I’m talking with a man about his happy future. There will be decisions to make and risks to take, but it’s a future that can definitely be his.

The problem with most websites is that they’re built inside out. You’re on the inside of your company, looking out at your customer.

Jerry Seinfeld is the richest actor on earth. Google it. He’s worth eight hundred and twenty million dollars.

I’ve always been puzzled by the fact that businesspeople think of advertising...

Some of you are going to feel like I’ve spit on your shoe or mocked your religion or told you that your baby is ugly...

Targeting is impotent. That wasn’t a misspelling. If you want to waste a lot of money on advertising...

If you were to ask 1000 people to name the behavior that marks 93 percent of all successful companies...

It took barely 3 decades for me to spend a billion dollars of other people's money on a never-ending series of experiments in advertising.

A billion dollars allowed me to try every experiment I could think of multiple times.

If an ad needs to be encountered only once to trigger a sale, it's a direct-response ad. Congratulations! You've successfully crafted a high-impact offer for a product with a short purchase cycle. 

Momentum in business can be positive or negative, pushing your company forward or back. Advertising, public relations, word-of-mouth and social media provide momentum to a business. But a threshold called “the experience of the customer" will dramatically alter these efforts, accelerating them forward or holding them back.

A 2013 Harris Poll reports that 46% of us have shopped a brick-and-mortar store for information, then gone online to find a better price. But that same Harris Poll says that a far higher number of us - 69% - have done exactly the opposite; researched online, then bought from a local brick-and-mortar.

Brandable chunks are memorable, micro-differentiators. They are refined from average advertising in the same way that hi-octane gas is refined from crude oil. Brandable Chunks: 1. create vivid mental images. 2. employ unusual word combinations...

Her plan was obviously brilliant, so why wasn't it working? Susan was as confused as a termite in a yo-yo. I was about to suggest an answer when she said it herself; "Culture eats strategy for lunch."

Every experienced consultant knows...

1. Bring positive and negative into close proximity.
2. Resist the temptation to clad them in insulation.
3. Witness the flow of electricity as it leaps between the two.

Institutions of higher education offer a degree path, a specific series of classes that will prepare you for the journey you're about to take. Wizard Academy's board of directors is preparing a similar map for those happy adventurers who come here for refreshment, instruction and advice.

I should begin with an apology, I suppose, because the secret of great advertising, the secret to great wealth, the secret of status and stature and your name on the lips of all the beautiful people is actually a wee bit disappointing.

Yes, it's a sadly disappointing big secret.

Today we call it Data but we used to call it Statistics.

Statistics are boring. That's why a clever boy in Silicon Valley gave them a new and better name.

A cafe owner, famous for his soup, was told by his accountant that he could boost his profit significantly if he would add just 5 percent more water to the recipe. The accountant was right. 

Watch the video.