Blood, brains and beer

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From the BUSINESS section: Blood, brains and beer

By Drew Crosby

Most people would agree that success in the business world results from shedding (derramar) a little blood, sweat and tears.

In the case of David Ogilvy, known as the Father of Advertising (publicidad), it was more like blood, brains and beer.

David Ogilvy was born in West Horsely, England in 1911. Ogilvy’s father, in an attempt to strengthen his brain power, ordered his son “to drink a glass of raw blood every day, eat calves’ brains three times a week and wash it all down with a bottle of beer.”


David Ogilvy

Ogilvy’s forte (punto fuerte) was advertising, but he also offered advice on:

Market research: Ogilvy understood the importance of knowing a client’s product inside out (al dedillo). If you can’t afford expensive market research surveys, go talk to a group of housewives and conduct them yourself.

Hiring: Ogilvy sent newly appointed (nombrado) managers at Ogilvy & Mather offices a hand written note tucked into Russian dolls that had smaller and smaller dolls inside.

The message said:

If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarves (enanos). But if each of us hires people bigger than we are, Ogilvy & Mather will become a company of giants.

New business development: Ogilvy’s philosophy for attracting new clients was very simple: do good work for current ones. He relied a lot on word-of-mouth (el boca a boca), and it worked.

Sales: Before founding Ogilvy & Mather, as a salesman for Aga Cookers, David Ogilvy wrote a sales guide that Fortune magazine called the best sales manual ever written.

Creativity: Without discipline, creativity doesn’t exist. While designing a campaign for Rolls Royce, Ogilvy wrote one of his best ads (anuncios) after spending three weeks reading about the car. The famous title: “At 60 miles per hour, the loudest noise in this new Rolls Royce comes from the electric clock.”

So as you can see, all that Blood, Brains and Beer was worth it, becoming the title of David Ogilvy’s autobiography.