An ode to Ogilvy

"At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in the new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock"

This ad still gives me the shivers.

What I like most about it is that you can imagine these tin-like family cars that are cronky and noisy. Kind of like my first car: A C-reg VW Golf which literally shook when you went at 60. Then you have this Rolls cruising by all sleek and stylish and comfortable. Like an oasis in the desert. It sets the perfect tone in one sentence.

It was created by David Ogilvy for his own agency, Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson, & Mather, in 1958.

Before we get started, let's address the elephant in the room

It's pretty much proven that this wasn't an Ogilvy original. 25 years earlier a car manufacturer called Pierce Arrow ran an almost identical line. But, as you can see, that's where the similarities end.

The Pierce Arrow ad has none of the long-form copy that Ogilvy is famous for. And that's what counts.

Who was David Ogilvy?

David Ogilvy was my first marketing hero because he was completely dedicated to long copy that featured facts and data. This is because he started his career at Gallup, the word-famous market research and polling company. But I'm skipping ahead...

While he’s associated with American ads, David Ogilvy was actually born in Surrey, England. He went to boarding school at Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland, and briefly attended Christ Church, Oxford, dropping out after failing his exams.

But he found success out of university. His ability to shift AGAs as a door-to-door salesman prompted his employer to ask Ogilvy to write a training manual. Years later, Fortune magazine later called “probably the best sales manual ever written."

Ogilvy also briefly worked as a copywriter at Mather & Crowther, where his brother was also employed. He emigrated to American in 1938 to work at George Gallup’s Audience Research Institute in Princeton, N.J.

Gallup and Nazis

At the time Gallup was only three years old itself, so Ogilvy was hired by George Gallup himself to conduct research analysing consumer behaviour.

This experience dictated the kind of marketer Ogilvy would become, teaching him the importance of rigorous data and understanding what motivates people when making purchasing decisions.

He’s quoted as saying ”I learnt the rules of research. No matter how creative you are, you have to know the facts.”

He also wrote propaganda in WWII, to discredit businessmen supporting the Nazis. He was so good at this he influenced the theories later used by Eisenhower’s Psychological Warfare Board.

Starting out as an advertising man

Ogilvy really put his beliefs on factual copy into action when he founded his own advertising agency in 1948. It was then called Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson, & Mather. But you might know it as just Ogilvy, now one of the biggest agencies in the world.

He started with just $6,000 in capital, in part thanks to his old employer, and no clients. Terrifying.

His first few clients included Hathaway Shirts and Schweppes. For Schweppes he created the persona of the iconic Commander Whitehead. Sportsman, traveller, charming ladies man, the Commander was every bit the James Bond of tonics. And was actually a real person who eventually became a director at Schweppes. But that’s another story.

The success of campaigns like this helped attract major new clients like Rolls-Royce. In its first decade, Ogilvy's agency was becoming one of the most influential around.

Rolls Royce

Which brings us to this incredible ad, which ran from 1958 - 1962. Prior to this, Rolls Royce had been using the headline ‘The best car in the world’. Which really doesn’t do much to tell people anything.

But if you look at Ogilvy’s ad you can see that he knows exactly what Rolls Royce's ideal customer is looking for.

The sub-copy kicks it off ‘There’s really no magic about it - it is merely patient attention to detail’. I mean, they listen for axel-whine using a stethoscope for goodness sake. Could you be more patient than that?

My favourite parts

It gets quite technical, which I like because it makes the customer feel like a connoisseur of cars. Even if they have no idea what any of it means, these are definitely points to brag about.

"5. There’s no metal-to-metal contact between the body of the car and the chassis frame - except for the speedometer drive. The entire body is insulated and under-sealed." What does this even mean? I don’t know but it sounds great.

"12. The seats are upholstered with eight hides of English leather - enough to make 128 pairs of shoes." This is written to be rolled out at dinner parties all over the land.

There is a fact for every type of consumer.

Want to be part of history? "8. The Rolls Royce radiator has never changed, expect that when Sir Henry Royce died in 1933 the monogram was changed from red to black." You're literally buying a legacy.

Want to contribute to the economy? Yup. You can do that by buying this car too - gasoline consumption is remarkably low (Point 16).

I could talk about this for hours. Which I won’t.

But one last thing, Ogilvy believed in what he wrote so much that he stopped working with Rolls Royce in 1962 because he wasn’t happy with the quality of their manufacturing anymore. What a legend.

This ad has also received legendary status and in 1958, Rolls Royce’s sales increased by 50%.