As you might guess from my tendency to quote him, I'm a big fan of David Ogilvy and his thinking on advertising.
In his classic work, Confessions of an Advertising man, he said this:
"A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself. It should rivet the reader's attention on the product. Instead of saying, 'What a clever advertisement,' the [viewer] says, 'I never knew that before. I must try this product.'"
Sounds like a great concept, right? But what does that look like in real life?
Well, here's a great example that I came across on Facebook last week:
Tongue firmly in cheek, within the first few minutes of the video, this CEO has you wanting to pay $400+ for one of his bags.
And yes, admittedly, in writing this post, I'm doing exactly what Ogilvy said ads shouldn't lead a person to do, which is to focus on the ad itself. But in fairness, I look at these things with a different lens and truthfully, the first time I watched the ad, by the 3rd minute, I did want a Saddleback bag. Why? Because, while the CEO was being sarcastic, he was also very clearly outlining why his product is superior - he educated me to the value of his product and in a roundabout way, made me a fan.
I'd sign up for a briefcase, a notepad, an iPad cover and a wallet if I had the cash. Now that's a pretty good impression to leave on an ad that probably cost them a pittance to make.
