A Confession of an Advertiser (Over 1,000,000 Copies Sold Worldwide) (Over 1,000,000 Copies Sold Worldwide)

Author: David Ogilvy
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-07-01
Features: Confessions of an Advertising Man has sold 1,000,000 copies worldwide. David Ogilvy, born in Britain, is a legendary master of modern advertising. He founded Ogilvy & Mather, ushering in a new era for the industry, established the brand Ogilvy, pioneered the use of consumer research, and created a fresh advertising culture. In 1948, Ogilvy founded Ogilvy & Mather in New York with $6,000, gaining fame for his creative advertising work. His work was witty and charming, but most importantly: he insisted that it must help sell. He took the business and professionalism of advertising to the pinnacle, and his values gave rise to a global communication network. His wise and enduring style not only shaped Ogilvy & Mather but also profoundly influenced the development of the entire advertising industry. Time magazine called him "the most sought-after advertising genius of our time," and The New York Times called him "the most creative force behind the modern enlightenment." Adweek, a major advertising industry publication in the U.S., said: "Ogilvy illuminated the entire advertising industry with his keen insights and critiques of traditional concepts, reaching a level unattainable by any ad person." A famous French magazine called him the "Pope of modern advertising" and ranked him alongside Edison, Einstein, and others as the most influential figures in the industrial revolution. It was quite some time ago when the idea of publishing books by advertising master David Ogilvy was in mainland China. Though it was a long time ago, when I think about it, those scenes seem like they happened just yesterday or the day before. To be honest, before becoming the general manager of an advertising company in Beijing in 1984, I knew many international advertising companies, but only Japan's Dentsu was truly familiar to me. When mainland China opened its advertising market in 1979, while Western advertising companies might still have been in the dark, Dentsu established an office in Beijing the following February. The director was an old friend I had met in Japan in 1973—Sato Shigetoshi! Dentsu's approach to business and modern advertising, along with Yoshio Yoshida and his "Ten Principles of the Devil's Own Talent," became the driving force and inspiration for me, a relatively young person at the time, to stay committed to the path of advertising.