About Us

We believe that every great organization has a story, and ours is no different.

Will Marlow, Founder & CEO
Will Marlow getting ready to royku some poor kid back in the ’90s

Our Story

Royku is a Japanese word that means sixth level. When our founder, Will Marlow, was in middle and high school, he was a competitive Shotokan martial artist and wrestler. The experience of intense mental and physical training (earning a black belt and winning All-State wrestling honors) were formative for him.

Now flash forward 20+ years – as Will has grown into an equally competitive advertising professional, the principles of self-discipline, creativity, and adaptability he learned in training are just as relevant today as they were then. His primary company, Will Marlow Agency, delivers ultra-premium data-driven marketing services to high-growth companies. Royku is a natural offshoot of the agency, offering digital training around a six-level black belt program.

Why We Built Royku

Royku is focused on one thing: training people in data-driven marketing. This platform was built to solve a big problem: there aren’t enough data-driven marketing pros. Royku was first created to solve this problem within our own agency – we wanted to make it easier to teach and train our own team. But we also realized we wanted to do more than that: we want to share the knowledge and make you a data-driven marketing rock star. We want you to understand how to measure results and optimize digital campaigns. We want you to push yourself. Ask questions. Keep going. Don’t stop at level one – push yourself all the way to level six.

Our Teaching Approach

We apply a blended teaching approach that combines both the “explicit learning system” (book learning) and the “procedural learning system” (muscle memory) to help people master data-driven marketing from all angles. Like the ancient Karate system, we are focused on using the best-known theories of brain science to make the learning process easier. This platform was created in consultation with more than 100 teachers and educators.

What Our Students Have to Say