Failed Marriages And Great Packages

April 7, 2009      Admin

The late David Ogilvy was among the greatest advertising geniuses who ever lived. He built a truly remarkable global agency and contributed more than his fair share to both the creative and management sides of the business.

Among Ogilvy’s more unconventional beliefs was that truly great agencies are built as a result of “high mortgages and failed marriages” – by people without  today’s much-heralded ‘balance’ in their lives. Workaholics ignoring their families and placating their spouses with fancy homes and the trappings of suburban life.

David Ogilvy admired great creative and was a master creative himself. But, he couldn’t tolerate creative contests and the industry black-tie gatherings with their trophies and golden this and golden that awards.

In fact, he forbade any Ogilvy & Mather employee from entering such a contest. It was a firing offense.

Enter our semi-resident Ranter – Bob Levy. Bob is a copywriter. A strategist. A class act. Unlike David Ogilvy he has a thriving marriage and, as far as I know, a manageable mortgage. However, he does share Ogilvy’s mistrust over the business of  placing too much emphasis on ‘great packages.’

Here, in his latest rant, Bob sets forth his views on the folly of looking for the Magic Bullet Package – what he calls the “Package Crush."

As Bob puts it:

“So let’s stop patting ourselves on the back for our favorite package … that doesn’t work.  Rather, let us applaud the ugly duckling that may not win the beauty contest but turns into that lovely swan at the end of the day. Making fundraising work in today’s climate of retrenchment is difficult enough – too difficult by half to believe that one package, alone, will turn the tide of organization’s fundraising into a great tsunami of lasting success.”

Amen.

Roger