How A Simple Phrase Can 100x Value

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David Ogilvy is a legend for marketers. He pioneered most the techniques people use today. He’s the master of multiplying a company’s value from just using a simple phrase. Here’s some of my favourite things he’s done.

Dove: "1/4 moisturizing cream."

Four words that moved Dove from the soap aisle (commodity, price war) to the skincare aisle (premium, margin). It repositioned an entire product category.

Rolls-Royce: "At 60 mph, the loudest noise comes from the electric clock."

He didn't say "luxury" or "quality." He made you feel silence. One concrete image that proved craftsmanship better than any adjective could.

Schweppes: "Sch… you know who."

Three syllables. The incompleteness forces your brain to finish it, which means you remember it.

Each line does something specific. It's not just short. It shifts how you see the product.

In May 2025, e.l.f. Beauty acquired Hailey Bieber's skincare brand Rhode for $1 billion.

The brand launched in 2022. By March 2025, it was doing $212 million in annual revenue, direct-to-consumer only, with just 10 products.

How? Well I think it heavily came down to one phrase:

"Glazed donut skin."

Before Rhode launched a single product, Bieber had already made that phrase famous. She described her own skincare routine as creating a "glazed donut" effect.

Then every product Rhode released was a variation of that promise:

Every ad, every tutorial, every Instagram post demonstrated the same visual result. You could see the glaze.

The lesson isn't "have a short tagline." The lesson is:

Own one visual result. Then make every product prove it.

Most founders can't reduce their business to one line because they're trying to describe what they do instead of what changes.

Here's a process that actually works:

Write down everything your product does. Features, benefits, outcomes, feelings, all of it.

"High quality." Gone. "Great customer service." Gone. "Innovative." Gone.

If someone else in your space could copy-paste the claim onto their website and it would still make sense, delete it.

You want to create a picture. Something so clear people can feel and see it from just a few words.

What sentence can make your customers feel what you will provide them?

Say your line to 10 people. Ask them to repeat it back 24 hours later.

If they can't remember it, or they paraphrase it into something generic then it's not sticky enough. Go back to step 3.

Once you have your line, every piece of content should demonstrate it. Not claim it but prove it.

Rhode didn't say "we give you glazed skin." They showed glazed skin in every single post. The product became secondary to the result.

I've watched founders lose six-figure deals over one missing thing.

Proof.

Proof that they're secure. You've seen it on the news. Data leaks cost companies millions.

Weak security is a huge red flag and investors know to stay away.

Enterprise clients won't even consider you without it.

You can have a perfect pitch. A perfect product. But when procurement asks for SOC 2 or ISO 27001 and you don't have it… deal dead.

Enterprise clients don't take risks. They only work with companies that can prove security.

But let's be real here. While that stuff is important, it's also boring. I hate dealing with it and so do most founders.

Here's what big founders, don’t often tell you.

We got software to do it for us.

We used Vanta to automate compliance and get certified. It was fast, it was seamless, and it took next to no brain power.

If you want enterprise deals, you'll need it eventually.

Get it set up and start closing deals your competitors can't even pitch for.

👉 You can get Vanta’s free guide on how 10,000+ companies built trust through better security here

See you next week!

- Simon Squibb