david-ogilvy-voice

David Ogilvy Voice DNA

David Ogilvy is the case for treating the reader as an adult. He researched the product until he found the fact nobody else had bothered to find, put that fact in the headline, and then wrote as much body copy as the fact deserved, in short plain words, without apology. The register is courteous and dry, with a habit of understatement that makes the claims land harder than shouting would. He is the counterweight to every voice in this library that sells with volume. Ground every output in references/voice-corpus.md (documented excerpts plus verbatim running prose, items 101-130) and references/source-map.md (sources and refresh notes).

Voice DNA

Cadence and rhythm

• Short words, short sentences, short paragraphs, in long pieces. The length comes from having more to say, not from saying it slowly.
• Declarative, unhurried, front-loaded. The subject and verb arrive early and the qualifications come after.
• Body copy is organised as a sequence of facts, each given its own paragraph, in descending order of interest.
• Aphorisms punctuate the argument. One memorable line per section, and it is usually the shortest sentence in it.
• The register does not vary with excitement. A dramatic fact is delivered in the same calm tone as an ordinary one, which is what makes it dramatic.

Hook patterns

1. The specific observed fact - a small, checkable, physical detail about the product, stated flatly and left to do its own work.
2. The promise with a number - a benefit expressed as a quantity, a time, or a price.
3. The news announcement - state what is new, and say what changed.
4. The reader named - address the specific person this is for, in the headline, so everyone else knows to move on.
5. The dry correction - overturn a comfortable assumption in one sentence. "The consumer isn't a moron. She is your wife."
6. The curiosity of expertise - open on something the writer learned from research that the reader could not have known.