1 CODETTA A codetta is what ends a musical sequence. Ogilvy on Advertising begins with a chapter called Overture. It is classic David Ogilvy. Plainspoken, forthright and resonant with his concise prose, it includes his famous line: “I hate rules.” The book is a simple yet demonstrative expression of David’s breadth of knowledge, containing illustrative references to, among other things, eighteenth- century obstetrics and Horace. And it sparkles with his wit and good humour, ending with this note: “If you think it is a lousy book, you should have seen it before my partner Joel Raphaelson did his best to delouse it. Bless you, Joel.” A codetta, or “little tail” in its native Italian, is a brief conclusion in music. It leads back into an exposition or recapitulation of the work before, or occasionally, to a section that develops the piece further. My codetta does the latter – building on David’s book by adding some fresh notes on the nuances of the digital age. My codetta rounds off what David began, though it will not be the last word. Ogilvy on Advertising was written in the 1980s. Joel, David’s literary amanuensis, recalls the speed with which it was produced: David posted a chapter to Joel every week. Joel was on sabbatical in Colorado, but his job was to edit it and make suggestions. Written partly in Touffou, at David’s desk in his study, and partly in a chalet in Switzerland, it is a polemic. David did not think it was his best book, and he was right. Confessions of an