GREAT ADVERTISING EXAMPLE

by David Ogilvy - the "father of advertising"

“You don’t stand a tinker’s chance of producing successful advertising unless you start by doing your homework.” – David Ogilvy

“You don’t stand a tinker’s chance of producing successful advertising 

unless you start by doing your homework.” – David Ogilvy

Home - Good advertising example

Hello, we decided to share with you one of the most successful advertising examples, designed and written to sell by David Ogilvy, founder of the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency

Maybe you know that David inscribed his name in the history of advertising as the “Father of Advertising“?

In this article, we will just share with you this old Rolls-Royce press advertising example, but we won’t analyze what makes this ad so successful, because we already write a lot about this topic on our Idea & Conception page. 

If you do your analysis you will realize that the principles behind this advertising are in use in today’s advertising. Though it is another topic of how many advertising agencies apply them. As David Ogilvy says “I have always found this extremely tedious” and we agree that this is 100% true.

The work behind the Idea & Conception of each advertising is a time-consuming and wearisome process “but there is no substitute for it. 

One thing we want to point that will confirm the last statement is what Ogilvy says about the 2 lines advertising heading “I spent three weeks reading about the car and came across a statement that ‘At sixty miles an hour, the loudest noise comes from the electric clock.

So “3 weeks for 2 lines”? Negative. We can say “3 weeks for tens of thousands of Rolls-Royce of sales“! 

Ready to see why? If yes, just scroll down and take a look at this  this really good advertising example. 

Hello, 

we decided to share with you one of the most successful advertisings, designed and written to sell by David Ogilvy, founder of the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency

Maybe you know that David inscribed his name in the history of advertising as the “Father of Advertising”?

In this article, we will just share with you this old Rolls-Royce press advertising, but we won’t analyze what makes this ad so successful, because we already write a lot about this topic in our Idea & Conception page. 


If you do your analysis you will realize that the principles behind this advertising are in use in today’s  top selling advertisings. 

Though it is another topic of how many advertising agencies apply them. 

As David Ogilvy says “I have always found this extremely tedious” and we agree that this is 100% true. The work behind the Idea & Conception of each advertising is a time-consuming and wearisome process “but there is no substitute for it. 

One thing we want to point that will 

confirm the last statement is what Ogilvy says about the 2 lines advertising heading that he wrote: “I spent three weeks reading about the car and came across a statement that ‘At sixty miles an hour, the loudest noise comes from the electric clock.

So “3 weeks for 2 lines”? Negative. We can say “3 weeks for tens of thousands of Rolls-Royce of sales“! 

Ready to see why? If yes, just scroll down and take a look at this  this really good advertising example. 

RR David Ogilvy Good Advertising Example
Old but Great Advertising Example with still valid principles behind

Want to sell?

Get in touch with us.

“At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this
new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock”

What makes Rolls-Royce the best car in the world? “There is really no magic about it - is merely patient attention to detail” says an eminent Rolls-Royce engineer.

What makes Rolls-Royce the best car in the world? “There is really no magic about it -
is merely patient attention to detail” says an eminent Rolls-Royce engineer.

1. “At 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise comes from the electric clock,” reports the Technical Editor of THE MOTOR. Three mufflers tune out sound frequencies – acoustically.

Just let me remind you what Ogilvy said about this one line of text and why this advertising example is so good: “I spent three weeks reading about the car and came across a statement…”

2. Every Rolls-Royce engine is run for seven hours at full throttle before installation, and each car is test-driven for hundreds of miles over varying road surfaces.

3. The Rolls-Royce is designed as an owner-driven car. It is eighteen inches shorter than the largest domestic cars.

4. The car has power steering, power brakes, and an automatic gear-shift. It is very easy to drive and to park. No chauffeur is required.

5. The finished car spends a week in the final test shop, being fine-tuned. Here it is subjected to 98 separate ordeals. For example, the engineers use a stethoscope to listen for axle-whine.

6. The Rolls-Royce is guaranteed for three years. With a new network of dealers and parts-depots from Coast to Coast, service is no problem.

7. The Rolls-Royce radiator has never changed, except that when Sir Henry Royce died in 1933 the monogram RR was changed from red to black.

8. The coachwork is given five coats of primer paint, and hand rubbed between each coat, before nine coats of finishing paint go on.

9. By moving a switch on the steering column, you can adjust the shock-absorbers to suit road conditions.

10. A picnic table, veneered in French walnut, slides out from under the dash. Two more swing out behind the front seats.

11. You can get such optional extras as an Espresso coffee-making machine, a dictating machine, a bed, hot and cold water for washing, an electric razor or a telephone.

12. There are three separate systems of power brakes, two hydraulic and one mechanical. Damage to one will not affect the others. The Rolls-Royce is a very safe car – and also a very lively car. It cruises serenely at eighty-five. Top speed is in excess of 100 m.p.h.

13. The Bentley is made by Rolls-Royce. Except for the radiators, they are identical motor cars, manufactured by the same engineers in the same works. People who feel diffident about driving a Rolls-Royce can buy a Bentley.

PRICE. The Rolls-Royce illustrated in this advertisement – f.o.b. principal ports of entry – costs $13,995.

If you would like the rewarding experience of driving a Rolls-Royce or Bentley, write or telephone to one of the dealers listed on opposite page. 
Rolls-Royce Inc., 10 Rockefeller Plaza, New York 20, N. Y. Circle 5-1144. 

1. “At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise comes from the electric clock,” reports the Technical Editor of THE MOTOR. Three mufflers tune out sound frequencies – acoustically.

2. Every Rolls-Royce engine is run for seven hours at full throttle before installation, and each car is test-driven for hundreds of miles over varying road surfaces.

3. The Rolls-Royce is designed as an owner-driven car. It is eighteen inches shorter than the largest domestic cars.

4. The car has power steering, power brakes, and automatic gear-shift. It is very easy to drive and to park. No chauffeur required.

5. The finished car spends a week in the final test-shop, being fine-tuned. Here it is subjected to 98 separate ordeals. For
example, the engineers use a stethoscope to listen for axle-whine.

6. The Rolls-Royce is guaranteed for 

three years. With a new network of dealers and parts-depots from Coast to Coast, service is no problem.

7. The Rolls-Royce radiator has never changed, except that when Sir Henry Royce died in 1933 the monogram RR was changed from red to black.

8. The coachwork is given five coats of primer paint, and hand rubbed between each coat, before nine coats of finishing paint go on.

9. By moving a switch on the steering column, you can adjust the shock-absorbers to suit road conditions.

10. A picnic table, veneered in French walnut, slides out from under the dash. Two more swing out behind the front seats.

11. You can get such optional extras as an Espresso coffee-making machine, a dictating machine, a bed, hot and cold water for washing, an electric razor or a telephone.

12. There are three separate systems of power brakes, two hydraulic and one mechanical. Damage to one will not affect the others. The Rolls-Royce is a very safe car – and also a very lively car. It cruises serenely at eighty-five. Top speed is in excess of 100 m.p.h.

13. The Bentley is made by Rolls-Royce. Except for the radiators, they are identical motor cars, manufactured by the same engineers in the same works. People who feel diffident about driving a Rolls-Royce can buy a Bentley.

PRICE. The Rolls-Royce illustrated in this advertisement – f.o.b. principal ports of entry – costs $13,995.

If you would like the rewarding experience of driving a Rolls-Royce or Bentley, write or telephone to one of the dealers listed on opposite page. 
Rolls-Royce Inc., 10 Rockefeller Plaza, New York 20, N. Y. Circle 5-1144. 

If you want to understand what makes
this advertising example really great,
visit our Idea & Conception page.

On this page, we will reveal 
15+ more insights about Advertising.

Please share.

Thank you for reading!

Home - Good advertising example