ads should sell

“We sell… or else.”

David Ogilvy said that. He built the largest ad agency on the planet.

Man  had a philosophy about ads. Basically: ads should sell product.

You run a business. I run a business. To us, this makes total sense.

Not to most advertising people though.

Have you seen perfume ads?

Johnny Depp drives into the desert. Plays a guitar for a prairie wolf. Buries the guitar. Walks off.

It’s like a LSD fueled fever dream.

Have you ever seen that horrendous jaguar ad? No car in sight. Just a bunch of colorfully dressed very weird looking people standing in an elevator.

Truly bizarre.

The fact is - most advertising people haven’t sold a thing in their life and couldn’t sell to save their lives either.

They’ll tell you to just ‘put your name out there’ and you should ‘build brand awareness.’

Don’t fall for that BS.

Every ad should sell.

Sell your message.

Sell your service.

Sell your product.

Sell your company.

I don’t particularly care which one you pick…

…but it should sell SOMETHING.

When we start working with clients this is one of the first things we go over. Look at what they’re doing, find ads that don’t sell… change them.

If you’re going to invest money, might as well give yourself the best chance to get the money back in, right?

Anyway, it might be a good thing to look at in your business. We sell… or else.

Eric

P.S. I always liked this quote as well:

“It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night.”

David Ogilvy was the man.

P.P.S. Would be pretty weak if I didn't sell on this blog. So if you want to check out what it's like to work with us, just fill out this form. If we are a good match, get ready for some massive growth.