Inside Ogilvy with Creative Director Eric Wegerbauer
After reading and writing about David Ogilvy for the past few months, it was pretty surreal to walk up the signature-laden steps of Ogilvy’s NYC office a couple weeks ago. Standing on the letters of David Ogilvy’s famous autograph, I was met by Eric Wegerbauer, Creative Director at Ogilvy.
After escorting me inside, Eric gave me a brief tour of the new Hell’s Kitchen office. From the top floor, he showed me to a large window with an incredible view of the Intrepid. The massive military aircraft carrier, converted into the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in 1982, was the perfect vista for the creative minds of Ogilvy. It’s impressive size and historical relevance leaves a mouthwatering desire for mimicking its impact. The first thing I thought to myself when met with this scene was Yes, this view is exactly what Ogilvy would have wanted for his agency. The ostentatious display balanced with a hint of class and ambition is perfectly reflective of David Ogilvy’s grand nature.
Like many advertising professionals who I have come across, Eric never thought he would end up in this industry. After seven years of school studying to be an architect, Eric began tinkering with creating his own digital portfolio. His website ended up attracting more than just architect-related work, Eric started to receive requests from other architects to create their websites as well. Soon enough, work was piling up for him in the digital space. During the dot-com bubble, Eric found himself freelancing for agencies creating micro-sites. Having been trained in 3D design during his architect years, Eric explained to me that translating those skills to 2D design was pretty natural. Eventually, Eric had a moment where he realized that he had to decide whether to pursue advertising or his trained profession of architecture. Seeing as I was sitting across the table from Eric on the Ogilvy rooftop, I knew how the story turned out, but I was mesmerized by his ability to keep me engaged. It was clear to me how he ended up in advertising.
Since Eric has worked at a number of other agencies, I was curious what attracted him to Ogilvy, and more specifically, what parts of David Ogilvy’s vision he saw in the agency today.
Eric told me that David Ogilvy’s philosophy is infused into the modern-day Ogilvy from the start of each employee’s career as they all receive Ogilvy’s 2nd book, Ogilvy On Advertising, when they begin their jobs.
Since my project (this thing you’re reading!) is based on that very book — and I’ve carried it with me pretty much everywhere I’ve gone for the past three months — I was curious what Eric gained from the book. His primary takeaway was that the essence of the ad must always comes back to the functional idea, the big idea. He told me that loads of companies have internal creative departments, but they all go to Ogilvy for that big idea.
What sticks with Eric day-to-day is David Ogilvy’s famed line “We sell or else.” He described his interpretation of this phrase to me:
“‘We sell or else’ means that you need to be effective or you’re going to lose everything.
The tools, the screens…how we digest information will always change, but you still have to be able to communicate with a person and let them know why your product is important to them. There’s an art to that communication and whether it’s digital or out-of-home or a television commercial, you have to be able to sell the product or you will lose the business. Period. Ogilvy understood that and if he was alive today he would be right on top of digital.
When Ogilvy started, TV wasn’t part of their communication model. TV was just coming up. For him, it was all print and radio. He had to figure out TV and that was the big fancy thing. Now digital is the new fancy thing. I think he would have adjusted and his thoughts would apply.
What I like about Ogilvy is that he’s not all about “DO BEAUTIFUL, PRETTY THINGS!” Because at the end of the day, does that really work? The trick is to achieve attention-getting, beautiful, and FUNCTIONAL ads. It has to work. My takeaway is that it has to be functional first and only after that can you attach appealing and long-lasting elements.”
As I walked through the hallways of Ogilvy, I couldn’t help but feel that something was slightly off. Tinges of something that was missing irked me long after I left. Perhaps it is that lately I have been so caught up in 1950’s advertising that I was expecting to walk into a scene from Mad Men. Or perhaps it was because walking into the Ogilvy office made me realize the extent to which David Ogilvy is no longer alive. His spirit lives on through his agency and impacting work, but Ogilvy himself never walked the halls of this freshly painted office.
Eric told me that he has observed an agency-wide move from print to digital. The ‘big idea’ and essence of the communication may be what matters most, but when I think of David Ogilvy, I can’t help but associate him with classic print ads for Rolls-Royce, and Dove, and Hathaway, and Schweppes. To be clear, I am not mourning the lack of print ads, I am simply mourning Ogilvy’s missing presence. There is a block in my head between David Ogilvy and this trendy new-media office. And I don’t think that will go away.
Eric mentioned that Ogilvy reminds him of Steve Jobs. In terms of being passionate thought leaders with distinct and strong visions, I think this is pretty spot on. While the two definitely have their differences, perhaps their biggest similarity is how adamant they each were about what they believed to be accurate. Both men saw a particular future and did everything in their power to make it happen. And they both literally died trying. It is a true loss not to know for sure how each of these men would handle the new challenges of their respective industries. All we can do is learn about their philosophies and make educated guesses.
Before I left the office, Eric said to me, “If you’re not evolving, you’re dying.” This sentiment is key in most areas of life, but before getting too bogged down by generalities, I think applying this perspective to advertising is absolutely vital. Constant adaptation to the changing environment is the only way to ensure relevance and survival. Ogilvy tackled the onset of television with his forward-thinking and carefully measured actions. Today, in the age of digital, everything can change completely in an instant. The trick to success is to take a note from Ogilvy’s book and stay malleable, functional, and confident.
