Reddit reviews Ogilvy on Advertising

I love reading these because it's so off base. No it is nothing like Mad Men. Chances are unless you are upper management you won't be making the industry average in salaries. If you want to take something away from it, watch how defeated they get when a client bitches about something not being right... then amplify that 10 fold, throw in a few "can we make the logos bigger", and put in a little working overtime to meet deadlines and going crazy. Another thing, if you aren't in college yet, you aren't "very good" with psychology or design... you may have gotten a good grade in AP classes and messed around in photoshop in your lab class, but there is much more to learn.

I'm not trying to be belittling, you just need to change your mindset completely on this as it seems pretty obvious you only have a media view of the field. Check out some ad work down by big companies. Check out the CLIO winners for the last few years. Read books on the subject like Ogilvy on Advertising or Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. Also, you aren't going to be doing all of these things, firms are done mostly in groups. You have your Accounts team (Pete Campbell, schmoozing and coordinating with the client), Design Team (Salvatore and Peggy, less copywriting now though) and sometimes Media and Project teams... depending on the agency. Each has their skills and contributions, so in all likelyhood if you want to work in an actual agency setting you will likely have to specialize. Like writing and planning? Take marketing. Like design and web-structure? Take Graphic Design and/or Computer Science. Psychology is not a particularly useful field in itself, as many of the psychological aspects are covered in their usefulness in the aforementioned majors.

Lastly, you won't know for sure what you want to do until a few years in, and that's fine. If you really like the idea of agency work though, DO INTERNSHIPS. There is no other way to get into the field and learn about the ins and outs. There are a lot of great things about the industry, but it's not all rainbows and panache.

Hey Whipple Squeeze This is a really phenomenal overview of creating ads. It is a very engaging and informative read and is perfect for those looking to break into the industry.

Ogilvy on Advertising delves a bit more into the overall experience of working at an agency like what the account team does vs. media teams and so on in addition to actually making ads. It's a bit dated but I think it holds up pretty well. Sure a few of his predictions about the industry didn't come to fruition and the book primarily focuses on TV spots and longform magazine ads (you can't write about banner ads or Facebook ads in 1985) but I'd say a lot of the concepts Ogilvy touches on are pretty timeless.

Would love to add anyone on Goodreads if you use it too :) [Add me](https://www.goodreads.com/thedoerco
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• Tested Advertising Method
  
• Ogilvy on Advertising
  
• How to Change Minds is a sales book, but it's got an easy to understand framework to understand how people make decisions that I have found useful for marketing
  
• The Ask Method Gives some great jumping off points on how to ask questions for marketing research, and how to organize that information to make decisions about your marketing and your product
  
• Positioning and Repositioning by the amazing marketing strategist Jack Trout of Disney and Coke, are good foundation reads if you don't know anything about marketing. If you know what a USP is, skip Positioning but I did like Repositioning. I did like Positioning as a refresher of a variety of different concepts that I have read more detailed individual books on.
  
• Integrated Marketing Communications to learn about more broadly how to make all of your marketing communications work together towards a common business goal. The book itself is about using marketing campaigns across different channels (tv, radio, print, online) in a coordinated effort, but it will help you understand how to use email, social, paid ads, and other marketing systems you develop together.
  
  Second Influence. Getting Everything You Can is good if you are basic in marketing, I would not recommend it for people who are more advanced.
  
  If you don't know what a "business goal" is, you need to read this:
  
  
• Scaling Up Every marketer should understand the processes that drive growth in businesses, because you are trying to manipulate those levers with marketing. You can also reverse engineer your prospect's business and explain the gains of your services in the terms of processes that drive their revenue when you're pitching them, too.

Ah, that's one of the more traditional shops.

I'd say that what everyone else here still stands. As a graphic designer, you do have the framework to be an AD, it just means changing your portfolio's focus.

So instead of worrying about kerning and grids, you need to focus more on USPs and brand messaging. Let on pixel pushing and more big picture thinking.

If your library has these books, Ogilvy on Advertising and Hey Whipple are great starters for understanding the creative process.

Good question. Tbh marketing is fairly easy to understand at a conceptual level. Most people I have met in the industry that are good at marketing are able to understand customers and find insights within data, but most of those things are learned.

I would recommend (in order of affordability):
Hey Whipple Squeeze This
Ogilvy on Advertising
Advertising Concept and Copy

Each is more complex than the last so Whipple would be a cheap and easy start to understand marketing concepts. Hope this helps.

This https://www.amazon.com/dp/039472903X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_-LmozbRFSJV3K

And this https://www.amazon.com/dp/006124189X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_dMmozbWME8S98

And for fun read, get Matt Beaumont's "e" and "e squared": https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_0_9?k=matt+beaumont&sprefix=matt+beau

Also, get this for general knowledge of some of the great work done in particular medium: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1118101332/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_0Qmozb5TPRJCS

Ogilvy on Advertising

Truth, Lies, and Advertising

Hey, Whipple

Bill Bernbach's Book

The Book of Gossage

Read both of David Olgilvy's books. Then read them again.

Confessions of an Advertising Man

Ogilvy on Advertising

Many people mistakenly think that just because they're good at social media that they will be good at social media marketing. It's an entirely different beast.

Do you have any experience in branding or marketing basics? You need to be able to create strategic briefs, messaging guides, create and effectively track goals that will solve your client's pain points.

Recommended books:

Ogilvy on Advertising

22 Immutable Laws of Branding

22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

After that I would learn more about content marketing. How to create good, compelling stories that not only engages the brand's followers but stores that legitimately helps them as well.

Blogs to subscribe to:

Content Marketing Institute

Hubspot

*CMI also had a podcast called PNR that is a great way to keep up on latest news, trends and predictions. I recommend subscribing to it.

Speaking of blogs, consider including them as part of your content strategy. They make easy fodder for social posts and drive traffic to the client website.

A few final things to note:

• Having someone with graphic design experience will step up your game big time, plus it can help avoid potential legal issues down the line (more on this later)
  
  
• Same goes for short form video. It's the most engaging content and damn near everyone is doing it.
  
  
• I would not accept any work that did not also include an advertising budget. This will allow to grow followers quickly and ensure they see your content. Only 6% of followers organically see a brand's content. Your missing out on a lot of potential without boosting those posts to ensure more people see them.
  
  
• Make sure you don't use any copyrighted images or videos. Most people are under the mistaken assumption that photos on the internet are fair game. This can get you and your client in a lot of trouble.
  
  
• Write a strategy doc and content calendar and stick to them. The biggest mistake new people make is playing it by ear. If after a few months you find the strategy isn't working, change it up to keep what does and can what doesn't.
  
  That's about all I got for now. Lemme know if you have any questions.

> Just because he sells them doesn't make them effective for use

Read "Ogilvy on Advertising" and you'll come away with a different perspective.

Copywriter's Handbook

Ogilvy on Advertising

My Life in Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins


Pick Me: Breaking into Advertising and Staying there - By Nancy Vonk Invaluable to me when I was in school. Read it more than my textbooks

Zag: The Number one strategy for high performance brands

Tipping Point - Malcom Gladwell

Start a little kitty for this one man: https://www.amazon.com/Ogilvy-Advertising-David/dp/039472903X

/u/chaintip

Edit: There's a bunch of other books which are bangers though! Maybe this one too, Niall Ferguson - The Square and The Tower.

I bet those days will come back soon. There's so much style in longer form. I recently read Ogilvy on Advertsing, written by this man, and recommend it to anyone interested in marketing or cool old school British style.

Hey Whipple, Squeeze This is pretty much required reading. As is Ogilvy on Advertising, in my opinion. Sort of old school versus new school insight. Both are advertising legends, and Luke Sullivan is/was a copywriter, so I found his stuff to be particularly helpful. There's a ton of stuff out there to read, but these two are a good place to start.

Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy, co-founder of Ogilvy & Mather, one of the most important and biggest ad agencies out there. It's one of the best books on the subject that I've ever read.

http://www.amazon.com/Ogilvy-Advertising-David/dp/039472903X

Learn marketing if you hate coding. There are tons of books. http://www.amazon.com/Ogilvy-Advertising-David/dp/039472903X
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