Ogilvy articulates the ten anchors that underpinned the corporate culture of his agency's 497 employees in 1963: they work hard, combine intelligence with intellectual honesty, put passion in what they do, do not suck up to their bosses, are self-confident, do not hire their spouses but future successors who they build up, have gentle manners, are well-organised and deliver work on time.

In 1963, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather billed for $55m and had 19 clients, including Chase, Standard Oil (NJ), Shell, KLM, Rolls-Royce and Guinness.

All had good products, which Ogilvy was proud to advertise and all gave the agency an opportunity to make a profit or create great campaigns.

Ogilvy distils his extensive know-now through 41 specific commandments such as those three: i) photographs sell more than illustrations (because they are closer to reality and therefore more believable), ii) people are more attracted to faces of the same sex than the opposite, iii) never set the copy in reverse (white type on a black background).

Among them are being ambitious without being aggressive, working hard to become an expert of their clients' industry, preferring a specialty to account management, and rising to the occasion.

In "The Story Behind this Book", Ogilvy summarises a quarter century of growth since the first edition with two numbers: his agency has grown sixtyfold and the Confessions have sold a million copies in 14 languages.

He calls out three specific rules of the 1963 edition which have been invalidated by research and market experiments and points out that the chapter on TV commercials is inadequate.