Author Archives: Roy H. Williams
Has Anyone Seen Ron?
A Monday Morning Memo from The Wizard of Ads I’m having a bad day. I’ve been searching for a friend of mine, but something seems to have happened to him and I fear the worst. Ron and I grew up together, then went our separate ways, but I still associate him with many of my &hellip Continue reading
Harold and Jeff
A Monday Morning Memo from The Wizard of Ads Harold moved across the street from us when Pennie and I were 22 years old. He was a gentle soul, about 10 years older than me, and he wore his hair in a style that was strangely out of date. I considered Harold to be the &hellip Continue reading
Green Paper Novocaine
A Monday Morning Memo for the Clients and Friends of Williams Marketing In a chapter of The Wizard of Ads called “Willie and His Bank Balance,” I scold William K. Vanderbilt, Sr. for his statement, “It has left me with nothing to hope for, with nothing to seek or strive for. Inherited wealth is a &hellip Continue reading
Goose Food/Gander Poison
A Monday Morning Memo from The Wizard of Ads “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” might be true in goose ranching, but it’s not a valid concept in business. Strategies, concepts, and technologies which are proven winners for big companies are often counterproductive for smaller ones. What’s good for the big &hellip Continue reading
Good Ol’ Hamp Baker!
A Monday Morning Memo from The Wizard of Ads Not old enough to drive, I sit in the back seat and read billboards for 200 miles. What else can a fourteen year old kid do to pass the time? Outside my window, Hereford cattle stand behind barbed wire fences looking every bit as bored as &hellip Continue reading
George Just Wants To Be Left Alone
A Monday Morning Memo from The Wizard of Ads George has been without a Daddy since he was ten years old. A quiet boy, George mostly likes to put seeds in the ground and then watch over them as they sprout and grow. He doesn’t get to do this very often though, because people are &hellip Continue reading
Furnishings of the Mind
A Monday Morning Memo from The Wizard of Ads The human mind is a crowded room, overflowing with too many memories of smell and color, taste and touch, sight and sound. Half remembered words and buried emotions lie stacked, layer upon layer, in piles that grow deeper with each passing year. A familiar face, a &hellip Continue reading
Floating Under Sunny Skies
A Monday Morning Memo from The Wizard of Ads I’m watching the hit movie Jaws from the back row of a movie theater during the early 1970’s. The scene on the screen is quiet and calm, without even a hint of trouble on the horizon. The actors are engaged in uninteresting dialogue on a boat &hellip Continue reading
Finish Lines, or Milestones?
A Monday Morning Memo from The Wizard of Ads A bank once informed their advertising consultant they had written a mission statement, developed a five year plan, and agreed upon a goal that would be the focus of all their concerted action. The directors of the bank had decided their goal would be 100% Customer &hellip Continue reading
Finegal or Abraham?
The Choice of Florence Balcombe For the past several months, Florence Balcombe has been dating Finegal O’Flahertie, the baby boy of Speranza, an unconventional poetess who fights for women’s rights. To the outrage of many, the six-foot Speranza coolly justifies her public extravagances by saying that she is “above respectability.” Like his memorable mother, young &hellip Continue reading