Enough with the Boring, Unoriginal, Soulless Copy.
Arguably the most famous headline ever inked, not only did Ogilvy’s Rolls-Royce headline catapult him to advertising superstardom — it doubled Rolls-Royce revenue and left enthusiasts salivating.
This begs the question: how did he come up with the infamous line, and what can we learn from it besides trying to imitate it?
Firstly, he didn’t rush to put pen to pad. Ogilvy was adamant: To create successful advertising, you had to do your homework — absolutely no shortcuts.
Before laying down ink, he spent three weeks researching, digging through every bit of info he could find on the new Rolls Royce. It was during this excavation that he stumbled upon these words written by the Technical Editor of The Motor:
“At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.”
Yes, despite what many believe, Ogilvy didn’t write the headline — he stole it.
He dug, and he dug, and he dug until he stumbled upon gold. And when he found it, he placed it front and center, added another 600 words or so, and the rest is history.
Enter the new era.
It seems time is a luxury rarely afforded to creatives today. And now, with AI, there’s even more pressure seeping into the market to deliver quality work at lightning speed.
Too often, when shopping for creatives, businesses want Ogilvy-caliber work — they want it delivered yesterday, and they want to pay a fraction of what it’s worth.
The result?
A stream of ads, emails, and content lacking original thought — all following the same rules, using the same models and structure, repeating the same old story.
Case in point, one of my favorite clothing brands, J.Crew, was forced to file for bankruptcy. While no doubt a complex matter, they basically failed at e-commerce. Why?
Because they were lazy. Every email sent out promoted a new sale. With zero creativity or substance, they trained their customer that paying full price would be an act of lunacy — a hole they eventually couldn’t dig themselves out of.
However, all hope is not lost with brands like Liquid Death (who sell water, for Christ’s sake) and The Ordinary (with their refreshing approach to skincare) offering masterclasses in both positioning and creativity and how to capture a significant slice of the market.
If you want to sell like Ogilvy, you need to let your creatives think like Ogilvy.
Ogilvy broke the rules.
A.I. and Grammarly don’t break rules* — they enforce them. So unless you’re incredibly astute with your editing and direction, the copy they churn out will lack both soul and originality.
*Forgive me, A.I. and Grammarly don’t break “the” rules.
Don’t be afraid to mix it up a little, inject some style, write a sentence every now and again that an “eight-year-old” might struggle to read if for no other reason than it has a nice rhythm to it…
And let us not forget, you’re not actually speaking to an eight-year-old — you’re speaking to an adult who has the attention span of an eight-year-old, who craves dopamine and gets bored easily.
So keep it interesting, mix things up, and be a little unpredictable if you want to make it memorable.
Ogilvy immersed himself in research.
Every business needs sales. And every business owner wants a stick of dynamite to bring in those sales. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can still fish with standard bait and keep things comfortable and afloat.
However, if you want to fish with dynamite, then your creatives need time to think and do research, and this next bit is important…
Know that they aren’t going to be punished for doing so!
Are you giving creatives the freedom needed to understand your product intimately, immerse themselves in research, and let their minds run wild?
The more you embrace, laugh, reward, and encourage creativity, the more likely you are to be gifted with that one BIG IDEA that has the potential to completely transform your business and net you millions of dollars — Just like Ogilvy did for Rolls Royce!
Some entrepreneurs get it — most don’t. And I can’t help but wonder if within that is the space where the truly great brands are born.
Hi, I’m Nicky. I help small, legendary e-commerce brands with BIG personalities transform their email marketing into revenue-generating machines. And by help, I mean I do it all for them.
If you want to get in on the party and watch your email revenue double, triple, or even quadruple with zero stress or hassle, then head over to my site to book a free call.
