# David Ogilvy’s 7 principles of marketing

> David Ogilvy’s seven principles: give the facts, be truthful, be helpful, have a Big Idea, don’t be boring, know your customer, stay true to your brand.

- URL: https://cultmethod.com/articles/ogilvys-principles/
- Author: Jon Persson, Founder, Cultmethod
- Published: 2020-01-08
- Updated: 2026-10-20
- Category: Marketing

These are David Ogilvy’s seven principles of marketing, as I’ve distilled them from _Confessions of an Advertising Man_ (1963): give the facts, be truthful, be helpful, have a Big Idea, don’t be boring, understand your customer, and stay true to your brand. Below, I go through each one in Ogilvy’s own words, with my notes.

## Who was David Ogilvy?

David Ogilvy (1911–1999) founded the agency Ogilvy & Mather and wrote _Confessions of an Advertising Man_, one of the best-known books on the advertising business.

David Ogilvy’s “Confessions of an Advertising Man” is perhaps _the_ most popular book on the advertising business in history, and with good reason. By 1988 it had sold about a million copies in 14 languages.[^2]

Granted, it doesn’t contain too many confessions, but it is funny, interesting, and full of actionable advice and “rules” of copywriting, client management, leadership, career advancement, and much more.

In case you’re not familiar with David Ogilvy, here’s a quick introduction:

![David Ogilvy sitting in an armchair, smoking a pipe.](https://res.cloudinary.com/djdutbywn/image/upload/v1758991884/ogilvy-pipe_ktlc7x.jpg)

*David Ogilvy, the original Mad Man, in his element.*

## Background & early life

David Ogilvy was born into a British upper-class family in 1911. He received a scholarship to attend Oxford University but was soon expelled for poor academic performance.

He went on to work as an assistant chef at Hotel Majestic in Paris for a year, before he returned to the UK to become a door-to-door AGA stove salesman in Scotland. He was so good at his job that his employer asked him to write an instruction manual for his peers.

## Advertising and years as secret agent

Thanks to the sales manual he wrote for AGA, Ogilvy was hired as an account executive by the British advertising agency Mather & Crowther (his brother, who also worked there, had shown management the manual and they were very impressed).

In 1938, he convinced his employer to send him to the United States for a year, to work at Dr. George Gallup’s _Audience Research Institute_ in New Jersey. He would later credit much of his success to what he learned working for Dr. Gallup.

During World War II, he worked for the British Intelligence Service and became an alumnus of the secret Camp X, a British paramilitary installation located in Canada, where he trained in sabotage and close combat.

After the war, Ogilvy and his wife bought a farm in Pennsylvania and lived among the Amish for several years, before moving to Manhattan.

![Ogilvy & Mather’s Capetown offices.](https://res.cloudinary.com/djdutbywn/image/upload/v1758991868/capetown-office_nxdvfi.jpg)

*Ogilvy & Mather’s Capetown offices.*

## Launching Ogilvy & Mather

With the backing of his old employer Mather & Crowther, which was now run by his brother, he successfully launched an advertising agency on Madison Avenue, _Ogilvy & Mather_.

Over the years, Ogilvy and his ad agency did work for Rolls Royce, Sears, the British government, the state of Puerto Rico, Dove, Shell, and dozens of major brands in the CPG industry.

In 1963 he published what would soon become a major best-seller, “Confessions of an Advertising Man.”

The book covers everything from practical rules of copywriting, to leadership, corporate culture, career advancement advice, to the controversial question, _“Should advertising be abolished?”_

## What are David Ogilvy’s 7 principles of marketing?

As I read _Confessions_, Ogilvy’s marketing advice comes down to seven principles. I’ve written a fuller [review of the book](https://cultmethod.com/articles/confessions-of-an-advertising-man/) separately.

In this article however, I have curated and organized what I perceive to be Ogilvy’s main principles of marketing.

Ogilvy’s principles, as I present them here, are more or less timeless.

### 1. Give the facts

Ogilvy was a staunch believer in laying out all the relevant facts of a product. In the book he refers to Dr. Charles Edwards of the Graduate School of Retailing at New York University, who said the following:

> The more facts you tell, the more you sell. An advertisement’s chance for success invariably increases as the number of pertinent merchandise facts included in the advertisement increases.

You’ve no doubt heard that you should present prospective customers with “benefits, not features.”

Yes, benefits are important, and Ogilvy agreed: “The key to success is to promise the _consumer a benefit_ — like better flavor, whiter wash, more miles per gallon, a better complexion.”

But that does not mean they are a _substitute_ for features and other facts about your product or service. How likely are you to buy something without knowing _what_ that something is, or how it works?

Customers want to know the facts just as much as they want to know how your product can help them.

**Give the facts, and give them early.** Here are some quotes from the book:

- “Don’t beat about the bush—go straight to the point.”

- “The headline is the ‘ticket on the meat.’ Use it to flag down the readers who are prospects for the kind of product you are advertising.”

- “I have never admired the _belles lettres_ school of advertising, which reached its pompous peak in Theodore F. MacManus’ famous advertisement for Cadillac, ‘The Penalty of Leadership,’ and Ned Jordan’s classic, ‘Somewhere West of Laramie.’”

- “Avoid _blind_ headlines—the kind which mean nothing unless you read the body copy underneath them; most people _don’t_.”

- “The curious thing is that the techniques which work best in ‘direct’ advertisements are seldom used in ordinary advertising—like giving factual information about the product.”

Side note: Some of the quotes I presented above could probably use some nuance. For example:

There is obviously no use presenting facts which are irrelevant to the prospect. Some demographic and psychographic groups may require more facts than others.

I’m not sure it’s wise to reject so-called _belles lettres_ advertisements completely; especially if they act in service of building your brand. One might argue that Apple’s iconic 1984 commercial was an example of _belles lettres_.

It all boils down to understanding your ideal customer.

### 2. Be truthful

Always stay faithful to the truth. Common-sense ethics should be enough to compel you to follow this principle. Just in case it isn’t, here’s something to consider:

Consumers aren’t stupid; they will catch onto you if you lie or mislead them. And once you lose their trust, it is damn near impossible to regain it.

One of the most oft-repeated sentiments in Ogilvy’s book is this:

> Never write an advertisement which you wouldn’t want your own family to read. You wouldn’t tell lies to your own wife. Don’t tell them to mine. Do as you would be done by.

And in fact, Ogilvy presents us with even more specific rules to follow:

- “Good products can be sold by _honest_ advertising.”

- “Avoid superlatives, generalisations, and platitudes.”

- “Avoid bombast.”

### 3. Be helpful

Next to presenting facts and being truthful, one of the main themes of the book is that you ought to be helpful.

Ogilvy basically promotes two different kinds of helpfulness:

1. Helping the prospect understand your product

2. Giving the prospect valuable information and advice for free

The latter basically boils down to promoting an early form of content marketing. As an example, Ogilvy suggests that advertisers who are in the food industry include recipes in their ad copy.

He isn’t suggesting that you do it out of the kindness of your heart, mind you, but because it compels more people to engage with your marketing, and to buy your product or service:

> Another profitable gambit is to give the reader helpful advice, or service. It hooks about 75 per cent more readers than copy which deals entirely with the product.

Some other quotes, mainly concerned with the former kind of helpfulness (helping prospects understand your offer), include the following:

- “Include your selling promise in your headline.”

- “Every headline should appeal to the reader’s _self-interest_ ...”

- “Research shows that it is dangerous to use _negatives_ in headlines.”

- “Some copywriters write _tricky_ headlines — puns, literary allusions, and other obscurities. This is a sin.”

### 4. Have a Big Idea

Whether you’re drafting an advertisement, designing a website, or doing any other form of marketing initiative, you _have_ to be ruthless about prioritizing your objectives.

It is impossible to do everything at once. Quoth Ogilvy: “Most campaigns are too complicated. They reflect a long list of objectives, and try to reconcile the divergent views of too many executives. By attempting to cover too many things, they achieve nothing. Their advertisements look like the minutes of a committee.”

Beyond that though, it is important to center your efforts around a _Big Idea_.

A Big Idea is the one simple, ownable thought a whole campaign hangs on, like Snickers’ “You’re not you when you’re hungry.”

![Snickers’ Big Idea: You’re not you when you’re hungry.](https://res.cloudinary.com/djdutbywn/image/upload/v1758991887/snickers-big-idea_whbduf.jpg)

*Snickers’ Big Idea: ‘You’re not you when you’re hungry.’ A perfect example of Ogilvy’s concept of the Big Idea.*

Here’s what Ogilvy had to say about Big Ideas:

> Unless your campaign contains a Big Idea, it will pass like a ship in the night.

Don’t let your marketing efforts pass like a ship in the night. Find your Big Idea. Here are some helpful criteria, from research firm Millward Brown (now part of Kantar):[^1]

1. Big ideas resonate with consumers

2. Big ideas are disruptive

3. Big ideas have talk value

4. Big ideas stretch brands

5. Big ideas transcend cultural and geographic boundaries.

### 5. Don’t be boring

One of the greatest sins of marketing (and of many other domains, too) is to be boring. It is rude and disrespectful, and, just as importantly:

> You cannot _bore_ people into buying your product; you can only _interest_ them in buying it.

You need to capture people’s interests, and there is simply no way to do that if you are boring. But _how_ do you avoid boring your prospects?

The same way you avoid boring a conversational partner: If you want to be _interesting_, be _interested_. Obviously, this will express itself differently in marketing and advertising compared to everyday conversation:

In order to gain people’s interest, you need to know who they are, what their needs are, and what motivates them. You should also find out what interests them and what their other brand affinities are.

> If you want to be interesting,  
> be interested.

If you have all this information, you could be the most uncharismatic person on planet earth, and you’d _still_ be able to capture your prospects’ interest.

Some quotes:

- “People are more likely to read your body copy if your headline arouses their curiosity; so you should end your headline with a lure to read on.”

- “Tell the truth, but make the truth fascinating.”

However, Ogilvy says, don’t overdo it. If all you accomplish with your marketing efforts is entertainment, you won’t sell anything.

> Good copywriters have always resisted the temptation to _entertain_.

### 6. Understand your customer

This principle ties right into the previous one (_“Don’t be boring”_) and actually all the other previous principles too:

If you don’t understand your customer, you will not be able to devise a Big Idea, you will not be able to present the right sorts of facts, and you certainly will not be able to capture their interest in any meaningful sense.

You need to employ empathy and demonstrate that you understand your prospect. You need to speak to them on their level, about the things they care about. Don’t be pretentious, and don’t be condescending:

> The consumer is not a moron. She is your wife. Don’t insult her intelligence.

Two more quotes from _“Confessions”_:

- “Unless you have some special reason to be solemn and pretentious, write your copy in the colloquial language which your customers use in everyday conversation.”

- “Don’t let men write advertising for products which are bought by women.”

(It was 1963.)

### 7. Stay true to your brand

Last, but very far from least: in all your marketing efforts, stay true to your brand.

> Golden rewards await the advertiser who has the brains to create a coherent image, and the stability to stick with it over a long period.

Of course, in order to achieve long-term brand consistency, you must first _define_ your brand.

This requires some amount of self-discipline and self-restraint. Quoth David Ogilvy: “Most manufacturers are reluctant to accept any _limitation_ on the image of their brand. They want it to be all things to all people ... They generally end up with a brand which has no personality of any kind, a wishy-washy neuter. No capon ever rules the roost.”

Brands can seem very intangible and fuzzy things, and to an extent, they are. Fortunately there are [tried-and-true exercises and methods](https://cultmethod.com/resources/simple-strategy/) you can follow in order to _really_ nail your brand.

Some more quotes on the importance of brand-building in marketing:

- “Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the _brand image_.”

- “Every radio programme, every TV commercial is not a one-time shot, but a long-term investment in the total personality of their brands.”

- “The manufacturer who dedicates his advertising to building the most sharply defined _personality_ for his brand will get the largest share of the market at the highest profit.”

- “Nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else’s advertising.”

## Ogilvy’s 7 principles at a glance

_“Don’t bunt. Aim out of the ballpark. Aim for the company of immortals.”_ (David Ogilvy)

To refresh your memory, these are David Ogilvy’s 7 principles of marketing:

1. Give the facts

2. Be truthful

3. Be helpful

4. Have a _Big Idea_

5. Don’t be boring

6. Understand your customer

7. Stay true to your brand.

[^1]: Millward Brown (2010). *Big Ideas: Research Can Make a Big Difference*. [PDF](https://www.scribd.com/document/199672424/Millward-Brown-POV-Big-Ideas).

[^2]: Wikipedia, _Confessions of an Advertising Man_. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessions_of_an_Advertising_Man).

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Written by Jon Persson (Founder, Cultmethod). Cultmethod is the branding practice of Jon Persson. It sells one product, the Brand Sprint: positioning, visual identity, a website and an AI brand voice kit, delivered in 10 working days at a fixed price, for one client a month. More: https://cultmethod.com/index.md