Ogilvy on Advertising in the Digital Age

In this stylish textbook for students of advertising, Ogilvy & Mather nonexecutive chairman Young offers a smart take on the current state of advertising and how his storied firm has evolved as society has been transformed by the internet. The book takes its title from 1983’s Ogilvy in Advertising by the late David Ogilvy, who was both the author’s mentor and the founder of the venerable agency. This sequel is its own exercise in brand extension, reflecting on Ogilvy’s maverick career while trumpeting the firm’s forward-thinking current incarnation. However, the case studies of campaigns for brands such as Dove, Old Spice, and Coke combined with a discussion of advertising philosophy and tactics make this book more than an extended sales pitch. As would be expected, the text is well designed, replete with pretty infographics such as a “map” where Alphabet, Amazon, and Apple are “countries” in the mode of a game of Risk. Writers can read the content chapter, analysts can peruse the analytics chapter, and creatives can indulge in the idea chapter, and they’d all benefit from reading everything else. Ogilvy would be proud, with Young achieving his stated goal of convincing a new generation to look back at Ogilvy’s classic work, while also adding his own canny take on the contemporary advertising game. [em](Jan.) [/em]