David Ogilvy's Five Questions

Advertising giant David Ogilvy knew that inventing big ideas was critical for success in creating ads; that's true in other endeavors as well.

But, how do you know if what you've cooked up is really a big idea?

Ogilvy put the idea to the test by posing the following five questions. If you can't enthusiastically answer "yes" to each of these, chances are the ideas not big enough.

1. Did it make me gasp when I first saw it?
2. Do I wish I had thought of it myself?
3. Is it unique?
4. Does it fit the strategy to perfection?
5. Could it be used for 30 years?

I like all of these questions but the last is particularly powerful. Nowadays, who asks if anything will still be relevant in 30 years?

Comments

[Ken G.]

Thirty years? Isn't six months considered a good run these days?

[Esther Crawford]

One thing about the 30yr question is that I by default assume some of this stuff will be around forever (or some way to transfer info) such as Gmail & Facebook where I have so many years of my life stored.

[Tom Guarriello]

See, Ken and Esther, you two just blocked out the time dimension that we're living within: one side says, "it's gonna be soooo different tomorrow"; the other, "it has to be there forever, 'cause my whole life is there." I sure hope somebody cares enough about your memories, Esther, to make sure you'll be able to retain them digitally. It would sure suck not to.

Thanks, both of you.

[Mike Wagner]

Your comments and reply reminded me of a phrase from the New Testament regarding Mary's way of preserving memories. The author says Mary would "hide them in her heart".

No profound thought here, just made me think of this phrase.

Keep creating,
Mike

[Tom Guarriello]

Thanks for your thought, as always, Mike. The safest place for our memories is, indeed, definitely in our hearts.