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
Can advertising foist an inferior product on the consumer? Bitter experience has taught me that it cannot. On those rare occasions when I have advertised products which consumer tests have found inferior to other products in the same field, the results have been disastrous.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Advertising cannot successfully promote a poor-quality product; consumers will reject it.
David Ogilvy emphasizes the powerful role of consumer judgment in advertising. He argues that no matter how compelling an advertisement may be, it cannot mask the inherent quality of a product, and promoting an inferior product will ultimately lead to failure. This highlights the importance of honesty and product quality in effective marketing strategies.
Themes
AdvertisingConsumerQualityProductMarketingFailure
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a presentation about the importance of product quality in marketing strategies.
More from David Ogilvy
All quotes →Our 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
Great marketers don't make stuff. They make meaning.
Seth GodinRead
You market when you hire and when you fire. You market when you call tech support, and you market every time you send a memo.
Seth GodinRead
A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stores and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer's decision to choose one product or service over another.
Seth GodinRead
The work of an advertising agency is warmly and immediately human. It deals with human needs, wants, dreams and hopes. Its 'product' cannot be turned out on an assembly line.
Leo BurnettRead
The art of marketing is the art of brand building. If you arenot a brand, you are a commodity. Then price is everything and the low-cost producer is the only winner.
Philip KotlerRead
Between two products equal in price, function and quality, the one with the most attractive exterior will win.
Raymond LoewyRead