David Ogilvy's 8 Habits
“If Ogilvy is to be gorgeous, wonderful, brilliant, fabulous, magical, beautiful, big and sexy, we must first be brave, idealistic, curious, playful, candid, intuitive, free-spirited, and persistent.”
Before I started 42courses I used to work at Ogilvy and it was easily the most exciting and informative jobs I ever had, in fact it’s shaped a lot of how we think at 42courses too.
Ogilvy, for those that don’t know it, is one of the world’s largest and most successful advertising agencies. It was started by a rather eccentric chap called David Ogilvy.
They have about 20,000 staff around the world and I was lucky enough to travel to a lot of the global offices. One of the things that always struck me was that it seems to attract a certain type of person.
I believe this is in large part because of the strong foundation Ogilvy put in place with his 8 cultural habits. In many offices these are written on walls, or handed out to people as a booklet when they join. In the best offices the habits are acted out by the agency leaders and it’s people on a day by day basis.
Have a read of them below and think about what your dream list could be if you had your own company.
1. COURAGE
Fear is a demon that devours the soul of an agency: it diminishes the quality of our imagination, it dulls our appetite for adventure, it sucks away our youth.
2. IDEALISM
How great we become depends on the size of our dreams. Let’s dream humongous dreams, put on our overalls, go out there and build them.
3. CURIOSITY
An endless trail of ideas floats in the ether. You will only see them if you are curious. For a start, we have to ask stupid questions like a pesky 6-year-old.
4. PLAYFULNESS
The man loved a good joke, especially one with some ‘wind’ in it. All our art, all our science and all our philosophy have been invented by playful people, not serious people.
5. CANDOUR
We are a company of problem-solvers. Our job requires us to be brutally honest and totally dedicated to the truth.
6. INTUITION
The creative director thought it was funny.
The managing director thought it was funny.
The chairman thought it was funny.
The tea lady thought it was funny.
The client thought it was funny.
The client’s wife thought it was funny.
The client’s butcher thought it was funny.
Okay now, let’s research it to see if it’s funny.
All our finest thoughts and best ideas are not the work of the logical mind, but gifts from the unconscious.
7. FREE-SPIRITEDNESS
Rule 1. There are no rules.
Rule 2. Never forget rule one.
8. PERSISTENCE
Never give in. Never give in. Never give in. Never. Never. Never. Never.
If the client kills your ad, do him a better one.
If he kills that better one, do him an even better one.
If he kills that even better one, do him your damn best one.
If you’re looking for more ways to be more creative, why not sign up for our How To Be More Creative course featuring some of the world’s top experts and certified by Cannes Lions.
