David Ogilvy

Ogilvy was born on June 23, 1911 at West Horsley, Surrey in England. His father was a highlander from Scotland who used to speak Gaelic, while his mother was Irish. Ogilvy’s father was a classical scholar and a financial broker by profession. Initially, Ogilvy went to St Cyprian's School, Eastbourne on reduced fees because his father was going through straitened times. At the age of thirteen, Ogilvy earned a scholarship to Fettes College, in Edinburgh. In 1929, he again won a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford. However, at Oxford he was unsuccessful with his studies and therefore left the same. He then headed towards Paris in 1931. In Paris, Ogilvy became an apprentice chef in the Majestic Hotel.

 

After one year, he moved back to Scotland and began selling Aga cooking stoves, door-to-door. He was quite successful in the same and thus was marked out to his employer who asked Ogilvy to write an instruction manual, “The Theory and Practice of Selling the AGA Cooker” for the rest of the salesmen. After Francis Ogilvy saw the manual written by his younger brother, he showed the same to management of the agency he was working for, the London advertising agency Mather & Crowther. The agency then offered a post of account executive to the younger Ogilvy. In 1938, Ogilvy convinced the agency to send him to America for a year.

Shortly after being in advertising, Ogilvy transformed the discipline in a new direction. One day a man came into Ogilvy’s London agency asking to advertise the inauguration of his hotel but had just $500. For the same reason, he was sent to the novice, David Ogilvy. Ogilvy simply purchased postcards from the same amount and sent invitations to each one he could found in the local telephone directory. The hotel was inaugurated as completely full. Ogilvy in his confession said, “I had tasted blood”. This also gave him a better understanding of the importance of direct advertising.     

Ogilvy shifted permanently to United States in 1938 where he went to work for George Gallup's Audience Research Institute in New Jersey. Ogilvy referred Gallup as one of the chief influences on his thinking, stressing on meticulous research methods and adherence to reality to him later on. While World War II was going on, Ogilvy worked with the British Intelligence Service at the British embassy in Washington, D.C.  Being in this organization, he carefully analyzed and advised on the matters of diplomacy and security. The then president Eisenhower’s Psychological Warfare Board took the report and decided to put Ogilvy’s advice and suggestions to work in Europe in the last year of the war. Post war, Ogilvy purchased a farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. There he resided among the Amish. He lived with his wife in the peninsula for many years because of the atmosphere was serene, abundant and contentment. But later he shifted to Manhattan.        

Ogilvy after serving as a chef, researcher and farmer, commenced his agency with the support of Mather and Crowther, the London agency which was run by his elder brother, Francis. The new established agency in New York was named as ‘Ogilvy, Benson, and Mather’. The company was entirely based on the principles of David Ogilvy, specifically that the main aim of the advertising is to sell and the successful advertisement is marked by the information given in it about its customers. At that time, Ogilvy only had $6,000 money in his account. Initially, he had to struggle to get clients. One of his most successful advertisements was “Only Dove is one-quarter moisturizing cream”. This campaign made Dove the highest selling soap in the United States. According to Ogilvy, the best way to attract clients was to do impressive work with the already existing clients. He achieved great success with his initial campaigns only which helped him to get bigger clients like Rolls-Royce and Shell. These new clients promoted the quick growth of the agency. In 1973, Ogilvy took retirement as Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather and shifted to his estate in France, Touffou. Although he was not involved in daily operations of the agency, he nevertheless stayed in constant touch with the company. Amazingly, the correspondence of Ogilvy was increased to the level in the nearby town of Bonnes that the post office was re-classified at a higher status. Also, the pay of the postmaster was also raised.

Ogilvy once again took seat of the chairman in the 1980s when his agency was opened in India. Ogilvy also acted as a temporary chairman of the agency’s office in Germany for a year commuting between Touffou and Frankfurt. He continued to visit his agency’s offices present all around the world and regularly represented Ogilvy & Mather at the gathering of clients and business audiences. In 1989, The Ogilvy Group was bought and took over by British parent company, WPP Group. The takeover was made possible by the fact the company group had made an initial public offering (IPO). The founder of WPP, Sir Martin Sorrell initially had similarly taken over the company of J. Walter Thompson and therefore, had a tarnished image in the market. Ogilvy, during the procedures of takeover, described Sorrell as an “odious little jerk”. By the course of time, WPP became the largest marketing communication company globally and David Ogilvy was made the company’s non-executive chairman. Ogilvy later on became a big fan of Sorrell and sent an apology in Sorrell’s office.     

In 1967, Ogilvy was made a Commander of the Order of British Empire. In 1968 he was elected as the Chairman of the United Negro College Fund. Ogilvy served as a trustee on the Executive Council of the World Wildlife Fund in 1975. He was also chosen to theU.S. Advertising Hall of Fame in 1977 and to France's “Order of Arts and Letters” in 1990. Ogilvy was included into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1979. He chaired the Public Participation Committee for Lincoln Center in Manhattan.

 

Ogilvy married Melinda Street initially and the couple had a child David Fairfield Ogilvy. The couple however took divorce in 1955. His second marriage to Anne Cabot also ended the same way. In 1973, he married to Herta Lans in France.

Ogilvy died at his house,the Chateau de Touffou, in Bonnes, France on July 21, 1999.

1911: David Ogilvy was born.

1924: Earned a scholarship to Fettes College.

1929: Won a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford.

1931: Moved to Paris.

1932: Moved to Scotland.

1938: Immigrated to United States.

1948: Founded Ogilvy & Mather.

1955: Got divorced from his first wife.

1967: Was made a Commander of the Order of British Empire.

1968: Was elected as the Chairman of the United Negro College Fund.

1973: Ogilvy retired as Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather and shifted France; Married to Herta Lans. 

1975: Became a trustee on the Executive Council of the World Wildlife Fund.

1977: Chosen to the U.S. Advertising Hall of Fame.

1979: Elected at the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.

1989: The Ogilvy Group was bought by WPP Group.

1999: David Ogilvy died.