David Ogilvy: the original Mad Man

David Ogilvy, represented on the web at http://www.ogilvy.com/, is one of the greatest advertisers and communications scientist I have ever come across. He has defined the science of modern marketing, which is why you have probably never herad of him, or if you have, probably don't know why. Ogilvy founded Ogilvy and Mather in the 60's, a company that still manages top-rated corporate clients.

David Ogilvy worked for decades in the "Madmen" era of marketing*; he pioneered scientific marketing and has insights into the nature of sales and positioning that respect both the intelligence of the recipients and the worthiness of that which is being sold. Along the way he has a lot of useful things to say about layout, type and its measurable effect on message transmission.

Despite the differences in eras, his writing is incredibly pertinent to today's communication environment.

* Although I can't find any direct association between Ogilvy and Mather and Mad Men, the net is rive with speculation on the subject; the tone of many of Don Draper's presentation is very much in keeping with the tone and timbre of Ogilvy's writing.