Three Days with the Wizard
I now understand the principals with which I can create whatever reality I desire in the mind of my readers.
Wizard Academy is a magical place, 45 minutes south of Austin, Texas. I met the Founder, Roy Williams for the first time at an advertising industry event in 2001; he was the keynote speaker.
I remember that day clearly.
Roy gave me a copy of his best-selling book: “Magical Worlds of the Wizard of Ads” for a question I had asked during his keynote.
The journey began.
I find books are much more engaging if I’ve met the author in person. I can hear their voice as I read. I can picture their facial expressions and hear the undulations of their tone — like they’re reading to me. His gift soon became a constant resource as I started my advertising business. I subscribed to his Monday Morning Memo and I’ve read his inspirations weekly for years.
I’ve quoted him more times than I can remember.
He founded Wizard Academy off the heels of his book success, to bridge the gap between physics and creativity. And to open up the guiding principals of creating “magical worlds” in the minds of consumers, to all of the students. As I read his memo, I became determined to attend the Academy.
Needless to say, I was excited to go.
It was also February in Canada; heading to Texas was a toasty thought. I stepped out of my Uber into warm air and a dark parking lot. Warm air late in the evening has become a pleasant cue that I’m far from Canada and experiencing new. The glow of the “OPEN” sign drew me in to a small store with shelves lined with books published by Wizard Press.
I own most of them.
Day One:
A short walk from my on-campus student room in the ‘Engelbrecht House’, I pass ‘Spence Manor’ named after one of Roy’s early client success stories. Roy helped Spence Diamonds achieve 10x growth in 10 years by turning the traditional diamond-buying process on it’s head and whipping Canadian radio stations with a constant barrage of clever and obnoxiously memorable radio ads. The self-proclaimed “annoying Spence Diamonds guy” Sean Jones expressed his gratitude to the Wizard by building a beautiful home for Academy Students. The gourmet kitchens are stocked with food and plenty of wine and whiskey from around the world. I later learn that they receive near weekly shipments of wine and whiskey from grateful Wizard Alumni.
This is truly a magical place.
I arrive at ‘The Tower’ where the classes are held. It’s inherently clear where I’m supposed to go; I simply follow the music that I’ve been hearing as I walk up the curved staircases. ZZ Top ‘La Grange’ is filling the tower through a room that feels more like Harry Potter’s theatre than a classroom. Roy, at the front of the room, typing away to the glow of his Macbook.
After a short introduction to the program, Roy dubs two students from the front row as “sommeliers” for the week. Their job is to ensure that no one sees the bottom of their wine glass.
It’s 9am.
Wine? “If you smell wine and hear the distinct pour of the sweet purple coffee guggling into large glasses during the course, the experience is much different than traditional class learning.” You can say that again, I think to myself. There are many classes that are taught at Wizard Academy. Most of the classes are taught by ‘Wizard Partners’ that take a break from their businesses to teach.
But not this one.
This rare three-day course is taught by the Wizard himself. I’m honored to learn from him and it’s quickly clear to me that retaining all of this information is like holding a puck bucket under the Niagra Falls.
I furiously write down a few ‘aha’ moments in the first couple hours:
- Great writing is made up of four things:
1. The Big Idea
2. Nuts & Bolts: Implementing the big idea
3. Entertainment: People crave this stuff
4. Hope! The promise that I can make tomorrow better than yesterday. - The test of first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind and still retain the ability to function. Duality shows up throughout our lives. Explore opposing ideas equally and your mind will be stretched.
- Never include anything that the customer can imagine on their own. And please! Never rhyme… it’s predictable. Find the cliché; throw it away.
- Replace the word failure with experiment.
- Replace rules with principals. Rules limit you, principals guide you.
- Traditional Wisdom is often more tradition than wisdom.
- If you want to bore people, tell them exactly what they expect you to say. People engage with things that are new! surprising! and different!
- Bad communicators use too many modifiers and adjectives,
Great communicators use great verbs and action words. - If it’s not worth doing whole-heartedly, it’s not worth doing at all.
Roy sold over 60,000 copies of that book he gave me… because he had 60,000 to sell. He admits another business book that launched at the same time sold more copies than his (in the first day) but there was a problem: That book sold out in the first day. That publisher didn’t print enough copies. That publisher didn’t believe in their product enough. That publisher tested the waters and it took 60 days to print and deliver more copies.
By that time the world had forgotten.
Roy continued, using a variety of research from Steven Pinker, Cognitive Scientist and MIT professor, about how powerful the human mind is at fabricating the perception of reality. And if we use the right principals, we can create whatever reality we desire in the minds of our customers.
But there’s a trick.
Our brain has two sides, further demonstrating the power of duality. Most advertising is written to satisfy the logical left brain. The power is in capturing the imagination of the right. If the ad excites the right brain, it will easily give access to the left. This is where physics and creativity come in; we’re promised that day two will bring clarity to the theory.
Continuing festivities after dinner, Wizard Academy Vice Chancellor, Whiskey aficionado and kick-arse musician Daniel Whittington invites us to his office at the top of the tower for a “Tour of Scotland”.
Which is exactly as expected; totally unexpected.
Named the Toad and Ostrich pub, Daniel’s office consists of a humidor with a desk under it, two Kensington leather couches and of coarse, a bar — with a map of Scotland pinned with the whiskey distilleries.
I tasted most of them.
The only valid definition of good whisky is simply the “whisky you like to drink.” — Daniel Whittington
Daniel invites us to enter the hidden cellar where proud bottles of the finest whiskey’s from around the world stand for our enjoyment. The cellar is hidden. Classified. Fellow student and ex-Navy Seal, Mark Devine taught me a shiny lesson this week — some things are better in your head.
That was day one. I need sleep; cue right brain.
Day two. Read on…
