5 Laws of Advertising and Marketing That Haven't Changed in a Half Century

The other day on the subway, I came across an advertisement for the travel app Gett that read: “Uber surges, we don't. Now that we have your attention, sex.” I chuckled to myself and, once I got above ground, immediately downloaded the Gett App.

There’s no denying it: marketing has changed. Our delivery mechanisms, our strategies, the way in which we try to be clever (“Lucas uses Venmo”, anyone?) have all experienced a paradigm shift in the last decade or two.

But what’s even more interesting is how much marketing has stayed the same. Certain laws and practices have gone unchanged for over 50 years. In 1963, David Ogilvy wrote (arguably) the first book on modern marketing, entitled Confessions of an Advertising Man. For this, he earned the title “the father of marketing” and is most-likely the basis for Mad Men’s Don Draper.


This praise is not undeserved. It’s uncanny how much his original set of rules holds up in the modern world. From his time (when cowboys gave credibility to cigarettes) to today(with our ubiquitous Lucas Venmo ads), Ogilvy’s philosophy endures.

Here are five of Ogilvy’s Laws that live on in the modern era of marketing.

Law 1: “The consumer isn't a moron. She is your wife.”

While almost certainly sexist by today’s standards, Ogilvy was hinting at a profound truth: companies that value the intelligence of their customers will be rewarded with great customers.

This is truer now than ever before. Before buying a product, 81 percent of shoppers do research online. This means reading reviews, checking warranties, and skewering businesses for the best deals possible. It’s one of the reasons that brand loyalty is fast becoming a thing of the past. And it’s why ads that reward viewers for stopping, thinking, and asking questions (like “what is Venmo?”) are the ones we remember.

You’re more likely to see this law play out when it backfires. A good example of this is Coca Cola’s recent debacle over a “study” that claimed you could eat or drink whatever you wanted, so long as you exercised enough. It wasn’t long before consumers called B.S. on Coke’s study, going as far as to compare that particular claim to the lies propagated by the tobacco industry.

Lesson learned: your customers are smart, don’t lie to them.

Law 2: “Don't bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals.”

Ogilvy’s “don’t play it safe” philosophy resonates in our digital world, with its constant bombardment of commercials and advertisements. To stand out, you need to be bold.

Red Bull is a good case study. Why are they so successful? Bold branding. When Red Bull entered the United States in the late 90’s, they claimed their energy drink “gives you wings.” As this image evolved, they tapped into people’s love of the extreme. Red Bull didn’t just sponsor extreme sports, they created them. During their annual Flugtag events, people built homemade flying machines and broke world records. There was also that time when they sponsored the longest freefall in history, Felix Baumgartner's iconic 128,000 feet dive.

These kinds of bold, confident campaign moves have put Red Bull in the company of immortals.

Law 3: “A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.”

Though this sound more like the words of Sun Tzu than of an advertising man, Ogilvy calls attention to a phenomenon that we take for granted today. Modern marketing is a long game. You have to attract customers, close them, and delight them. But before you do any of those, you have to get their attention.

Consider this: companies that publish 16 or more blog posts each month get 3.5x the leads as those that publish 4 or less. Those are some serious numbers for an organic inbound vehicle. Blogging works precisely because it doesn’t call attention to itself. Blogging is for brand awareness and credibility, not for the hard sell. It’s a slow process, one of the many touches needed to make a sale these days. If you try to sell too hard, it’ll knock your credibility level with consumers down by almost a third.

Law 4: “I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information.”

The delicate goal of advertising and marketing is to reach customers where they’re most comfortable and happy, and actually motivate them to do something. Lately, advertisers have been turning to sponsored content to accomplish that.

They inject themselves into high-traffic, high-authority sites (like Shell or Adobe in The New York Times’ T Brand Studios) and offer information, like with any other blog post, that generates more attention for their brand.

And it works. Sponsored content is already 25 percent more successful than display ad units, and generates an 18% higher drive to purchase. People are more likely to trust it because it’s actually helpful (and an ad by itself isn’t).

Law 5: “What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it.”

Of Ogilvy’s five laws, this one is surely the most controversial. Many marketers would strong disagree and say that how you brand your product is absolutely everything. But this doesn’t have to be an either/or scenario. It’s both, with more of an emphasis on what you say (over how you say it).

Take Domino’s campaign to make their pizzas taste better. They acknowledged that they had been getting bad press about their pizzas, and wanted to change things. Since then, Domino’s has followed through and their stock has jumped from $7.73 to $105.11.

It goes back to the first rule: transparency is everything. If you are honest, it matters less how you spin it. Just deliver the truth. If the customer trusts you, they’re more likely to buy from you. It’s not only common sense, it’s common ethics.
What the future holds

Ogilvy’s legacy is as strong as ever. To this day, Ogilvy (the agency) uses his face and quotes in nearly all of their posts. Part of the reason for his enduring legacy is because so much of what he did was based on respect for the customer. That means respecting their intelligence, their needs, and their ambitions in life.

Sometimes marketing gets mislabeled as a form of deception. But it’s not. It’s more about empathy and psychology, and understanding how to put your best foot forward. And not being afraid to be a bit bold in the process.

7 Steps You Can Take Right Now To Start Selling More

As a salesperson, there are only so many things you can control. You can’t control market trends, changes at your company, your prospects’ moods or the features of your product. But you can control how much you sell, and that’s really all that matters.

Instead of worrying about all the factors outside your control, it’s time to take some serious measures to sell more, close bigger deals, and stand out from your competition in sales. Follow these seven steps to start selling more, right now:

1. Clarify your specific goals.

Many salespeople set separate goals for their personal and professional life, but in sales, all goals are personal. Your personal goals can and should drive your professional goals. The first step to selling more is to clarify your specific goals, writing down exactly what you want to accomplish over the next year. Write down these goals where you’ll see them frequently, then let the reminder drive you to crush them.

2. Know the numbers you need.

How many sales phone calls do you need to make each week in order to meet your goals? What about emails? And how many meetings do you need to set? You should know all the answers to these questions by heart. Be specific about how many emails you need to send, calls you need to make, and meetings you need to set each day. Otherwise, you’re just throwing darts at a wall. The is a simple but surprisingly effective strategy to helping you close more sales.

3. Script the first 7 seconds of all sales interactions.

Research shows that it only takes seven seconds for a complete stranger to decide whether to continue a conversation with you. If you don’t have game plan for those first seven seconds, you’re leaving too much to chance. When you script out your opening for selling interactions, you’ll enjoy a much higher success rate in continuing the conversation with prospects -- and ultimately closing the sale.

4. Break the selling pattern.

If you want to stand out from the crowd of salespeople in your market, you have to stop acting like every other salesperson in your market. When your prospect perceives you to be exactly like the countless other salespeople they’ve met, they immediately put up a wall to keep you at arm’s length.


Break the normal selling pattern by flipping standard sales interactions upside-down. For example, stop talking about the features and benefits of your product or service. Don’t pitch. And focus on establishing yourself as the expert in sales instead of a regular salesperson.

5. Don’t be afraid to disqualify prospects.

Not every prospect is qualified to become your customer. Show your value by disqualifying people who aren’t a good fit for what you sell. Instead of trying to persuade every last prospect to do business with you, focus on only persuading those who can buy and truly need what you’re selling. You don't want your sales pipeline full of bad leads that wouldn't benefit from your product or service, even if they could buy it.

6. Ask questions about key challenges.

Prospects only care about themselves. It’s time to stop pitching your product or service, because prospects simply don’t care about that. All your prospect cares about is the key challenges they’re facing.


Make the conversation all about them by asking questions that will ultimately lead to you helping them overcome those challenges.

7. Ask everyone for introductions.

Nothing will make you sell more than a full pipeline of qualified prospects. Keep yourself in that position of confidence by constantly asking everyone -- prospects, friends, even enemies -- for introductions to other people you could do business with.

6 Ways to Think Outside the Box When Marketing Your Small Business

Sometimes budget limits small businesses from executing their marketing ideas, but not every successful strategy requires a lot of money. Here are six outside the box ways to market your small business that are both inexpensive and effective.

1. Get personal.

Customers love the opportunity to make something their own. Studies have shown that 56 percent of consumers said receiving a personalized incentive would improve consideration of the brand. Think Personalized M&M’S and Share a Coke. If there’s a way for you to allow customer customization, give it a try and see how your audience responds. Not sure how to add a personal touch to your business? Anything that gets your customer’s name on your product works -- using frosting to write the order name on your donuts, or offering free monograming on your inventory of purses or apparel.

2. Promote customer engagement.

In today’s social world, whatever you can do to make your small business more shareable is good for marketing. What is something you could implement that your customers would find Insta-worthy? Create an opportunity for photo opps and increase your social reach without spending a cent. A “selfie campaign” is a great way to encourage posting and sharing. You can even add a prize component to entice people to use your custom hashtag or tag your business in their posts.

3. Say thanks.

How often do you let your customers know that you appreciate them? You’d be surprised the power a simple “thank you” can have on creating customer loyalty. A study by TD Bank found that 77 percent of consumers like when brands demonstrate their appreciation. While a card can often be effort enough, let’s try to remember that we’re thinking outside the box and go for something bigger. How about hosting a special event where guests can sample new menu items, or showcase the season’s new arrivals with a fashion show? Any event that builds excitement and celebrates the customers will do the job. Try utilizing Meetup.com or another event website that can gain the attention of new customers as well as current ones.

4. Develop a loyalty program.

If you’re losing customers, you need to establish a way to cultivate repeat business. Eighty percent of U.S. Generation Z consumers are willing to sign up for loyalty cards in exchange for deals or discounts Your loyalty program can be as basic as a punch card or as elaborate as a membership that rewards customers based on how often they visit or even how much they spend.
5. Utilize LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is one of the most frequently skipped social media networks for small businesses. But why? While not the most exciting platform, it does provide unique opportunities for marketing your business. Without even spending any money, you can connect with people in your community by creating a group and reaching out to other small business owners and potential customers in your area.

6. Survey your current customers.

If you’re not sure what types of marketing or promotions your customers will respond to best, ask them. A simple survey can provide endless insight into what you’re doing right and wrong, and what you’re not doing that you should be. Include a raffle-like component, where one participant will win a prize (such as a $100 credit to your business) to encourage your audience to take part.