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He’s called the Father of Advertising and the King of Madison Avenue. Fortune magazine once asked if he was a genius — which prompted him to ask his attorney to bring a lawsuit against the publication for its use of the question mark.
But you should also know that this man was an apprentice chef, a farmer, a door-to-door salesman, an expelled college student, a social worker, a researcher, and a former employee of the British Intelligence Service. That’s a lot of lives lived before David Ogilvy even started in advertising, opening his own firm in 1948 at the age of 38.
This rich history formed one of the most prolific copywriters in the industry. He believed in the “big idea,” creating campaigns for Schweppes and Hathaway shirts that featured mysterious and memorable characters. He changed the image of a country in a series of ads for Puerto Rico, made Dove a household name, and convinced First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to hawk margarine in a national TV commercial.
There’s a lot you can learn from revisiting the work of this authority on advertising.
To get you started, we reimagined what Ogily’s digital social profile would look like by curating some of his most famous work, quotes, and other life details.
(You can view all 10 profiles — including ones for Leo Burnett, John Hegarty, Lee Clow, and Bill Bernbach — in our new offer, The Social Network of Advertising Icons.)
Learn more about the man who influenced modern advertising in the graphic below:.
Quotes From the Graphic
Talent, I believe, is most likely to be found among nonconformists, dissenters, and rebels. 
The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife.
I notice increasing reluctance on the part of marketing executives to use judgment: They are coming to rely too much on research, and they use it as a drunkard uses a lamp post for support, rather than for illumination. 
Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.
Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.
I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information.
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.
Ninety-nine percent of advertising doesn’t sell much of anything.
Much of the messy advertising you see on television today is the product of committees. Committees can criticize advertisements, but they should never be allowed to create them.
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