You cannot bore somebody into reading or Turn red for creativity - Happy Birthday, David Ogilvy plus CannesAlso with XXL publication and Rankin

"You aren't advertising to a standing army; you are advertising to a moving parade." For this statement alone, one should adore David Ogilvy. David, born on the 23rd of June in 1911 in West Horsley, England would have celebrated his 100 years on the 23rd of June.

Enough reason for the Cannes Lions to roll out the red carpet. And not only to the trottoir, so done for starlets from Hollywood and Bollywood, but for the whole croisette.

David began his final career aged 30-something, after trying his hands at cooking, farming etc. One more reason for GoSee to remain hopeful. The true kick-off of his career happened in 1949 and well into the 1950s, when he founded the Ogilvy & Mather agency with his older brother.

David worked from his New York basis and Francis supervised the clients from London. Rumours have it that they went at it pretty hard when it came to who would be leading the company – a matter that resolved itself in a rather elegant manner due to Francis’ untimely demise.

In 1973, David withdrew from the company and moved to a castle in Touffu, France, which he purchased for approx. $500,000 and renovated. According to David, those were the most wonderful days in his life. Despite not being a part of the daily business, he maintained a close contact with the agency. So close actually, that the mail traffic increased to a level that forced the company to hire more people for the postal stations.

In 1989, the Ogilvy group was bought by the WPP Group headed by company founder Sir Martin Sorrell through a hostile take over. Very much to the annoyance of David Ogilvy, whose first reactions bordered on bloodlust that manifested themselves in raging insults hurled in the general direction of Sorell, whom he later learned to respect and adore. Tolerate genius.

In honour of David, the Ogilvy Website launched the INSPIRATION Twitter event. Visitors of the site were urged to twitter what inspires them under the #do100 hashtag – What inspires you? As a result the twitter avatar turns red and the tweet can be found on the page as part of a David-Ogilvy-mosaic. Nice idea, but a tad too modern for our taste.

Here are some more, no less sensational ‘Ogilvyism’ – quotes by the master of advertising:
You cannot bore somebody into buying (we love this one !, GoSee).
If you hire people who are bigger than you are, we shall become a company of giants.
Encourage innovation. Change is our lifeblood, stagnation Stagnation.
We prefer the discipline of knowledge to the anarchy of ignorance.
Tolerate genius. (See above on Sir Sorrell)

On the occasion of the CannesAlso, the rather large book was presented in the festival palace, for which festival visitors could submit up to three pictures. The best ones were presented as linen-prints. "In a world where commercial art is king, it's great to be part of celebrating individuals' creative talent." says Rankin. A little more work on the book’s usability and we are d’accord!

GoSee met Brazilian director and photographer Glaucia Nogueira on location, who had just stepped off the plane from Paris and was eagerly looking out for her three chosen pictures in ‘The Big Book’. The motifs might not have been a part of the book, but we were quite taken by the pictures of elderly ladies in front of Cannes’ luxurious shop windows.

YOUTUBE showcased its creative channel and called for a re-enacting of the viral campaigns Hunter **** Bear for TIPPEX or OLD SPICE. We have attached two spots and more creative work from the festival building. More inspiration can be found on YOUTUBE.