What is Strategy

What do you want to achieve or avoid? The answers to this question are objectives. 

How will you go about achieving your desired results? The answer to this you can call strategy
— William Rothschild

In your experience what would be the most effective kind of advertising? - Zoe H. Australia

Zoe, the answer depends on your definition of advertising.
Are you talking...

  • Media selection. The delivery vehicle of your message (passive or intrusive)? Television, radio, newspaper, magazines, Adwords, Facebook ads, flyers, billboards, buses, cinema, email, direct mail, door knocking... If you say the right thing, all advertising delivery vehicles work to some degree. 

Writing

I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shovelling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.
— Shannon Hale

Predictions

I try never to make predictions. It’s much better to be the guy making fun of dumb predictions than the idiot making them.
— Bob Hoffman

Success is Never Final

The road to success is always under construction.
— Unknown

Think Before You Give Your Attention

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

SEO is Like a Singles Bar

SEO is a last-minute, last-ditch attempt to win the affections of the undecided and uncommitted. Why not win your customer’s heart before they need your product?
— Roy H. Williams, The Wizard of Ads

Tell More Stories

People will remember stories long after they have forgotten your bullet points.
— Laurie Beth Jones

Objective + Commitment

When your objective is clear and your commitment is absolute, budgets and schedules no longer apply.
— Roy H. Williams

Don't Define Your Life by a Single Event

Life can be difficult and no one escapes its challenges. Sooner or later you will find yourself pressed to your limits. It may come in the form of a broken relationship, or unemployment, or a serious illness, or the death of a loved one. When it comes you will be tempted to define your life by that painful experience. Don’t succumb to that temptation. Refuse to define your life by any single event, whatever it may be. It is a real part of your life, but that is all – just a part.
— Richard Exley, August 2, 2013

Courage

Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.
— Eddie Rickenbacker

Be Bold Not Reckless

Don’t mistake recklessness for boldness. Boldness is a calculated risk based on the best possible information.

— Richard Exley

Keep Moving

Be not afraid of going slowly; be afraid only of standing still.
— Chinese Proverb

Your Dream Has a Price

FAILURE: Vast Project, Half-vast Commitment

You have a dream, a belief, a hope. But are you willing to spend what it costs, endure what is required of you and fight for as long as it takes to achieve it? Are you willing to die on that mountain?

Unrelenting action is what turns starry-eyed daydreams into steely-eyed objectives.

You say you have a goal.
Let me look into your eyes.
Now tell me what you did today.
— Roy H. Williams, The Wizard of Ads

Have Courage

Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Contrasting in Marketing

Contrasting in marketing is the degree to which your message strikes a clear and unmistakable difference between you and your competition.
— Tom Wanek, Wizard of Ads Partner