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
Why should a manufacturer bet his money, perhaps the future of his company, on your instinct?
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of data and evidence over intuition in business decision-making.
David Ogilvy highlights the necessity for manufacturers and business leaders to rely on solid evidence and data rather than mere instinct when making critical financial decisions. The statement reflects a fundamental principle in the business world: reliance on instincts can be risky, especially when the future of a company is at stake, and thus, decisions should be backed by research and proven insights.
In practice
In a business presentation discussing the importance of analytics, you could quote this to stress the need for data-driven decisions.
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.
Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.
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.
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.
The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.
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.
To make a pleasant and friendly impression is not alone good manners, but equally good business.
Be influenced by nothing but your clients' interests. Tell them the truth.
I suppose Virgin is an unusual brand in that I suspect we're the only 'way of life' brand in the world. We're one of maybe the top 30 best known brands in the world, yet if you look at the other 29, they all specialize in one area. Whether it's Google, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, etc., they all generally specialize in one area.
A business owner is the boss, but it's a job, a place that is stable and profitable. An entrepreneur is an artist of sorts, throwing his/herself into impossible situations and seeking out problems that require heart and guts to solve. Both are fine, but choose.
At first, we couldn't be establishment, because we didn't have any money. We were guerrilla marketers, and we still are, a little bit. But, as we became No. 1 in our industry, we've had to modify our culture and become a bit more planned.
Simply put: we don't build services to make money; we make money to build better services.
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