Confessions of an advertising man
by David Ogilvy, Matthieu Deloison · first published 1963
33% recommend67% neutral
Mr. Ogilvy reveals, among other professional secrets, how he gets clients, how to write potent copy, and how to rise to the top of the advertising field.
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…way through, people quote bits of it out of context for their own ends and it mostly sits on shelves looking impressive while gathering dust. The Mythical Man-Month by Fred Brooks for tech management. Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy for advertising/marketing industry. Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software by the "Gang of Four" for OOP software engineering.
on “Ask HN: What book is considered the bible of your field/industry?” ↗I think I have mentioned this before, but an excellent guide to advertising copy can be found in: David Ogilvy's Confessions of an Advertising Man (ISBN 1-904915-01-9). It's considered a seminal text among copy writers. I found it very helpful, for exactly this purpose.
on “Ask HN: Tips for writing compelling web copy.” ↗…"Robert Collier Letter Book" -- Robert Collier "My Life In Advertising" -- Claude Hopkins "Bird" - Commonsense "The First Hundred Million" by E. Haldeman-Julius David Ogilvy's "Blood, Brains and Beer" "Confessions of an advertising man" "Million Dollar Mailings" by Denison Hatch "The Wizard of Ads" trilogy by Roy H. Williams "Making Ads Pay" by John Caples
on “Ask HN: Best way to learn copywriting and sales?” ↗“Hard work never killed a man. Men die of boredom, psychological conflict, and disease. They do not die of hard work.” -David Ogilvy (from Confessions of an Advertising Man, 1963)
on “24 year old Ogilvy China employee dies from 'overwork'” ↗A few books I have in queue; The Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith Rework - 37 Signals Ogilvy on Advertising / Confessions of an Advertising Man - David Ogilvy
on “Ask HN: Interesting (Non software) books?” ↗My business partner recently gave me the book "Confessions of an Advertising Man" (by David Ogilvy) and one thing that struck me is that ad research data shows that using photos of people (as opposed to nothing or to sketches) in marketing dramatically increases interest in the product/article.…
on “Review my startup: Revizr. You haven't seen this before.” ↗Which one of Ogilvy's books you meant (or recommend): Confessions of an Advertising Man (2004) or Ogilvy on Advertising (1985)?
on “How to self-educate if you lack a formal design education” ↗…sentence, I wasn't criticizing the content, neither I'm saying flywheel is a new concept. Some call it flywheels, others call it engines, others call it funnel. David Ogilvy didn't name it in 1963, with the Confessions of an Advertising Man, but the concept was there: >Why did I write it? First, to attract new clients to my advertising agency. Second, to condition the market for a public offering of our shares. Third, to make myself better…
on “Why Marketing Flywheels Work” ↗Also the author of a well known book, “Confessions of An Advertising Man”.
on “The theory and practice of selling the Aga cooker (1935) [pdf]” ↗