David Ogilvy’s 3 Requirements for Developing Advertisements that Sell Across!

Want to develop advertisements that make the cash register ring? Do these three things.

Positioning, brand image, big idea.

According to Ogilvy, these are three pillars of producing advertising that sells across to all customers from any medium. The average person is bombarded with advertisements all day, every day. More than they can handle.

How do you get someone to buy your product? Or use your service when there’s a sea of options out there?

It used to be if you could be the loudest, you’d win.

Now the online advertisement has changed all that. Everyone has the potential for being the loudest and widest.

Your advertisement can be loud and reach more crowd from various sources but it won’t necessarily make the cash register ring. It' always about how interesting your products / services are and how would it benefit your respective buyers.

"When I write an advertisement, I don't want you to tell me that you find it 'creative'. I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product. " DAVID OGILVY

1. Positioning

People don’t buy your product. They buy the story they can tell themselves when they own it.

No one needs the latest iPhone. A phone half the price will do a similar job. But if you own it, you’re one of the people with the latest iPhone. You broadcast to the world, ‘Hey, I’ve got the resources to get the latest iPhone.’

When you position your product or service, what promise are you offering?

What does your product do?

Who is it for?

Remember these three questions when writing your next advertisement.

2. Brand Image

People love coffee. It’s the second biggest commodity next to oil. 2.2 billion cups are drunk worldwide every day.

So why do you pay RM 16 for a coffee at your favourite place versus the RM 2 you could spend at the corner shop?It’s because your favourite place has a brand behind it.

Brand image is saying, ‘people like us, do things like this.’

What will people think of when they think of your brand?

Tap water or distilled water?

3. Big Ideas

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

There are no guidelines to getting the muse to show up. But one thing is for sure. For it to arrive, you have to do your homework.

We have to think and talk about these five questions that will help us recognise big ideas.

1. Did it make be gasp when I first saw it?

2. Do I wish I had thought of it myself?

3. Is it unique?

4. Does it fit the strategy to perfection?

5. Could it be used for 30 years?

Big ideas are hard to come by but by doing your research and asking the right questions, you can give yourself the best chance of finding them.