My second Lucky Owl at David Ogilvy’s Chateau


I apologise for the quality of the pictures: they were taken with my mobile phone, an antique by today’s standards – four years old.

I keep asking my colleagues for a new one with all the trimmings, but they refuse because they say I would drive them crazy by asking stupid questions about how it works.

I thought you might like the views, though. They were taken at Touffou, David Ogilvy’s chateau where I spent the weekend. The one showing the old geezer is a view of the courtyard; the other is a view from my bedroom at 6. a.m.

The first time I went there I recall that we rescued a baby barn owl that had fallen out of its nest and put him somewhere warm to recover.

In the middle of Saturday night – Sunday, really, I suppose – I heard a noise at the window. When I went to investigate I saw, to my astonishment, a big white or greyish owl, who looked at me gravely for a second or so before flying away.

Nowadays I guess people associate the owl with Harry Potter. In ancient Greece they were the symbol of Athena, goddess of wisdom. At breakfast Herta Ogilvy told me that owls are a harbinger of good fortune.

For nearly four years I have wanted to run an event at Touffou; I have even had some discussions about it. Maybe I should ask the wise and lucky owl’s advice on what to do.

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

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