an Advertising Man," I'm not sure. The book is a classic. John Kennedy was president then, and the Beatles had not yet arrived in America. Reading it should be an experience in nostalgia for a simpler time, like thumbing through a 1963 book on computers that boldly shows the advantages of transistors over vacuum tubes.
I expected it to be fascinating but hopelessly dated.
It's the thought that counts: Adidas campaign relied on a great idea.
Instead I found Mr. Ogilvy's 11 commandments on "How to build great campaigns" as clear today as then. Well, two are debatable, but nine out of 11 is a pretty remarkable percentage. So here's a quick take on Chapter Five from "Confessions," complete with examples from current agencies other than his own to show that this is not a promotional piece.
1. 'WHAT YOU SAY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HOW YOU SAY IT'
Witness Chiat/Day's introductory advertising for the iPhone. Yes, it is clever how the finger directs music, e-mail and the web and then answers a call in front of our eyes. But the commercial is also 100% focused on the amazing things the phone does.
Read the whole article here.
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