Some people have read books like " I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, Native Son by Richard Wright, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and expressed that these books changed their lives. Well, this is one of the books that changed my life...well sort of. Although I am a big fan of D.H Lawrence's short stories and novels like Women In Love and Sons and Lovers. I can't help it by being moved by a well written book about advertising, marketing or religion. Originally Confessions of an Advertising Man was written in 1963 and then reprinted in 1988. What's really funny about this book is that its target is the housewife. Ogilvy continually writes "if you don't do this or that in advertising....the housewife will not be satisfied." LOL !
This statement is what summarized Confessions of an Advertising Man for me, Ogilvy writes " If for example it is a gasoline account, read text books, on the chemistry, geology and distribution of petroluem products. Read all the trade journals in the field. Read all the research reports and marketing plans that your agency has ever written on the product. Spend Saturday mornings in service stations, pumping gasoline and talking to motorists. Visit your clients refineries and research libraries. Study the advertising of his competitiors. At the end of your second year, you will know more about gasoline than your boss; you will then be ready to succeed him." No, I'm not going to be at gas stations pumping people's gas for them...it's the principle in this statement that applies to the overall marketing and advertising paradigm. You get it ?
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