We must differentiate

Posted by: Ian Finch | 05 February 2007

I found myself singing an advertising jingle this weekend and I asked my wife whether it was from the 3 mobile phone ad.  She said it wasn't, but rather the T-mobile one.  It occurred to me that, at least in my perception at that moment, the quirkiness of the song chosen for T-mobile made me think of  their competitor. This can't be a good thing

My thoughts moved on to the web sites we build for our clients - over 600 of them so far!  In a world where there are billions of websites how do we keep helping our clients stand out from the crowd? How do we, as a web design business stand out from our fellow development companies? If I can mistake campaigns as different as 3 and t-mobile because of a song choice how much more effort do I need to make to position Mando Group differently? And, more importantly, make sure every piece of work we deliver is unique and individual to that project?

Solving these questions is crucial to both our clients' success and to ours.

For me, it has to come down to people - we're the only ones who are all different, every single time.  Therefore, it must follow that to differentiate, it is about embracing personality.  Every single company can be unique if it invests in its culture and people and then allows that to come through in its brand, its service offering and the way it communicates.

It's not easy though - there is a pressure to be 'professional' which can often mean nothing other than being bland and faceless.  Don't get me wrong, I'm committed to giving good value and service and I'm right there with making good on a promise and delivering on time...

...but...

- turning up in a suit for the sake of it
- adjusting how I act with people to massage an ego rather than speaking the truth
- doing anything simply because someone else has got one and a box needs to be ticked

Why would I?  It would just mean we (Mando Group) are the same as everyone else - with no differentiation. We are looking to work with people determined to bravely do something different, to think clearly, to allow ideas to flow and commit to ongoing evolutionary development. 

Lets do something extraordinary and help differentiate one another!

Posted in: Creative Business