About Advertising

by | Nov 5, 2012 | Develop yourself, Marketing that works, More business, Recommendations

As I’ve said before, I just love anything written by Denny Hatch who has been around advertising and direct marketing more years than I guess he cares to remember.  In a recent article he had this to say (and I believe that you should read and re-read it till the facts are so ingrained in your brain that you never forget them)…

“After a lifetime in the business, I can now boil down everything I have learned about advertising to three simple pieces of advice:

  1. It pays to spend money on being relevant—making sure you are talking to the right people and irritating as few others as possible.
  2. “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. When Aeschines spoke, they said, ‘How well he speaks.’ But when Demosthenes spoke, they said, ‘Let us march against Philip.'” —David Ogilvy
  3. Frame over your desk in large type the following paragraph by the late, great copy master Vic Schwab from his book, “How to Write a Good Advertisement”: The copywriter’s aim in life should be to try to make it harder for people to pass up his advertisement than to read it.”

You can read the rest of his article at and subscribe while you are there please.