For summer reading, this writer has gone back to ?Ogilvy on Advertising,? the seminal classic that is a must-read for copywriters, art directors, brand managers and account executives.

As the founder of ad agency Ogilvy & Mather, David Ogilvy set the bar on excellence in advertising. The late Ogilvy understood the dual nature of advertising ? practicality and romance ? that most practitioners today forget.

Consumers don?t make decisions solely on the basis of ration, but also emotion. However, in this data- and analysis-driven world, few have the patience to bear the fruits of effective branding that eventually generates leads and sales.

While Ogilvy on Advertising (Vintage Books, $24.95) was published in the days before the Internet ? 1983 ? its lessons apply even today. Ogilvy?s advice on headlines, body copy and call to action are timeless. So are his observations on job descriptions and talent.

No creative, however good, will survive if it doesn?t pass muster with the client. And in that role of creative interpreter, brand ambassador and messenger, the account executive plays a critical role.

Mobile is at a stage where account executives at agencies and mobile marketing firms need to convince fence-sitters, naysayers and existing clients of the value of the medium.

Invest in hiring and training account executives who translate and transmit well the values of incorporating mobile into multichannel marketing plans. These pitchmen hold the fate of mobile marketing in their hands.

Ogilvy on account executives
So why not listen to what David Ogilvy had to say way back in 1983 when he published his book in semi-retirement:

The chief role of account executives is to extract the best possible work from the other departments of the agency. They are in daily touch with clients.

If I wanted to become an account executive, I would first spend a couple of years at Procter & Gamble in brand management, followed by a year in a consumer research company, learning what makes people tick ? particularly people who are less well educated than I am.

Some agencies now hire more women account executives than men. In the New York office of Ogilvy & Mather, 69 percent of the account executives are women [1983 numbers].

It used to be that account executives were better paid than the brand managers who were their opposite numbers on the client side, and were often responsible not only for the advertising, but for the total marketing plan. But those days are over. The clients now recruit at the same business schools, and pay higher salaries than agencies. As a result, the role of the account executive at many agencies has been reduced to one of coordination. On one airplane not long ago, I overhead the following conversation:

?What business are you in??
?Engineer. You??
?I?m an account executive in an ad agency.?
?You write the ads??
?No, copywriters do that.?
?That must be a fun job.?
?It?s not always that easy. We do a lot of research.?
?You do the research??
?No, we have research people for that.?
?Do you bring in the new clients??
?That?s not my job.?
?Forgive me, but what is your job??
?Marketing.?
?You do the marketing for the clients??
?No, they do it themselves.?
?Are you in management??
?No, but I soon will be.?