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David Ogilvy was his client's most loyal customer.

Written by Cole Schafer

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David Ogilvy believed that when an advertising agency did business with a brand, it was the agency’s responsibility to use the products and the services of that brand.

In his own words…

“I always use my client’s products. This is not toadyism, but elementary good manners.”

For those like me who aren’t privy to the term “toadyism”, it’s essentially another term for “brown-nosing” or “flattering”.

Ogilvy was under the conviction that showing unwavering loyalty to the brands he serviced (who were paying he and his agency millions of dollars a year) wasn’t being “a kiss ass” but, instead, a gentleman.

In Confession of an Advertising Man he describes this loyalty in splendid detail…

*David Ogilvy is writing now*

“Almost everything I consume is manufactured by one of my clients.

My shirts are by Hathaway, my candlesticks by Steuben.

My car is a Rolls-Royce, and its tank is always full of Super-Shell.

I have my suits made by Sears-Roebuck.

At breakfast, I drink Maxwell House coffee or Tetley Tea, and eat two slices of Pepperidge Farm toast.

I wash with Dove, deodorize with Ban, and light my pipes with a Zippo lighter.

After sundown I drink nothing but Puerto Rican rum and Schweppes.

I read magazines and newspapers which are printed on paper from the mills of International Paper.

When I go on vacation (in Britain or Puerto Rico) I get my reservations through American Express and travel by KLM or P&O-Orient Lines.”

Ogilvy closes with…

“And why not, pray tell? Are these not the finest goods and services on Earth? I think they are and that is why I advertise them.”

I have nothing to add but this: if as a freelancer or an agency you’re marketing, advertising or servicing a brand but not using the brand’s products or services, how well can you truly be marketing, advertising and servicing it?

But, I digress.

By Cole Schafer.