Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Believes

This Is the Best Way to Run Meetings

By Brittain Ladd • 06/10/19 2:03pm

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has proven that the six-page memo and internal press release are
tools that can help lead to a company’s success. SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Jeff Bezos loves to write. A lot. In his annual letter to shareholders, Bezos
does more than provide an overview of Amazon’s performance; he helps
shareholders understand what makes Amazon different. Bezos always does
one other thing: He attaches a copy of the first annual shareholder letter he
wrote in 1997 to reinforce his commitment that Amazon will always operate
with a mindset that it is still day one.

In a more recent shareholder letter, Bezos demonstrated his understanding

of how to use language to advance his personal beliefs, educate others and
command an audience. What’s unique about this letter, however, is that it
expands on one of the techniques I have identified as being a major reason
for the success of the company—six-page narratives and the internal press
release.

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Before moving deeper into this article, I want to make it clear that I am not
suggesting that only six-page memos and press releases are the reason for
Amazon’s success. They’re not. Amazon succeeds because it attracts and
hires the most capable individuals from all over the world.

Amazon’s Secret Sauce

One of the things I enjoyed most working at Amazon was attending
meetings. Why? Because they were the most efficient and exciting meetings
I had ever attended for any company. Unlike most companies where people
come to meetings to review PowerPoint slides, Amazon doesn’t use
PowerPoint. Ever. Instead, Amazon requires everyone, regardless of their
title, to begin meetings by reading every word in six-page memos. What
makes the memos interesting is that they have writing on both sides of the
paper so, in essence, 12 pages are being read. Most of the six-page memos I
read also contained an internal press release at the beginning of the memo
to provide a high-level understanding the of the product or service being
proposed and discussed.

Although it may seem counterintuitive to believe something as simple as an

internal press release and a six-page memo can be considered primary
among the keys to Amazon’s success, it’s true. Note: The press release is for
internal use only. Although written in the form of an actual press release, it is
not distributed to the press for publication.

Amazon is focused like a laser on customers. Instead of starting with an idea

for a product and trying to convince executives that customers will “love the
idea,” Amazon works from the perspective of the customer to come up with
ideas that will legitimately generate value. For example, Prime was created
because it was understood within Amazon that customers wanted to buy
quality products for less money, and customers wanted to receive products
as fast as possible. Prime appeared to be a solution that would meet both
customer needs. An internal press release was written centered around the
existing problem (high costs, slow deliveries), why current solutions had
failed to correct the problem, and how the new product (Prime) would blow
away all existing solutions. I have read the original press release for Prime
and Prime Now, and I can attest that the actual programs achieved the goals
as outlined in each press release.

At a high-level, the press release follows this outline:

Heading : Name the product in a way the reader (i.e. your target customers)
will understand.

Sub-Heading : Describe who the market for the product is and what benefit
they get. One sentence only underneath the title.

Summary : Give a summary of the product and the benefit. Assume the
reader will not read anything else, so this paragraph is critical. Note: If you
struggle writing the summary, step back and reevaluate the idea.

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Problem : Describe the problem your product solves. Be clear.

Solution :  Describe how your product solves the problem. Be enthusiastic!

Quote From You :  A quote from a spokesperson in your company. For

example: “Amazon customers want same-day deliveries. We created Prime
and Prime Now to provide our customers with deliveries in as little as two
hours,” stated Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

How to Get Started : Describe how easy it is for customers to get started
using the service.

Customer Quote : Provide a quote from a hypothetical customer that

describes how they experienced the benefit. For example: “I was amazed
that I could order protein bars and pre-workout supplements and receive
them the same day,” stated Brittain Ladd.

Closing and Call to Action : Reinforce to the customer why the product or
service is a must-have and reinforce the value generated for the customer.

I wrote multiple press releases when I worked for Amazon, I read numerous
press releases, and I taught others how to write press releases. I never
witnessed a product or service become a reality if the press release didn’t
effectively identify the value of the product or service to the customer. The
rule of thumb I used at Amazon was this: If it was hard to write a press
release or understand why a product or service would add value to
customers, the product or service wasn’t worth the effort. Move on.

Six-Page Memo
I have been in many situations since I left Amazon in which I was able to
identify that writing a press release and a six-page memo would have saved
a consulting client millions of dollars and countless hours in wasted time and
effort. How? The press release and six-page memo, early in the process,
would have pinpointed that the scope of the project was focused on the
product itself and not on the value to customers. For example, a CPG
(consumer packaged goods) client that hired me had released a food
product on the market, but sales were dismal. After meeting with the team
responsible for creating the product and bringing the product to market, it
was clear that not enough effort was placed on understanding what value (if
any) the product would give to a customer. A high-protein food product was
viewed as having too little protein, so customers ignored the product. Using
a six-page memo and an internal press release, the scope of the project was
changed, additional protein was added, and the product was released under
a different name with packaging touting the higher protein content. Sales
exceeded expectations.

Although I value the internal press release as an important tool, the

technique I credit the most for giving Amazon an advantage is the disciplined
and rigorous use of six-page memos referred to as a “six pager” inside
Amazon. As with the press release, I wrote many six-pagers inside Amazon,
and I taught others in the company how to better use six-pagers to advance
an idea for a product or a service. According to Bezos:

The reason writing a good six-page memo is harder than creating a 20-
slide PowerPoint deck is because the narrative structure of a good memo
forces better thought and better understanding of scope and what’s
more important than that.

Six-pagers present and answer in excruciating detail the who, what, when,
where and why of a product or service. Echo is an actual device, so a six-
pager would include tremendous detail on the specifications of the product,
value to customer, technology requirements within Amazon to bring the
product to market, budget, etc.
Amazon Prime was created because it was understood within Amazon that customers
wanted to buy quality products for less money, and customers wanted to receive products
as fast as possible. Leon Neal/Getty Images

A six-pager written about Prime would focus more on the requirements of

the supply chain and logistics to meet demand, identify which products are
Prime eligible, internal systems requirements, budget, value to the customer,
etc.

Just like the press release, I never witnessed a product or service become a
reality at Amazon unless the six-pager contained the required data and was
able to clearly articulate the value to customers and to Amazon. Executives
at Amazon believe in the use of six-pagers 100 percent.

The real value of the six-pager that I identified is this: It forces otherwise
busy and distracted executives to give their utmost attention and opinion to
decide on something. I can’t stress this point enough—requiring executives
and associates to sit in a room, read every page (front and back) of a six-
page memo, discuss and dissect the data and the idea presented, and then
make a decision to move forward is a very powerful management and
decision-making methodology.

Six-pagers prevent hiding. Six-pagers separate the vital few ideas and
products from the trivial many. Six-pagers identify where a company should
place its focus and why. Six-pagers enforce discipline and rigor in decision-
making. Six-pagers are an excellent management tool.

Can the Press Release and Six-Page Memo Work

for Other Companies?
It is no secret that most companies struggle to compete against Amazon.

Amazon perfected the use of the press release and six-page memo to give
its executive team and associates a framework for identifying the optimal
products and services to provide customers. Based on my experience and
analysis, I can find no reason why other companies can’t benefit from using
the press release and six-page memo methodology.

I have also assessed the use of the press release and six-page memo by
management consulting firms. Even though I have many tools in my
consulting toolbox, if only given the chance to select two, I would choose the
press release and the six-page memo over everything else. No joke.

In fact, I use a hybrid version of the six-pager for the articles that I write for
multiple publications.

For example, the strategies and recommendations I identified for Campbell

Soup, which I wrote about in this article, were created writing a press release
and a six-pager. I’m convinced that if Campbell Soup required executives
and associates to utilize press releases and six-pagers, the board would
never have approved the acquisition of Bolthouse Farms, Snyder’s-Lance or
any other of the acquisitions of former CEO Denise Morrison.

Working backwards from the customer, what customers want is a far cry
from the carrots and other products offered by the soup company. (Note:
Feedback from executives, consultants and financial advisers working at
Campbell’s who read my article verified that the recommendations I made
were accurate.)

I applied the same technique to identify and write about strategies I

recommended for J.C. Penney in this article. I also wrote multiple press
releases and six-page memos when I worked as a consultant for Kroger.

The challenge for companies that want to use the press release and the six-
pager is that it requires a significant amount of training to master the
techniques. In my experience, too many individuals outside of Amazon who
attempt to use either document tend to not invest the required time and
effort in learning how to write and use both documents as designed.

Bottom line: The press release and the six-page memo work because they
identify the products and services most relevant for generating value to
customers, and they accelerate execution of the strategy by increasing the
speed at which decisions are made.

Should companies introduce the internal press release and the six-page
memo into its culture and way of doing business? Absolutely.

Amazon is Amazon because it has perfected the use of both techniques.