Scope and Content Note
The papers of David Mackenzie Ogilvy (1911-1999) span the years 1935-1966, with the bulk of the material dating between 1945 and 1964. The papers consist chiefly of correspondence advertising proposals, market research reports, and drafts and a proof of Confessions of an Advertising Man, supplemented by articles, speeches, and various types of printed material. The collection is organized into five series: General Correspondence ; Business File ; Subject File; Speech, Article and Book File ; and Miscellany .
The papers deal largely with Ogilvy's advertising career, but also contain material concerning his personal life. They reflect and amplify many of the ideas, incidents, and interests related in Confessions of an Advertising Man.
The correspondents in the General Correspondence series represent a wide range of interests. Among the more prominent are Edward R. Murrow, Arthur M. Schlesinger (1917-2007), Teodoro Moscoso, Eugene R. Black, Robert Moses, and Robert W. Sarnoff. There is a substantial amount of correspondence with such editors as Cass Canfield of Harper and Row, Max Ascoli of The Reporter, Ted Patrick of Holiday, William D. Patterson of Saturday Review, and Alfred Max of Reálités. Leaders in the field of advertising include Fairfax M. Cone, Chester J. La Roche, Raymond Rubicam, Rosser Reeves, William D. Tyler, and William Ruder. There is a considerable amount of correspondence with Ogilvy's British colleagues, R. A. Bevan of S. H. Benson and Guy Mountfort of Mather & Crowther. Other British correspondents include Ronald Tree, Sir Alexander Steven Bilsland, Sir Frederic Collins Hooper, Ogilvy's sister, Lady Kythé Hendy, his niece, Mairi Ann Macleod, cousin Rebecca West, and John M. Ranck, and J. A. Stevenson. In addition there is correspondence with various newspapers, magazines, corporations, and societies.
The Business File series reflects both the administrative and creative sides of the agencies. The papers of the British American Canadian Corporation and Mather & Crowther reflect economic conditions in Great Britain at the end of the war and Ogilvy's effort to break into advertising in the United States. With his wartime associates, Ogilvy organized the British American Canadian Corporation to aid in the postwar development of Great Britain by promoting the sale of British goods, particularly in the United States. After the war Ogilvy resumed his association with Mather & Crowther, first unofficially and then officially, through his brother, Francis Ogilvy, who was then Managing Director of Mather & Crowther in London. Ogilvy's letters with his brother reveal his association with British and American advertising agencies and his attempt to set up his own British agency in America.
The founding of Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather, a subsidiary of two British advertising agencies, S. H. Benson and Mather & Crowther, was an important step in Ogilvy's career. Most of the clients were British, and accounts such as Viyella (William H. Hollis Co.), Schweppes, and Helena Rubinstein were continued under Ogilvy, Benson & Mather. An extensive accounts file for OBM in the Business File series contains the details of these relationships.
The administrative file relating to Ogilvy, Benson & Mather reveals Ogilvy's acumen as an executive and businessman. The OBM accounts file reflects Ogilvy's relationship with his clients, his emphases on research and creativity, and new developments in the advertising world. They also reflect American life as revealed through its consumer habits. For example, the accounts of the British Holiday and Travel Association, United States Travel Service, Visit the United States Company, KLM, Puerto Rico Commonwealth, P&O Orient Lines, and American Express demonstrate the growing importance of advertising in tourism. Furthermore, the Puerto Rico file shows the importance of an advertising campaign in the total development of a country's economy. OBM handled not only advertisement for travel in Puerto Rico, but also for industrial development and for the promotion of a specific product, Puerto Rican Rum. The General Dynamics, General Foods, Helena Rubinstein, and Sears & Roebuck accounts particularly emphasize the importance of research in advertising. The Shell Oil and Rolls Royce accounts contain examples of Ogilvy's effective use of long descriptive copy. The Hathaway, Schweppes, and Maxwell House Coffee accounts show the development and use of a specific trademark. The New York Philharmonic file shows Ogilvy's professional work in behalf of the orchestra and his activities as a member of its board of directors. Ogilvy developed friendships with many of his clients, notably Ellerton Marcel Jetté of C. F. Hathaway and Company, Arthur J. Houghton of Steuben Glass, and Edward “Commander” Whitehead of Schweppes.
The Subject File series reflects Ogilvy's wider interests. Files on the American Association of Advertising Agencies include material from his service on its Board of Directors and the Committee to Improve Advertising Content. Covered are Ogilvy's fund-raising and support of groups such as the American Cancer Society. Also treated is his involvement with the Scottish Council, a longstanding interest and at one time an industrial-development account.
Notes, drafts, and correspondence on Ogilvy's work, Confessions of an Advertising Man, comprise the major portion of the Speech, Article, and Book File . Confessions of an Advertising Man is both an autobiography and an advertising textbook. From his personal experience, Ogilvy gives advice on getting and keeping clients, managing an advertising agency, writing potent copy, building great campaigns, and succeeding in the advertising world. The whole collection, particularly the Business File , amplifies and illustrates these topics. Only a few articles and speeches are found in the collection. Ogilvy's first publication, a pamphlet, The Theory and Practice of Selling the Aga Cooker (1935), and a manuscript of a brief autobiographical sketch, “The Life Story of David Ogilvy (1911-1957),” are included.