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An Autobiography
A unique personality . . .
"Ogilvy, the creative force of modern advertising." --The New YorkTimes
"Ogilvy's sharp, iconoclastic personality has illuminated theindustry like no other ad man's." --Adweek. .
an acclaimed author.
Praise for Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy
"A writing style that snaps, crackles, and pops on every page."--The Wall Street Journal.
"An entertaining and literate book that can serve as a valuableprimer on advertising for any businessman or investor."--Forbes.
"I remembered how my grandfather had failed as a farmer and becomea successful businessman. Why not follow in his footsteps? Why notstart an advertising agency? I was thirty-eight. . . .nocredentials, no clients, and only $6,000 in the bank."
Whatever David Ogilvy may have lacked in money and credentials, hemore than made up for with intelligence, talent, and ingenuity. Hebecame the quintessential ad man, a revolutionary whose impact onhis profession still reverberates today. His brilliant campaignswent beyond successful advertising, giving rise to such pop cultureicons as the famous Hathaway shirt man with his trademark blackeyepatch. His client list runs the gamut from Rolls Royce to SearsRoebuck, Campbell's Soup to Merrill Lynch, IBM to the governmentsof Britain, France, and the United States.
How did a young man who had known poverty as a child in England,worked as a cook in Paris, and once sold stoves to nuns in Scotlandclimb to the pinnacle of the fast-paced, fiercely competitive worldof advertising? Long before storming Madison Avenue, David Ogilvy'slife had already had its share of colorful experiences andadventure. Now, this updated edition of David Ogilvy'sautobiography presents his extraordinary life story and its manyfascinating twists and turns.
Born in 1911, David Ogilvy spent his first years in Surrey (BeatrixPotter's uncle lived next door, and his niece was a frequentvisitor). His father was a classical scholar who had played rugbyfor Cambridge. "My father . . . did his best to make me as strongand brainy as himself. When I was six, he required that I shoulddrink a tumbler of raw blood every day. When that brought noresult, he tried beer. To strengthen my mental faculties, heordered that I should eat calves' brains three times a week. Blood,brains, and a noble experiment." Before marrying, his motherhad been a medical student.
When World War I brought economic disaster to the family, they wereforced to move in with relatives in London. Scholarships toboarding school and Oxford followed, and then, fleeing academia,Ogilvy set out on the at times surprising, at times rocky road toworldwide recognition and success. His remarkable journey wouldlead the ambitious young man to America where, with George Gallup,he ran a polling service for the likes of Darryl Zanuck and DavidO. Selznick in Hollywood; to Pennsylvania, where he became enamoredwith the Amish farming community; and back to England to work forBritish Intelligence with Sir William Stephenson. Along the way,with the help of his brother, David Ogilvy secured a job withMather and Crowther, a London advertising agency. The rest ishistory.
An innovative businessman, a great raconteur, a genuine legend inhis own lifetime, David Ogilvy is one of a kind. So is hisautobiography.
"Ogilvy, the creative force of modern advertising." --The New YorkTimes
"Ogilvy's sharp, iconoclastic personality has illuminated theindustry like no other ad man's." --Adweek. .
an acclaimed author.
Praise for Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy
"A writing style that snaps, crackles, and pops on every page."--The Wall Street Journal.
"An entertaining and literate book that can serve as a valuableprimer on advertising for any businessman or investor."--Forbes.
"I remembered how my grandfather had failed as a farmer and becomea successful businessman. Why not follow in his footsteps? Why notstart an advertising agency? I was thirty-eight. . . .nocredentials, no clients, and only $6,000 in the bank."
Whatever David Ogilvy may have lacked in money and credentials, hemore than made up for with intelligence, talent, and ingenuity. Hebecame the quintessential ad man, a revolutionary whose impact onhis profession still reverberates today. His brilliant campaignswent beyond successful advertising, giving rise to such pop cultureicons as the famous Hathaway shirt man with his trademark blackeyepatch. His client list runs the gamut from Rolls Royce to SearsRoebuck, Campbell's Soup to Merrill Lynch, IBM to the governmentsof Britain, France, and the United States.
How did a young man who had known poverty as a child in England,worked as a cook in Paris, and once sold stoves to nuns in Scotlandclimb to the pinnacle of the fast-paced, fiercely competitive worldof advertising? Long before storming Madison Avenue, David Ogilvy'slife had already had its share of colorful experiences andadventure. Now, this updated edition of David Ogilvy'sautobiography presents his extraordinary life story and its manyfascinating twists and turns.
Born in 1911, David Ogilvy spent his first years in Surrey (BeatrixPotter's uncle lived next door, and his niece was a frequentvisitor). His father was a classical scholar who had played rugbyfor Cambridge. "My father . . . did his best to make me as strongand brainy as himself. When I was six, he required that I shoulddrink a tumbler of raw blood every day. When that brought noresult, he tried beer. To strengthen my mental faculties, heordered that I should eat calves' brains three times a week. Blood,brains, and a noble experiment." Before marrying, his motherhad been a medical student.
When World War I brought economic disaster to the family, they wereforced to move in with relatives in London. Scholarships toboarding school and Oxford followed, and then, fleeing academia,Ogilvy set out on the at times surprising, at times rocky road toworldwide recognition and success. His remarkable journey wouldlead the ambitious young man to America where, with George Gallup,he ran a polling service for the likes of Darryl Zanuck and DavidO. Selznick in Hollywood; to Pennsylvania, where he became enamoredwith the Amish farming community; and back to England to work forBritish Intelligence with Sir William Stephenson. Along the way,with the help of his brother, David Ogilvy secured a job withMather and Crowther, a London advertising agency. The rest ishistory.
An innovative businessman, a great raconteur, a genuine legend inhis own lifetime, David Ogilvy is one of a kind. So is hisautobiography.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
10 people are currently reading
372 people want to read
About the author
David Ogilvy
72 books366 followersDavid Mackenzie Ogilvy was born in West Horsley, England, on June 23, 1911. He was educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh and at Christ Church, Oxford (although he didn't graduate).
david ogilvy After Oxford, Ogilvy went to Paris, where he worked in the kitchen of the Hotel Majestic. He learned discipline, management - and when to move on: "If I stayed at the Majestic I would have faced years of slave wages, fiendish pressure, and perpetual exhaustion." He returned to England to sell cooking stoves, door-to-door.
Ogilvy's career with Aga Cookers was astonishing. He sold stoves to nuns, drunkards, and everyone in between. In 1935 he wrote a guide for Aga salesmen (Fortune magazine called it "probably the best sales manual ever written"). Among its suggestions, "The more prospects you talk to, the more sales you expose yourself to, the more orders you will get. But never mistake quantity of calls for quality of salesmanship."
In 1938, Ogilvy emigrated to the United States, where he went to work for George Gallup's Audience Research Institute in New Jersey. Ogilvy cites Gallup as one of the major influences on his thinking, emphasizing meticulous research methods and adherence to reality...
david ogilvy After Oxford, Ogilvy went to Paris, where he worked in the kitchen of the Hotel Majestic. He learned discipline, management - and when to move on: "If I stayed at the Majestic I would have faced years of slave wages, fiendish pressure, and perpetual exhaustion." He returned to England to sell cooking stoves, door-to-door.
Ogilvy's career with Aga Cookers was astonishing. He sold stoves to nuns, drunkards, and everyone in between. In 1935 he wrote a guide for Aga salesmen (Fortune magazine called it "probably the best sales manual ever written"). Among its suggestions, "The more prospects you talk to, the more sales you expose yourself to, the more orders you will get. But never mistake quantity of calls for quality of salesmanship."
In 1938, Ogilvy emigrated to the United States, where he went to work for George Gallup's Audience Research Institute in New Jersey. Ogilvy cites Gallup as one of the major influences on his thinking, emphasizing meticulous research methods and adherence to reality...
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 2, 2025
Blood, Brains, & Beer isn't a strong as Ogilvy's other books, but it provides an interesting view into the history of one of the worlds most impactful advertising men.
The book traipses through Ogilvy's history, from his childhood, to working in a French kitchen, to polling with Dr. Gallup, to working with British Intelligence during WW2, to finally founding and running the famous Ogilvy & Mather advertising firm.
The book traipses through Ogilvy's history, from his childhood, to working in a French kitchen, to polling with Dr. Gallup, to working with British Intelligence during WW2, to finally founding and running the famous Ogilvy & Mather advertising firm.
February 2, 2020
This read as though it were written as an advertising piece for the author’s brand and through it, his business...which is definitely a thing people did then and still do. Amusing but self consciously so.
May 6, 2013
An interesting but rather self-congratulatory look into the great copywriter's life. The autobiography covered the major milestones of David Ogilvy's life fleetingly with his witty and eccentric thoughts peppered within. If you are looking for inspiration and clues as to how he became an advertising giant, you would have to dig hard with this book.
September 22, 2015
Quick and easy read. A guy who is interested in others and has an ability to describe them interestingly. He has intermingled with some fascinating people, or at least it seems so from his descriptions. Good account of his early schooling; the memories and impact lingered. Not his greatest work but glad I read it and would consider buying it.
Read
July 23, 2016It's a great book. David Ogilvy is original from start to finish, from his childhood till his last days in the French castle. You cannot copy him until you imbibe that originality in your own personality. Quite a catch 22, isn't it? Yet, it's worth a try. At least be true to yourself, don't beat about the bush.
August 18, 2010
Finally, a good book. This guy is a super star.
He opened his ad agency after trying and failing to be basically Amish among other wild career choices.
He opened his ad agency after trying and failing to be basically Amish among other wild career choices.
November 8, 2010
This is a charming memoir, more personal than his better-known "Confessions of an Advertising Man." Worth a read.
August 7, 2012
Such a random book. In the last chapter Ogilvy lists 50 of his best friends, writes a list of his favorite words, some of his favorite recipes, and concludes with the list of clients.
February 5, 2016
The big takeaway: You don't need to have your life planned out right now. Sometimes an open mind, coupled with rigorous probing curiosity, is enough to hone you for greatness.
May 4, 2016
Inspirational!
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November 23, 2018A must read autobiography of David Ogilvy, who went the way from being kicked from school, to being chef in Paris restaurant, and becoming the "father of advertisement".
May 30, 2019
The one of the most interesting businessman I have ever come across in my reading.
He doesn’t disappoint here.
He doesn’t disappoint here.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews