The music is emotionally disarming. It sets a mood that is innocent and lighthearted, reinforcing all that you are saying in the ad. I added the music for precisely the same reason that every movie you’ve ever seen has a musical score. Music speaks to the unconscious mind. When words and music are delivered together and the […]

Google says you should buy ads online. Outfront Media makes a compelling argument for outdoor advertising. Yellow Pages (yes, they’re still out there) has sales people telling you you’re missing out on an untold number of calls. Newspaper, Radio, and TV have shoehorned digital advertising under their umbrellas promising to be a “one-stop-shop,” but even they can’t be […]

Hello Ryan and Nicole,     I just read the next round of ads…….you two are really goooood!!Sincerely,Ben Nicole wrote:Ben,I couldn’t agree more except for the number TWO.  Ryan is remarkable.  We talk in our marketing meetings all day long about our messaging…we send newsletters, email blasts, create videos etc etc…IN MY OPINION…Ryan is the true […]

You want to start at the beginning of Manley’s book? Here’s how to do that.By the way, it’s not yet published so you’ll just have to keep waiting for achapter each week. Sorry about that. – Indy

Is Your Company Out of Rhythm? The economy, commerce, business, the stock market and free trade: all of these were built on our ability to sell things to each other.  This is why the job of the ad writer is incredibly important. Television and radio, newspapers and magazines, direct mail and email, word-of-mouth and live […]

Seinfeld and Solnit Seinfeld was “a show about nothing,” but we couldn’t get enough of it because each of us knew a George, an Elaine, and a Kramer.  Rebecca Solnit’s book, The Faraway Nearby, reminds me of Seinfeld. I love this book, but I can’t really explain what it’s about. Solnit can write about nothing and keep you mesmerized. Sort […]

Art is valuable to the degree that it triggers emotions. But it isn’t always the art, itself, that triggers the emotion; sometimes the art is merely a point-of-contact with an iconic figure with whom we identify. Would this scene have been as memorable had it not clearly echoed the promise of the return of Christ? – Roy […]

Got something interesting to share? Send it to Indy@WizardOfAds.com and perhaps it’ll show up in the rabbit hole. If you’d like to see Ralph Marston’s Daily Motivator, go to www.greatday.com

Last week’s Monday Morning Memo, Islands of Writers, reminded me of this true story: I spent New Year’s Day 2008 where the Sea of Cortez washes into the Pacific Ocean. My choice of wardrobe on that day would change the course of a man’s life. Dale Mapp was born on the Caribbean island of Barbados […]

Old lady: You are always wishing people good luck and telling them about their mistakes and it seems to me you criticize them very meanly. How is it, young man, that you talk so much and write so long about these bullfights and yet are not a bullfighter yourself? Why did you not take up this […]

Your memo of September 28 jogged my memory. You’ll notice that I’m not responding directly to what you asked. I have been blessed with an agile mind but cursed with a very short attention span, or at least I thought so. I started a construction company in college and started buying houses and flipping them. […]

I would tell my 20 year old self, “Get out of this marriage.” I should never even have married.Mores were different in 1954.Unbelievably different.There was nothing worse than being an unwed mother. Nothing. “Shame. The most powerful, the most poisonous of human essences.“ – Jean Korelitz There were many times I should have left my marriage.Many […]

You want to start at the beginning? Here’s how to do that.

Hey Indy,It’s been a while. There’s a new virtual class at Wizard Academy called The Art of Working, happening on November 12th. Thought it might interest you.Aroo, Little Buddy.Zac SmithVice Chancellor, Wizard Academy

INDY BEAGLE: It is here for only a little while, and then it is gone. ALFIE the ELF: What are you talking about? INDY BEAGLE: Everything.

via GIPHY If you want to look deeper into this idea of multi-dimensionality, take a look at the video on this page of last week’s rabbit hole. Aroo. – Indy Beagle

How to Walk Though an Advertising Minefield If you are going to communicate effectively with a person, you need to know something about their beliefs. Most writers assume their readers see and believe as they do. And when they knowingly write to people who believe differently, their writing often takes the tone of an argument, leaning heavily […]

Who is Justa Foo, and what kind of juice is that?

I wish I could visit with my Great-Aunt Beatrice.I would say to her, ‘Details. I need details!’ Beatrice and her 11 siblings, mother Mary and father William lived in Paoli, OK.  A new doctor, George Blackwell, moved to town.George was handsome, charming and well spoken. All the ladies in town vied for his attention. The competition […]

Asia Gregg Poster 1 Read Asia’s profile page at WizardOfAds.com

TRIBES-2020_version2 Tribal Theater Handbook, by Tom Grimes Tribal Imperative is focused on the primal driving force in human behavior … we are social-emotional critters made of flesh & blood. (3,086 words) Tribal Theater Handbook provides the overarching framework of 5 FACTORS & their 10 FORCES for behavior architects.  (2,281 words)These are the essentials of WhyWeDoWhatWeDo; the WWDWWD Tool Kit. – Tom Grimes

Here’s where to click if you want to begin at Chapter One

There were two first big trips; big and really big. The ‘big’ trip was my first time to a foreign country, Grand Bahama.True, it’s only 50 miles off the coast of Florida but it is a foreign country. It was in 1979. A Grand Bahama resort was offering a promotional $100 visit, including airfare! Myself, […]

Here’s where to click if you want to begin at Chapter One Here’s our boy, Manley Miller, 18 years ago on a Wednesday night, preaching his first sermon!

Oh wait. I just remembered that one time I did fear for my life.    It was while I lived on the southern coast of Spain. I was a member of The American Club in Fuengirola. Funny thing about The American Club, it had hardly any Americans! Membership was open to any ‘English speakers’.The American Club had British […]

Send indy@WizardOfAds.com an email with the subject line DIGITIZE, and I’ll see if I can convince Manley to do this for us. And the BIG guy in the photo below is Jack Hayden, the baby in the chapter you just read!

These are the basic principles of Chaotic Ad Writing as taught by Wizard Academy: 1. Approach your subject from an unexpected angle. 2. Tell two stories at once, using the relationship between two things as a pattern to reveal the relationship between two other things. 3. Allow the listener to arrive at their own conclusion. In the New […]

If you already requested a Molokai ad, one is being written for you by a Wizard of Ads partner. If you’d like to get one written for your product or service, email indy@WizardOfAds.com a link to your website, with the Molokai in the Subject Line.

Molokai is the most primitive of the Hawaiian Islands. Only 8,000 people live there. You will find no resorts on Molokai, but her people are among the healthiest and strongest in the world. They always have time to talk to you, no matter who you are, and they glow with contentment. You should see them! […]