The Marketing Mind of Willy Chandler
Willy’s Works Fireworks – Part II ~ by Lisa J of Words on Tap
Now that you’ve heard the inspirational backstory, let’s talk about how exactly Willy kept Willy’s Works’ fuse lit for all these years. I asked him his secret and he smiled and said there was no secret, it was all because of the people; people he served, people who worked with him, people who took a chance on him and his crazy ideas, and people who never let him give up. You see, Willy’s secret was not about gimmicks or schemes, but how he strived to give back to others in a way he knew how – a moment of laughter, and good feelings.
It’s a touching sentiment and one that rings true with many successful industries. When we do what we do for others, we are rewarded in ways we could never imagine, and then when you add a little eccentric flare and personality, you get Willy’s Works Fireworks. That eccentricity is what Willy is known for and a large part of what put Willy’s on the map. As we are well aware, Willy is not one to color in the lines and the more limits that were put on him the more he pushed them. His first business was shoveling manure, he advertised by painting his body and he named his new business using his clown name. So, there is no question that the tactics used to keep his dream alive would be just as dramatic.
Some of these tactics included pushing those limits not only with witty Willy one-liners, like, let Willy Bucks blow or
light your fuse, but with the names of his firework stores. For example, when big fireworks were not sold in the area yet, to bring in those looking for them, he named his tent Hillbilly Willy’s Tennessee Technicolor because Tennessee was the closest state to get the fireworks that lit up the sky, or the time he took on a town with just a name and a song. Born in Kentucky and picking up the idea from CB radio chatter, Willy rented space in Cedar Lake and called it Cedartucky Fireworks. This small but intentional act led to a protest of council members outside his doors, which he was happy to report to the local paper and radio stations. But it was a Town Council meeting that took the cake where he stretched his vocal cords and sang a little ditty with the same name to all who attended. Eccentric, yes, over the top, questionable, but did it work? Absolutely. The day before the protest Willy had 50 customers, the day of he had 500, and this story is now memorialized in the Cedar Lake Historical Association Museum as a piece of history.
Willy may have pushed limits, but fun was always the theme, and over the years Willy brought both excitement and entertainment while promoting his business. A few of his promotions included sparkler giveaways. The catch was to bring in the words “Willy Works” written down and you’d get a sparkler. The bigger catch, the more unique the object it was written on the bigger the sparkler. People surely got creative and brought in Willy Works written on all sorts of things, including diapers (he assured me were clean), one little boy wrote on his sister, but one dad took it to the max by writing Willy Works on his daughter’s lost tooth.
It was this type of fun Willy inspired, and it really didn’t take much if the idea was to make people feel good; a flashy costume, Willy Bucks coupons, padded underwear (yes, it’s true), or a catchy sign, like the one in the parking lot full of barrels one year that said “Don’t Let Life Barrel You Over, Come to Willy Works for Barrels of Fun,”. However, it’s his most famous event, still practiced today, that brings the masses, and that event is Willy Wednesdays.
Willy Wednesdays once held every Wednesday in the month June, now celebrated bigger than ever on the last Wednesday of the month is a day dedicated to the people that make his business successful, his customers. Early days brought Whip Willy, where kids threw whipped cream at Willy, Wet Willy which involved water balloons, some as large as your head, and super soakers. Kids and professionals in dress clothes alike came out to celebrate with Willy, but he didn’t do it alone. Willy spoke of one year where his girlfriend at the time painted empty appliance boxes and made a tunnel in the parking lot of Jewel. If you crawled through you got a prize. He laughed when recalling this memory because incredibly the youngest participant was 6 days old carried by her mother and the oldest was a 92-year-old man you encouraged Willy to never stop doing what he was doing.
Willy Wednesdays has evolved since those days and now occurs as one giant event in the Lake County Fairgrounds with a jump house, free water and popcorn and of course an amazing firework display. I hear this year, as always, they put on quite the show right before the storm and there are some amazing pictures out there with the fireworks and lightening exploding in the sky at the same time. Please share if you have any!!
Needless to say, Willy’s ideas turned into his brand and his brand is now embedded into fond memories old and new
throughout the community and beyond. Marketing 101 and genuine all-around fun and kindness at its best. Those who know him willy wuv him and those who don’t willy want to.
If you don’t believe me, stop on by Willy’s Works located right off Main Street across from Taco Bell, open from 10-10 for your July 4th celebration. However, the kindness, knowledge and fun awaiting is worth it any day of the year.
But wait, the story is not over…check back tomorrow to read Part III of Willy’s story and find out his “Why” behind it all.