Lesson #4: Never Underestimate the Power of Research
Lesson #4: Never Underestimate the Power of Research
“The most important word in the vocabulary of advertising is TEST,” Ogilvy once wrote. “Test your promise. Test your media. Test your headlines and your illustrations. Test the size of your advertisements. Test your frequency. Test your level of expenditure. Test your commercials. Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.” Ogilvy believed in the maxim of looking before you leap, never releasing an ad without first putting it through severe scrutiny and several levels of testing. “If you pretest your product with consumers, and pretest your advertising, you will do well in the marketplace.”
Ogilvy’s success stemmed from the fact that he understood the changing nature of his market. The same people he advertised to yesterday would not be the same ones he would be trying to reach tomorrow. “You aren’t advertising to a standing army; you are advertising to a moving parade,” he wrote, comparing an advertisement to “a radar sweep, constantly hunting new prospects as they come into the market.” Thus, in order to gain an accurate picture of the market, one had to “get a good radar and keep it sweeping.”
It was only through doing his research that Ogilvy believed his ads would be successful and generate sales. But, the importance of research wasn’t limited to advertising. Indeed, Ogilvy likened his industry to the medical industry: “Supposing you've got an acute appendicitis,” he wrote. “You've got to be operated on tonight. Would you like to have a surgeon who’s read some books of anatomy and knows how to do that operation - or would you prefer to have a surgeon who refused to read all books about anatomy and relied on his own instinct?”
Ogilvy knew that it was only knowledge that distinguished a great surgeon from others. Thus, on a similar note, Ogilvy asks why a manufacturer would stake his account and the entire future of his company on an advertiser’s instinct? He shouldn’t, and that is why Ogilvy turned to research – research about the product and the market. Research would tell him what he needed to know about what worked and what didn’t.
There were indeed times when Ogilvy trusted his instinct, such as in his dislike of the use of jingles in advertising campaigns. “Candor compels me to admit that I have no conclusive research to support my view that jingles are less persuasive than the spoken word,” he said. However, this was one time when Ogilvy was willing to let common sense dictate his actions. “You’d run like hell if a salesman came to your door and began singing at you. Why do it in advertising?”
Lesson 4 Never Underestimate the Power of Research
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Ogilvy came from a background in research; in his early years he had worked for the world-renowned George Gallup Audience Research Institute, which he later called “the luckiest break of my life.” It was at Gallup that Ogilvy learned about research and its importance in advertising. In fact, research became so central to Ogilvy’s philosophy of creating advertising that when he opened his own agency in 1952, Ogilvy billed himself as Research Director.
“The most important word in the vocabulary of advertising is TEST,” Ogilvy once wrote. “Test your promise. Test your media. Test your headlines and your illustrations. Test the size of your advertisements. Test your frequency. Test your level of expenditure. Test your commercials. Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.” Ogilvy believed in the maxim of looking before you leap, never releasing an ad without first putting it through severe scrutiny and several levels of testing. “If you pretest your product with consumers, and pretest your advertising, you will do well in the marketplace.”
Ogilvy’s success stemmed from the fact that he understood the changing nature of his market. The same people he advertised to yesterday would not be the same ones he would be trying to reach tomorrow. “You aren’t advertising to a standing army; you are advertising to a moving parade,” he wrote, comparing an advertisement to “a radar sweep, constantly hunting new prospects as they come into the market.” Thus, in order to gain an accurate picture of the market, one had to “get a good radar and keep it sweeping.”
It was only through doing his research that Ogilvy believed his ads would be successful and generate sales. But, the importance of research wasn’t limited to advertising. Indeed, Ogilvy likened his industry to the medical industry: “Supposing you've got an acute appendicitis,” he wrote. “You've got to be operated on tonight. Would you like to have a surgeon who’s read some books of anatomy and knows how to do that operation - or would you prefer to have a surgeon who refused to read all books about anatomy and relied on his own instinct?”
Ogilvy knew that it was only knowledge that distinguished a great surgeon from others. Thus, on a similar note, Ogilvy asks why a manufacturer would stake his account and the entire future of his company on an advertiser’s instinct? He shouldn’t, and that is why Ogilvy turned to research – research about the product and the market. Research would tell him what he needed to know about what worked and what didn’t.
There were indeed times when Ogilvy trusted his instinct, such as in his dislike of the use of jingles in advertising campaigns. “Candor compels me to admit that I have no conclusive research to support my view that jingles are less persuasive than the spoken word,” he said. However, this was one time when Ogilvy was willing to let common sense dictate his actions. “You’d run like hell if a salesman came to your door and began singing at you. Why do it in advertising?”
Lesson 4 Never Underestimate the Power of Research
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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