Ogilvy’s Famous Rolls Royce Ad – Another Look

August 3rd, 2009

Did you know that Ogilvy was not the first to use the “electric clock” comparison in a headline?

Pierce Rolls Comparison I came across this bit o’ trivia while writing my post on Ogilvy’s preferred ad layout. I found it written up by Robert Rosenthal at Freaking Marketing, who had done the detective work to find and scan in this Pierce-Arrow ad that ran about 25 years before Ogilvy’s Rolls Royce campaign.

If you consider yourself a student of advertising, you’ll want to read Robert’s entire post to get all the historical details, but any copywriter should find it worthwhile to compare the two headlines and analyze the improvements Ogilvy made to his version.

First, let’s look at the two headlines

So here are the two headlines for comparison:

The only sound one can hear in the new Pierce-Arrows is the ticking of the electric clock

vs.

“At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls Royce comes from the ticking of its electric clock.”

Why the Ogilvy Headline was far more powerful

1) Specificity: The Ogilvy ad gives an actual speed. Not only are specifics always more believable than generalities, but in this case, the specific speed makes the reader think that an actual test was conducted to determine this fact. By comparison, the Pierce-Arrows ad reads like hype.

2) Quote marks: The quotation marks around the Rolls Royce headline indicate to the casual reader, scanning the page, that this was a remark made by someone, perhaps by a tester or engineer. And indeed, the subdeck and first bullet point confirm that this is the case. Again, the Pierce-Arrow headline has none of this credibility-building substantiation.

3) Believability of the claim itself: Notice the change from “only sound” to “loudest noise.” For the reader, conjuring up a mental image of driving in a car in which the electric clock is actually louder than the engine is relatively easy, whereas the mind rejects the idea of a moving car making absolutely no noise except for that of the clock. Consequently, the Pierce-Arrow ad practically provokes skepticism and dismissal from the reader.

4) Words fat with emotional associations: the difference between sound and noise may seem subtle, but the emotional connotations are miles apart. Sound could be anything, and all else being equal, the word alone usually has positive associations. Noise, on the other hand, is a nuisance. Tell me I won’t hear a sound in a car, and I’ll think you’re exaggerating or speaking figuratively – would anybody even want to drive in the kind of sensory deprivation chamber that that would require? But tell me that the loudest noise in the car comes from a ticking lock, and I’ll want to experience the serenity of such an exquisitely engineered car/cabin that is capable of nullifying the unpleasant noises and nuisances of the road.

Why the Ogilvy Ad was far more modern

In some ways, my comparison is simply not fair since the Pierce-Arrow ad hails from a far less cynical age than the Rolls Royce Ad. One could suppose that back in the days of the Pierce-Arrow ad, “yeah, sure” and “prove it” probably weren’t the automatic responses to any advertising claim that they are today.

But the transition in audience attitudes wasn’t instantaneous. In fact, you can already see the need for proof and substantiation by the time Ogilvy’s ad rolls around. That’s why the Rolls Royce ad:

Includes engineering and expert testimonials or quotes.
Provides no less than 12 bullet points of factual copy – facts proving the extreme quality, engineering, and attention to detail that goes into making a Rolls Royce
Openly states the price of the car without dancing around the subject.

How to apply this to the Web

If you are an online copywriter here’s what you need to ask yourself:

1) Are you doing the research that Ogilvy did in order to come up with powerful headlines? And once you have that angle of approach, are you anywhere near as careful with your wordsmithing?

2) More importantly, do you think the public has grown any less cynical since the time of that Rolls Royce ad?

3) Most importantly, are you providing more substantiated copy, proof, and pricing information than Ogilvy’s Rolls Royce ad does? Or are you providing less?

In Advertising, Blog Buzz, Copywriting, Improving Conversion, headlines

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Comments (12)

prince2 training
August 3rd, 2009
9:58 am

Very good piece of article indeed. The 4 reasons of why the Ogilvy Headline was far more powerful are priceless advices for online copywriting. I have got to bookmark this page.
Smokinhotcopy
August 3rd, 2009
10:18 am

This is priceless information! Good observation and valuable when writing copy! It’s a saved page for sure.
Bamboo Forest - PunIntended
August 3rd, 2009
10:22 am

I enjoyed this analysis.

But I gotta be honest… from my first glance at the two headlines, I personally resonated more with the first one and not the second.

Maybe that’s because such an idea is more plausible now than it used to be. As I can imagine, at least in my mind, a nice Lexus for example… being so quiet that indeed you only do hear the ticking of the clock. And that doesn’t strike me as unpleasant either.

I also find the opening of the first headline more engaging than the opening of the second.

I trust that an improvement was made, but from my own glancing at the two headlines… The first one draws me in more.
Jeffrey Tang
August 3rd, 2009
10:23 am

Great job using a concrete example to explain important copywriting concepts.

I like that you pointed out how Oglivy’s headline sounded like a remark made by a scientist or engineer. Gives me something to think about when I’m writing my next headline.
Jeff
August 3rd, 2009
10:44 am

Jeffrey,

That’s actually really interesting. After you wrote that I went back and looked at the two headlines, then read them both aloud, and here’s what I’m thinking:

1) The Pierce-Arrow headline sounds more pleasant to read aloud. It’s a simpler sentence precisely because it doesn’t have the opening prepositional phrase “At 60 miles an hour”

2) Writers know to privilege the beginning and ending spots of a sentence – those are the power spots, with the end being slightly stronger than the beginning. Both headlines end with the ticking of the electric clock, but the Pierce-Arrow headline starts with SOUND vs. Ogilvy starting with a precise speed.

3) For these reasons, the Pierce-Arrow headline reads, sounds, and feels smoother and a bit more poetic or pleasant. But the Rolls Royce headline reads, sounds, and feels more factual and believable.

4) When it comes to advertising headlines, if I had to chose between poetry & credibility, I’d chose credibility every time.

5) Some of this just might be driven by temperament. I’d imagine that the logical temperaments (competitives and methodicals) find the Ogilvy headline 100% better, and that perhaps the spontaneous and humanistic temperaments find that the Pierce-Arrow headline just “feels” nicer.

- Jeff
Karl
August 3rd, 2009
6:48 pm

Another great article on Ogilvy. Thanks Jeff.
SEO Tips
August 4th, 2009
8:26 am

Nice one for future advertisers.Its true that a lot of research is necessary to come up with something which grabs public attention.
Tim Bednar
August 4th, 2009
8:30 am

Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer ~ http://ow.ly/j0M8 ~ scores Ogilvy’s famous Rolls ad headline as a 9.52% ~ http://ow.ly/j0Nt
The Usability of Print Advertising
August 4th, 2009
9:02 am

[...] Future Now’s blog takes a look at legendary ad man David Ogilvy’s formula for print ads: 1) a picture with “story appeal,” 2) headline that supports the narrative, 3) supportive body copy with a lowered visual emphasis. [...]
The User Experience of Print Advertising at M!
August 4th, 2009
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[...] Future Now’s blog takes a look at legendary ad man David Ogilvy’s formula for print ads: 1) a picture with “story appeal,” 2) headline that supports the narrative, 3) supportive body copy with a lowered visual emphasis. [...]
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August 5th, 2009
4:04 am

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Henry
October 15th, 2009
4:18 am

Nice post
i can’t wait to share it.
The article presents advices for online copywriting.
Thanks for your advice

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