Roy Williams Interview

INTERVIEW WITH ROY WILLIAMS FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com ARCHIVES

DM) Isn't there a fine line between advertising and lying to sell a product?

RW) It is only lazy ad writers who resort to overstatement, hype, and fabrication. It is only writers without talent who attempt to follow the same "proven formula" in every ad they write. Hollywood formulas result in weak and predictable movies, and Madison Avenue formulas result in weak and predictable ads. The best ads are those written by people who have taken the time to uncover the real story of the advertiser, and who are able to tell that story in a style that is uniquely and wonderfully appropriate to the product or service being advertised. Good ads are always true.

DM) But there are many ads that reveal only a portion of the truth. Are these good ads?

RW) I'm not quite sure what you mean. On one hand, it's impossible for an ad to say everything, so by necessity an ad must reveal only "a portion" of the truth. On the other hand, if you are referring to ads which are misleading while "technically" correct, then the answer is no, these are not good ads. Such ads invariably prove to be counterproductive when the purchaser is disappointed with the product or service. Any success that such misleading ads produce is always short-lived at best.

DM) What is your favorite ad of all time?

RW) That would be the ongoing radio campaign of Tom Bodette for Motel 6. This is the quintessential example of an emotional ad campaign. In essence, Bodette told us only that which we already knew, but made us feel completely different about the information. The writing and the delivery were masterful. It's a campaign that I would have been proud to have written.

DM) What started you in this line of work?

RW) When I was 20, I took a weekend job in an automated radio station, changing tapes in the middle of the night. Later, I began selling ads for the station in my spare time. When one of my ad campaigns didn't work, I couldn't sleep at night. I searched for the secrets of successful advertising, only to learn that most ad pros didn't know any more than I did. Realizing that I would have to find the answers on my own, I began studying all the great successes and failures in history, looking for the common denominators of success, the unwavering principles that remain true in every situation. These are listed in The Wizard of Ads as "The Seven Laws of the Advertising Universe."

DM) What is the most inspirational book that you've ever read?

RW) You've asked an honest question, so I feel compelled to give you the only honest answer. I never read inspirational books or business books. I read only science fiction and historical biographies. I'm not trying to get religious or anything, but the most inspirational book I've ever read is the Gospel of John. I especially appreciate Chapter One, "In the beginning was the Word..."

DM) Are you a religious man?

RW) Faith is a wonderful thing, but religion is a terrible prison. I consider myself to be a violently anti-religious person in precisely the same way that Jesus was anti-religious. It was the religious people of his day who demanded that he be killed. Though I am not religious in the traditional sense, many of those who have read The Wizard of Ads report that they have found a new confidence in God and a new perspective on life. For this, I am very glad.

DM) Is there a benefit to your book for people outside of advertising?

RW) If the letters and email we receive are any indication, then the answer is a resounding "Yes." An enormous number of people have been energized by the philosophy of life, which is communicated in The Wizard of Ads. Many of these people are feeling the heartbeat of America for the first time as they read the stories behind the stories of Teddy Roosevelt, the Wright Brothers, Joseph Pulitzer, Wile E. Coyote and dozens of other historical figures. I think Americans like being reminded of the values, ethics, and principles that make our nation the greatest in the history of the world.

DM) Have people challenged and disagreed with these laws to you?

RW) No one so far, but the night is still young.

DM) After reading the book, I've tried applying the principles to this magazine and, admittedly, I became rather confused. What would you suggest to turn [TheCelebrityCafe.com] into the next Rolling Stone?

RW) The correct series of actions can be determined only after you have decided how you will measure success. Will you measure success by Web site hits? By ad revenues? By the number of invitations to exclusive parties? By appearing on the Letterman show? How? Tell me how you will know that you have accomplished your goals, and I can better tell you how to accomplish them. Precisely what do you want to see happen? Be specific. This is where every great ad campaign begins....

DM) Specifically, I'd want to have it become as reputable as a small Rolling Stone magazine, over 50,000 hits daily and being asked to interview the crѐme de la crѐme of celebrities and still interviewing whomever I please.

RW) 1) By "reputable," I'm assuming you mean influential, right?

2) 50,000 hits/day will be accomplished only by printing interviews that startle people. People don't tell other people about something unless they are extremely impressed with it. How will you rock their world?

3) If you want to avoid the high cost of advertising and take advantage of the abilities of the search engines, then you should consider creating a series of interviews with famous dead people...John Lennon, Janis Joplin, and others. The interviews would contain the questions you would like to have asked them, and the fascinating answers you believe they would have given you.

4) Being asked to interview the crѐme de la crѐme of celebrities happens as a direct result of being able to sell product. An interview in Rolling Stone results in the sale of a lot of records. Authors are willing to commit felonies to have Oprah Winfrey talk about their books, because every time Oprah says the title of a book, cash registers start ringing all over America. How will you be able to stimulate (and track) the sales of books and records from your site? When you are able to say, "Our average interview results in the immediate sale of twenty thousand records," you will have every publicist in the world trying to get you to interview their people. Unfortunately, a track record of moving product is the only way to become influential as an interview publication. This is what the publishing companies and record companies need....

5) Focus, focus, focus. The kinds of goals you have set for yourself are never accomplished by accident or as the result of a part-time effort. Are you moving toward doing [TheCelebrityCafe.com] full time? What is your current ratio of manpower to the task at hand? How many hours can you throw at this project each week? How will [TheCelebrityCafe.com] be funded?

6) Possible Partial Answer... I've heard that Amazon.com will let people with sites like yours open their own "book and music store" by linking to Amazon.com, who then allows them to make a referral fee in the middle of each transaction. Perhaps each [TheCelebrityCafe.com] interview should end with a list of all the books/records of the person interviewed and an order button that will take them to those specific order pages on Amazon.com.

Just a few things to consider.