David Ogilvy (left) founder of the advertising agency now known as Ogilvy & Mather and character Don Draper from the TV series <i>Mad Men</i>.

David Ogilvy (left) the father of modern advertising and character Don Draper from the TV series Mad Men.

He refused to use a typewriter and downed a half-bottle of rum if uninspired, but David Ogilvy was the father of modern advertising.

David Ogilvy, the pioneer of modern advertising and the progenitor of the modern agency business, is also one of the most famous people that the ad world has ever produced.

Not quite a household name (but worthy of a few shout-outs in the popular Mad Men TV series), the British born ad man founded the agency that is now known as Ogilvy & Mather in 1948. Even today, industry insiders continue to use Ogilvy's best-selling Confessions of an Advertising Man as their bible.

Still, although some of his musings were profound, others were absolutely hilarious. In a 1955 letter to a Mr Calt [via Letters of Note], Ogilvy gives a list of 12 incredible insights into his habits as a copywriter. From refusing to use a typewriter, to growling at his wife, to downing a half-bottle of rum if uninspired, Ogilvy's letter is rife with colourful tips.

"They are appalling, as you are about to see," Ogilvy wrote. They get increasingly ridiculous as they go.

April 19, 1955

Dear Mr Calt:

On March 22nd you wrote to me asking for some notes on my work habits as a copywriter. They are appalling, as you are about to see:

1. I have never written an advertisement in the office. Too many interruptions. I do all my writing at home.

2. I spend a long time studying the precedents. I look at every advertisement which has appeared for competing products during the past 20 years.

3. I am helpless without research material—and the more "motivational" the better.

4. I write out a definition of the problem and a statement of the purpose which I wish the campaign to achieve. Then I go no further until the statement and its principles have been accepted by the client.

5. Before actually writing the copy, I write down every conceivable fact and selling idea. Then I get them organised and relate them to research and the copy platform.

6. Then I write the headline. As a matter of fact I try to write 20 alternative headlines for every advertisement. And I never select the final headline without asking the opinion of other people in the agency. In some cases I seek the help of the research department and get them to do a split-run on a battery of headlines.

7. At this point I can no longer postpone the actual copy. So I go home and sit down at my desk. I find myself entirely without ideas. I get bad-tempered. If my wife comes into the room I growl at her. (This has gotten worse since I gave up smoking.)

8. I am terrified of producing a lousy advertisement. This causes me to throw away the first 20 attempts.

9. If all else fails, I drink half a bottle of rum and play a Handel oratorio on the gramophone. This generally produces an uncontrollable gush of copy.

10. The next morning I get up early and edit the gush.

11. Then I take the train to New York and my secretary types a draft. (I cannot type, which is very inconvenient.)

12. I am a lousy copywriter, but I am a good editor. So I go to work editing my own draft. After four or five editings, it looks good enough to show to the client. If the client changes the copy, I get angry - because I took a lot of trouble writing it, and what I wrote I wrote on purpose.

Altogether it is a slow and laborious business. I understand that some copywriters have much greater facility.

Yours sincerely,

D.O.