Author Archives: Roy H. Williams
Cost of Advertising: 2 Cents a Week
I’ve been writing these weekly memos for 20 years. This is number 1,051. This week, for the first time, I’m going to tell you about my business. Thirty-one years ago, David Ogilvy wrote, “In some developing countries radio still reaches more people than television. Yet even there nobody really knows what kind of commercials make &hellip Continue reading
Pepsi’s Digital Screw-Up
Todays memo is a long one, but I promise you it’s worth it. Advertisers are attracted to online media when they’re not entirely happy with their investments in traditional broadcast media. To understand the reasons behind their disappointments, we need only to revisit the subject of last week’s Monday Morning Memo: “Linear, no-threshold thinking” assumes &hellip Continue reading
Haggard, Inconstant Splashes of Beauty
It’s Friday morning, September 7, 1951. John Steinbeck emerges from deep in his writing of East of Eden to scribble a note to his friend, Pat Covici: “This week has been a hard one. I have put the forces of evil against a potential good. Yesterday I wrote the outward thing of what happened. Today &hellip Continue reading
Brands are Built on Core Beliefs
I look in the mirror and see the person I believe myself to be. You look at me and see the person you believe me to be. We don’t see the same person. Businesses, too, see themselves differently than their customers do. A flatterer disguised as a branding consultant will help you create an idealized &hellip Continue reading
Shrink Your Way to Success?
A cafe owner, famous for his soup, was told by his accountant that he could boost his profit significantly if he would add just 5 percent more water to the recipe. The accountant was right. The water was added and no one noticed. Months later, the cafe added 5 percent more water and still no &hellip Continue reading
Guilt, Shame, and Failure
Contrary to what my headline might suggest, this is actually an upbeat message. Guilt is about what you have done. Shame is about who you are. Failure in business has no connection to either of these. Failures are footlights along the dark pathway to success. One of the defining characteristics of Wizard Academy alumni is &hellip Continue reading
Why We Are Attracted to Bad News
“Once, there were 3 kittens named Murry, Furry and Wurry…” I’ll admit to fabricating Murry and Furry, but you and I both know that Wurry is often pampered and protected like a cherished pet. We talk about our Wurry and cuddle it. We share our Wurry with others, hoping they will choose to love our &hellip Continue reading
121,000 People Build a Statue
America did not become what it started out to be, and I, for one, am glad. When Thomas Jefferson penned the Constitution in 1787, only white, male landowners were given the right to vote. Poor men, Africans, Asians, Indians, and women were not entirely “citizens.” America was decidedly not the land of opportunity – unless &hellip Continue reading
Billy, Tom and Ted Go Viral
We could call this memo, “The Poodle and The Vamp, Part Two,” but we won’t. No one likes the sequel quite so much as they liked the original. Talent isn’t rare. Our world overflows with worthy talent that continues day-to-day unrecognized. I’ll wager that you possess such talent. There is something you’re capable of doing, &hellip Continue reading
Friend of Booker T. Washington
Julius was born in Springfield, Illinois, in a house directly across the street from where Abraham Lincoln had once lived. A small influence, surely, but it seems to have been enough. Soft-spoken, Julius grew to be highly organized, but he could never abide bureaucracy. And although he was unusually focused and highly attentive, he never &hellip Continue reading
