Finding the Unique Approach

I’ve never been one to settle for the easy way. In school, I figured out a way of doing math that only made sense to me. In Boy Scouts, I figured out how to build a way to redirect stream water to wash dishes. I’ve always enjoyed challenging conventions just to see what we could do.

When I moved into marketing, that became an obsession with finding something that’s new and different. Something that captures people’s attention. Something unexpected.

Often, this approach was deemed tiresome (which I can understand), but sometimes it generated the kind of results companies would pay dearly for. But I always found a way to do it, without paying dearly.

When a state agency asked the company I was working with to make some hats to give away at a game and fish expo, I suggested that we could find a way to keep the kids engaged for longer, so the parents could shop. I called on my Boy Scout days and proposed a field guide for kids. It had stickers, questions about the state, local flora and fauna, all in a little book for kids. 

It cost less to print these books than to print hats, and was so popular, the governor ordered a bunch of reprints to be put in every elementary school. Yes, researching and writing the field guide it meant more work for me, but it was work that meant a lot to thousands of kids.

The courage, in this case, was on the part of the account team. So we armed them with both the costs of the hat they had asked for, and the field guide we recommended. Because the costs were lower (writing and design were covered by the retainer, and printing was cheaper than sourcing hats and adding a logo), it wasn’t a difficult decision for the client.

Most often, doing the right thing gives you a much higher ROI than fast and easy. You might wonder why so many people still prefer the quick and dirty solution? The answer is that so many people don’t want to think. Thinking for yourself is a courageous act. “Because we’ve always done it this way,” is a safety net. But your customers will appreciate it when you put a little more thought and daring into your work.

We named this company Unique & Meaningful because it’s not enough to be unique. You need to make a meaningful connection between your unique approach and your product or service. Otherwise people will remember a cute ad or campaign, but forget what it’s for. Personally, we’d rather they forgot the cute campaign and remembered the product.