Is It Still An Ogilvy World?

A lot has changed since the ruling days of David Ogilvy. While reading How To Advertise, I began to question some of Ogilvy's findings. Are his general advertising principles still valid in the new generations of the 21st century? It's been almost 9 years since his death, and some still live religiously by his words. My naive opinion is that Ogilvy never thought about the change in times, the change in generational culture, and the evolution of the target audience.

I believe the current generation is overwhelmed with advertising - the market is cluttered. In a presentation to London associates, Ogilvy said: "...I now know that aesthetics have nothing to do with advertising. The most important job of an ad is to centre all the attention on the merchandise and none on the technique of presenting it." How can you cut through the clutter with the same look, just different copy? I don't think this still holds up. This definitely should be buried with Ogilvy's old door-to-door techniques. Perhaps my thoughts are a little biased just because I like aesthetics, but I do enjoy good copy. I just can't see how a door-to-door technique can still work in this generation. You're making the product or service do all the work as far as catching the eye. You need a strong headline to really draw a consumer into the copy for the sale. However, a nicely designed ad, I think, can substitute for a weak headline and do the same job. Design and strong headline = sale. Maybe he was just trying to make a point about the importance of copy and technique.

But what about the ever changing, evolution of consumers? I've talked about the instant gratification needs of the current generation and how that affects media messages, and also the direction of the industry and its use of the World Wide Web. I think a lot of advertising in the current age relies too heavily on the Web to do the selling for it. Advertising messages are becoming as simple as "Go to www...," but the Web is not being used as efficiently as it could be. For many ads, the call to action is visit the Web site, and the advertising stops there. What about when you get to the Web Site? Will the merchandise sell itself? Ogilvy also said in his presentation, "...act as if you met the individual buyer face to face." I don't think you would knock on someone's door, get their attention, and then just not say anything else. How can you complete the sale online without saying anything once you get them there? Maybe online sales could increase with more messages on the page.

I have so many questions going through my head about how to improve the relationship between advertising and the internet, and how/if Ogilvy's principles fit into the mix, but this post is becoming a jumble of thoughts. It seems that Ogilvy's driving principles might still have a place in the present and future, and maybe as the relationship between messages and the Web improve, it will be more evident.