The headline is the 'ticket on the meat.' Use it to flag down readers who are prospects for the kind of product you are advertising.
David OgilvyRead
On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Most people only pay attention to headlines rather than the detailed content.
This quote by David Ogilvy emphasizes the importance of crafting engaging headlines because they capture the attention of a larger audience compared to the body of the text. It suggests that marketers, writers, and communicators must focus on creating compelling headlines to draw readers in, as the majority will not delve deeper into the content unless the headlines pique their interest.
Themes
HeadlinesReadingContentAttentionEngagement
In practice
Example use cases
In a marketing seminar, you could use this quote to highlight the significance of headlines in advertising.
More from David Ogilvy
All quotes βOur business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.
David OgilvyRead
Some manufacturers illustrate their advertisements with abstract paintings. I would only do this if I wished to conceal from the reader what I was advertising.
David OgilvyRead
Much of the messy advertising you see on television today is the product of committees. Committees can criticize advertisements, but they should never be allowed to create them.
David OgilvyRead
The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.
David OgilvyRead
Experience has taught me that advertisers get the best results when they pay their agency a flat fee. It is unrealistic to expect your agency to be impartial when its vested interest lies wholly in the direction of increasing your commissionable advertising.
David OgilvyRead
Similar quotes
Why are you so docile when you give up your child to a government agent called a schoolteacher?
John Taylor GattoRead
To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.
Theodore RooseveltRead
Instead of seeing these children for the blessings that they are, we are measuring them only by the standard of whether they will be future deficits or assets for our nation's competitive needs.
Jonathan KozolRead
Jacqueline Woodson's books are such a gift to parents and children for their poignant subtlety and lyricism and their willingness to let a reader dwell in the pangs of realization that we sometimes try to protect our children from.
Tracy K. SmithRead
In education, we are striving not to teach youth to make a living, but to make a life.
William Allen WhiteRead
Labeling a child as mentally ill is stigmatization, not diagnosis. Giving a child a psychiatric drug is poisoning, not treatment.
Thomas SzaszRead