Notable quotes about advertising
Advertising is the definitive engine of commercial visibility, functioning as the vital communication link between enterprise and consumer. More than mere promotion, effective advertising requires a sophisticated balance of creative rigor and strategic intent to penetrate the public consciousness. This resource organizes the fundamental philosophies of advertising into a coherent framework, tracing its trajectory from a basic economic necessity to a high-art form of persuasion and reputation management.
The economic imperative of visibility
Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.[1]
— Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company
Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does.[2]
— Steuart Henderson Britt, Professor of Marketing
In good times people want to advertise; in bad times they have to.[3]
— Bruce Barton, Co-founder of BBDO
Creative without strategy is called 'art.' Creative with strategy is called 'advertising.'[4]
— Jef I. Richards, Professor of Advertising
The strategic art of persuasion
Advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art.[5]
— William Bernbach, Co-founder of DDB
A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.[6]
— David Ogilvy, Founder of Ogilvy & Mather
Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.[7]
— Leo Burnett, Founder of Leo Burnett Worldwide
The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.[8]
— David Ogilvy, Founder of Ogilvy & Mather
An ad should be an appetizer, not a buffet.[9]
— Lee Clow, Chairman of TBWA\Media Arts Lab
Advertising is the ability to sense, interpret... to put the very heart throbs of a business into type, paper and ink.[10]
— Leo Burnett, Founder of Leo Burnett Worldwide
People screen out a lot of commercials because they open with something dull...When you advertise fire-extinguishers, open with the fire.[11]
— David Ogilvy, Founder of Ogilvy & Mather
Nobody reads ads. People read what interests them. Sometimes, it's an ad.[12]
— Howard Gossage, Advertising Executive
Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief.[13]
— Leo Burnett, Founder of Leo Burnett Worldwide
The psychology of audience engagement
Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.[14]
— Seth Godin, Author and Marketing Executive
Tell the truth, but make the truth fascinating.[15]
— David Ogilvy, Founder of Ogilvy & Mather
Advertising must respect the intelligence of its audience and if it does not prompt them to think, it will be dismissed.[16]
— Maurice Saatchi, Co-founder of Saatchi & Saatchi
Nobody who bought a drill actually wanted a drill. They wanted a hole.[17]
— Perry Marshall, Author
I am one who believes that one of the greatest dangers of advertising is not that of misleading people, but that of boring them to death.[18]
— Leo Burnett, Founder of Leo Burnett Worldwide
No one wakes up excited to see more advertising, no one goes to sleep thinking about the ads they'll see tomorrow.[19]
— Jan Koum, Co-founder of WhatsApp
If it doesn't sell, it isn't creative.[20]
— David Ogilvy, Founder of Ogilvy & Mather
Advertising tries to be a pyromaniac, igniting conflagrations of desires for instant gratification.[21]
— George Will, The Washington Post
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.[22]
— David Ogilvy, Founder of Ogilvy & Mather
If dogs don't like your dog food, the packaging doesn't matter.[23]
— Stephen Denny, Business Strategist
Ethics, testing, and professional rigor
Every single element in an advertisement must be put there because testing has shown that it works best![24]
— John Caples, Vice President of BBDO
It is flagrantly dishonest for an advertising agent to urge consumers to buy a product which he would not allow his own wife to buy.[25]
— David Ogilvy, Founder of Ogilvy & Mather
Dishonesty in advertising has proved very unprofitable.[26]
— Leo Burnett, Founder of Leo Burnett Worldwide
Advertising brings in the customers, but it is your job to keep them buying from you.[27]
— Chet Holmes, Business Growth Strategist
Never write an advertisement which you wouldn't want your own family to read. You wouldn't tell lies to your own wife. Don't tell them to mine.[28]
— David Ogilvy, Founder of Ogilvy & Mather
There is a great deal of advertising that is much better than the product. When that happens, all that the good advertising will do is put you out of business faster.[29]
— Jerry Della Femina, Chairman of Della Femina Travisano & Partners
I've never found a client's business problem that could be solved solely through advertising.[30]
— Lee Clow, Chairman of TBWA\Media Arts Lab
In advertising, not to be different is virtually suicidal.[31]
— William Bernbach, Co-founder of DDB
The best advertising is done by satisfied customers.[32]
— Philip Kotler, Professor of International Marketing
Content is king, but engagement is queen, and the lady rules the house![33]
— Mari Smith, Social Media Strategist
A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is — it is what consumers tell each other it is.[34]
— Scott Cook, Co-founder of Intuit
The secret to marketing success is no secret at all: Word of mouth is all that matters.[35]
— Seth Godin, Author and Marketing Executive
There is no advertisement as powerful as a positive reputation traveling fast.[36]
— Brian Koslow, Author
References
- ↑ Makan Delrahim (May 2, 2019). "Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim Delivers Remarks at the Antitrust Division's Public Workshop on Competition in Television and Digital Advertising". Office of Public Affairs. United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
- ↑ ...
- ↑ Barton, Bruce (1955). "Bruce Barton Classic Quotations" (PDF). The Superlist. Christer Sundqvist. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
- ↑ Jef I. Richards (2002). "Refining the Definition of Advertising". Journal of Advertising. American Academy of Advertising.
- ↑ "The Creative Revolutionist". The New York Times. October 3, 1982. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
- ↑ Ogilvy, David (1963). Confessions of an Advertising Man. Atheneum.
- ↑ "The Leo Burnett Story". Leo Burnett Worldwide. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
- ↑ Ogilvy, David (1963). Confessions of an Advertising Man. Atheneum.
- ↑ Fast Company Staff (2012-08-28). "The Creative Mind of Lee Clow". Fast Company. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
- ↑ Burnett, Leo (1961). 100 Leo's: The Advertising Philosophy of Leo Burnett. Leo Burnett Company.
- ↑ Ogilvy, David (1963). Confessions of an Advertising Man. Atheneum.
- ↑ Gossage, Howard (1995). The Book of Gossage. Copy Workshop.
- ↑ Burnett, Leo (1961). Communications of an Advertising Man. Privately printed.
- ↑ Godin, Seth (2008). Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. Portfolio/Penguin.
- ↑ Ogilvy, David (1963). Confessions of an Advertising Man. Atheneum.
- ↑ Fallon, Ivan (1988). The Brothers: The Rise and Rise of Saatchi & Saatchi. Hutchinson.
- ↑ Marshall, Perry (2013). 80/20 Sales and Marketing. Entrepreneur Press.
- ↑ Burnett, Leo (2012). 100 LEO'S: 100 Years of Leo Burnett. Leo Burnett Worldwide.
- ↑ Koum, Jan (2012-06-18). "Why we don't sell ads". WhatsApp Blog. WhatsApp Inc. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
- ↑ Ogilvy, David (1983). Ogilvy on Advertising. Crown Publishers.
- ↑ Will, George F. (1986). The Morning After. Free Press.
- ↑ Ogilvy, David (1963). Confessions of an Advertising Man. Atheneum.
- ↑ Denny, Stephen (2011). Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry. Portfolio.
- ↑ Caples, John (1997). Tested Advertising Methods. Prentice Hall.
- ↑ Ogilvy, David (1963). Confessions of an Advertising Man. Atheneum.
- ↑ Burnett, Leo (1961). 100 Leo's: The Advertising Philosophy of Leo Burnett. Leo Burnett Company.
- ↑ Holmes, Chet (2007). The Ultimate Sales Machine. Portfolio.
- ↑ Ogilvy, David (1963). Confessions of an Advertising Man. Atheneum.
- ↑ Della Femina, Jerry (1970). From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor. Simon & Schuster.
- ↑ Pray, Doug (2009). "Art & Copy (2009) Documentary Quotes". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
- ↑ Bernbach, Bill (1987). Bill Bernbach Said... DDB Needham Worldwide.
- ↑ Kotler, Philip (1999). Marketing Management: Millennium Edition. Prentice Hall.
- ↑ Smith, Mari (2011). The New Relationship Marketing. Wiley.
- ↑ Scott Cook (December 2011). "Marketing in the Age of Social Media". Harvard Business Review. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
- ↑ Seth Godin (January 29, 2003). "Word of mouth is all that matters". Seth's Blog. Seth Godin. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
- ↑ Koslow, Brian (1998). 365 Ways to Market Your Business. Dutton.