David Ogilvy, the legendary marketing master, died yesterday, at his home in Touffou, France. He was 88.
Although best known in the world of general advertising, Ogilvy was a sympathetic advocate of direct marketing. “Direct response was my first love,” he said, “and later become my secret weapon.”
On another occasion, Ogilvy noted, “Nobody should be allowed to create advertising for press or broadcast until he has served his apprenticeship in direct response. The experience will keep his feet on the ground for the rest of his life.”
He founded Ogilvy & Mather in 1948 (as Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather) and soon produced such famous campaigns as The Man in the Hathaway Shirt and Commander Schweppes. Other accounts he won – and which his agency still holds – include Lever Brothers, General Foods, and American Express. His books on marketing, “Confessions of an Advertising Man” (1963) and “Ogilvy On Advertising” (1983) have become classics in the field.
Ogilvy was known for his business acumen, his convictions, and for raising the standards of practice and professionalism in the industry.
Graham Phillips, chairman of Burson-Marsteller and former chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, said, “He coined ‘We sell or else’ for Ogilvy Direct.”
Phillips also said that Ogilvy’s interest in DM came from his background which included working for Gallup Research. “He was interested in measuring the results of advertising,” Phillips explained, adding that it easier to measure results in DM than in general advertising.
Ogilvy also insisted in using research to create effective campaigns. “He believed things that worked were the best kind of creative,” said Andi Emerson, founder of the John Caples International Awards.
“It would not be an understatement to call David Ogilvy the Advertising Man of the Century,” H. Robert Wientzen, president and CEO of the Direct Marketing Association said in a statement. “The advertising world has lost one of its best known and most respected professionals.”
“He was such a visionary on so many levels,” said Wendy Riches, president of global marketing and e-commerce, Hasbro Inc. “He recognized early the value of direct marketing and never hesitated to use it on behalf of his clients.”
After flunking out of Oxford, the British-born Ogilvy held a variety of jobs from chef to door-to-door salesman, ultimately winding up in the United States in the late 1930s. During World War II, he worked for the British Embassy in Washington and was second secretary to Sir William Stephenson.
Ogilvy was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1967; was elected to the Advertising Hall of Fame in 1977 and the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame in 1986; and won France’s “Order of Arts and Letters” in 1990.
He is survived by his third wife, Herta Lans, his son, David Fairfield Ogilvy, a daughter-in-law, and three step-grandsons. A private burial will be held at the family estate in France on Friday, but a memorial service is planned in New York for early fall.
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