The Aga Cooker is one of the most unique home ovens in the world. And at $14,000 it’s also one of the most expensive. Devout fans of the Aga include Martha Stewart, Madonna, Jamie Oliver, Sting, Shania Twain, Sharon Stone and the Prince of Wales to name a few.
Simply put, the Aga is the Rolls Royce of home ovens.
Most notably:
- it was invented in 1922 by a Nobel Prize winning Swiss scientist
- it has no dials and no controls
- it uses constant radiant heat to keep different oven compartments at varying temperatures for any and all cooking tasks
- it’s always on and always ready – no preheating required
In other words, a pretty unique kitchen appliance.
But the most remarkable thing about the Aga Cooker is not its quality or its celebrity endorsers, but rather the role it played in launching the career of the “father of advertising”, David Ogilvy.
Ogilvy is now known as the highly accomplished Madison Avenue advertising executive who in 1975, Time Magazine called “the most sought-after wizard in the advertising industry.”
His best-selling books Confessions of an Advertising Man and Ogilvy on Advertising are some of the most popular and famous books on advertising and marketing – ever.
But how did he accomplish this? And what was Ogilvy’s big break?
Before he broke into advertising, Ogilvy went door to door selling the Aga Cooker. He was a gifted salesman who reportedly sold the ovens to Bishops, nuns and drunks alike.
Ogilvy’s success did not go unnoticed by his superiors and in 1935 at twenty-four years old he was asked to write a sales guide for the other Aga salesmen on how to sell the expensive kitchen appliance.
The result was Ogilvy’s The Theory and Practice of Selling the Aga Cooker, and it was a first class guide on salesmanship 101.
Thirty years after he wrote it, Fortune magazine called it “probably the best sales manual ever written”.
Among its suggestions:
- “The more prospects you talk to, the more sales you expose yourself to, the more orders you will get. But never mistake quantity of calls for quality of salesmanship.”
- “Find out everything you can about your prospects before you call on them…”
- “The worst fault a salesman can commit is to be a bore.”
- “The good salesman combines the tenacity of a bull dog with the manners of a spaniel.”
- “If you have any charm, ooze it.”
The guide worked wonders in helping his fellow Aga salesman sell more ovens, but what’s even more amazing was that by producing content which attempted to teach others how to sell an oven, he ended up selling himself.
After reading a copy of his manual on salesmanship, the executives at the advertising agency of Mather & Crowther promptly hired Ogilvy and set him on a course for Madison Avenue success and fame.
Why?
Because they were convinced he was qualified. The content in his sales guide was so impressive that Ogilvy removed any obstacles that would have faced him if he showed up at their door as a complete stranger looking for a job.
Creating content that informs and teaches demonstrates your abilities. It builds trust and allows you to sell without selling…in an under the radar way.
And that’s exactly why content marketing is so powerful.
If you’re trying to build a successful online business and you want to attract attention, producing compelling content that’s useful to others is how you get there. People believe, trust and are persuaded by those that offer value and demonstrate their knowledge the same way they believe the author of an all-star sales manual might have a good shot at success in advertising.