Before You Begin
Writing Those Ads...

by Roy H. Williams
www.wizaardacademy.com

Which do you think would work better, the brilliant execution of a flawed strategy, or the flawed execution of a brilliant one?

In business, it's the flawed execution of a brilliant strategy that usually wins the day.

Most advertising professionals are unwilling to question a client's strategy because they're afraid of losing the account. So they happily pretend that "good writing, scientifically selected colors, powerful pictures and reaching the right audience" is all that's needed to make money in America.

Piffle and Pooh. Give me average writing, bland colors, no pictures, the wrong people and a strong strategy and I'll have to rent a trailer to haul my money to the bank.

It's hard to tell a powerful story badly. But it's easy to tell a weak story well. I've never seen a business fail because they were "reaching the wrong people." But I've seen thousands fail because they were saying the wrong thing. Please hear me correctly. These catastrophic failures weren't saying the right thing badly, they were saying the wrong thing well. It's amazing how many people become "the right people" when you're saying the right thing. Believe it or not it's advertising third, customer delight second, strategy always first.

Radio Mercury Awards

The Radio-Mercury Awards were established in 1992 to encourage and reward the development of effective and creative Radio commercials. Since the first Radio-Mercury Awards ceremony, approximately 13,000 commercials have competed for over $2.3 million in prizes, honoring the writers and producers of the finest radio commercials in America. Winning a Radio-Mercury Award is recognized within the agency and commercial production communities as the highest honor a radio commercial can achieve.

Each year a $100,000 Grand Prize is awarded along with twelve $5,000 General Category Prizes, nine from the General Category, one each from the Spanish-Language and Radio Station-Produced Categories, and one from