One of the things we’re asked most often is, “So, how many other clients do you have in (our exact field)? How many rebrandings/websites/collateral systems have you done for them?”

And yeah, we get it. When you go in front of the board, you don’t want to say, “Yeah, we chose these doodz out of a hat, they got no credentials, but we liked ‘em.” But, you know what? The doodz might’ve given you better creative.

Because you don’t get an iPhone by benchmarking the Blackberry.

You don’t get a masterpiece with paint by numbers.

And you don’t get brilliance when you’re “just one of the crowd.”

Which is why, when we’re asked how many clients we have in a particular industry, or how many rebrandings we’ve done for clients just like them, we like to turn it around and say:

“Why don’t you ask us about the number of first-in-category clients we’ve had, and how we’ve invariably brought insights from outside their category—insights that helped companies like Grateful Harvest go from ‘the grateful dead’ to the number two brand at their billion-dollar parent.”

Because marketing isn’t paint by numbers, or a formula you apply to every client in industry “X.” You aren’t just like your competitor. And if your prospective agency sees it that way, you might as well throw in the towel now.

Assuming that California’s new proposal for electronic license plates goes through–license plates that can display advertising–here’s a question: would you buy advertising from the DMV?

No, seriously. Putting aside the myriad of concerns about electronic license plates in general, would you buy advertising from the DMV if you could? Would it be as easy as setting up a Google AdWords buy, or would it require you to make an appointment at the friendly DMV counter? And, once you placed your ads, how easy would it be to download the metrics? Could you do it as a CSV, or would you have to go into an office to have someone look it up on their Windows 95-era screen?

And–what would you advertise? Local bars seem a gimme, but, well, people are driving. And that’s drinking. Ads for California’s pie-in-the-sky rapid rail system might not go over so well in rush hour on the 405. Maybe ads for, well, Google Adwords might not be so bad, especially up in Mountain View.

In case you haven’t realized, I think California’s electronic license plates are a monumentally idiotic idea. Let’s leave aside the huge expenditures necessary to make it happen. Anyone with half a brain in their head would immediately have this conversation with the state:

You: “Well, hell, that’s gonna be distracting! Going down the freeway and seeing a thousand blinking, screaming ads all flashing at you? How will that work?”

“No problem,” California confidently says. “They’ll only display when the car hasn’t moved for more than four seconds.”

You try again: “What happens when the inevitable 14-year-old hacks the system and puts pictures of stuff you don’t want to see on every license plate?”

“Notgonnahappen,” California says. “We’ve designed the system with a bazillion gigabit security system, not hackable for . . . oh wait, it’s been hacked. Erghh, look at that.”

And then you say: “Hey California, my car battery’s dead from your ads. I’m gonna sue!”

“Well, of course there will be a failsafe system rendering this impossible, designed by NASA scientists . . . oh wait, you mean the real world is different than a lab?” California says. “You mean some people have cars they don’t drive for days at a time? Ah, wait . . .”

And then, you ask the real question: ”If you’re advertising on my car, where’s my cut? When I choose to let Google put ads on my blog, I get money.”

And that’s the point that California missed. Google works because it’s voluntary, and because there’s an incentive to use it.

Ads on license plates . . . uh, not so much.

Have you ever heard of Samuel Pierpont Langley?

At the turn of the century, when the quest for a “flying machine” was running like today’s social media revolution, he was the guy everyone thought would develop the first airplane. He had the money and backing from the US government, held a seat at Harvard and worked at the Smithsonian, and hired the best people money could find. The New York Times followed him around and reported on his every move.

But, in the end, he lost to Orville and Wilbur Wright. Two guys with no college education, who funded their dream from the proceeds from their bicycle shop.

The TED talk above makes the case that this is because the Wright brothers were pursuing a central idea, a why, where Langley was pursuing, well, the cash.

It’s well-worth watching the TED talk, and asking yourself: what is the why of my business? Especially after watching the first part of the TED talk, where he discusses Apple . . . versus everyone else. The cash, he says, is an effect. The why is, well, why people buy in the first place–and most businesses can’t articulate their why.

It’s a thought-provoking talk, and one that got me thinking about Centric’s why. Yes, we do advertising and web development and design and marketing and all that stuff, and yes, we’re the Agency of Change, but why do we do what we do?

And I’m pleased to say I have a reason, a why.

But first, a little history: from the start, we’ve never intended to be the biggest agency on the planet, nor have we embraced the growth-at-all-costs, burn-the-interns model that so many operate on. We’ve always been balanced, fair, and–at the same time–forward-looking. We were doing web development when other agencies didn’t even know what it was. We did web marketing before the term solidified. And we were one of the first into the social media fray.

But our why isn’t progress for progress’s sake. We recommend cutting-edge marketing where it’s appropriate, and warn clients away from it when it isn’t.

So, what’s our why? It’s this:

In an era continual marketing change, you need an honest and forthright partner to help you sort it all out, and make the most of it.

Have you wondered why your conventional agency continually pushes print and TV, despite the fact that online marketing is more effective? Have you ever wondered why everything is an app for your iPhone app developer? Have you every wondered why “everyone’s gotta be on Facebook!” for your social marketing firm?

Because, for the most part, companies sell, well, what they’re selling. If they do conventional, they sell conventional. If they do social, they sell social.

We don’t. We’re not partial to any one strategy or tactic, old or new. We’re happy to tell you what won’t work for you, and warn you away from it–even if it takes money out of our pockets.

Stupid? Maybe. But that’s our why. What’s yours?

“Wait a minute!” you may be saying. “You’re actually giving us reasons not to spend money? Aren’t you a web developer?”

Well, yes. We do develop websites. But, more than anything, we’re focused on integrated, effective marketing–and there are times when redeveloping your site isn’t the most effective thing you can do. (And there are times when it’s absolutely paramount, but that’s the subject of the next post.)

For now, let’s take a look at five common reasons you think you need a website revamp, when in fact you don’t.

Reason 1: We’re tired of the site. This is arguably the #1 reason we hear for unnecessary site revamps. The site is a year or two old, and you see it every time you turn on your computer. It doesn’t seem fresh anymore. It’s boring. Predictable. You’re oh-so-over that design you were head-over-heels for, only 12 months ago.

Well, guess what: you aren’t your customers. They don’t see your site every day. They aren’t over it. In fact, they may just be getting used to it. Now, you’re thinking about pulling the rug out from under them. The end-result can be frustrated customers and a broken brand.

Suggestion: install free qualitative analytics from iPerceptions to see how customers and prospects are using your site, to find out if they’re reaching their goals, and to see where their real frustrations are. If the meter is deep in the green, rethink your plans to revamp the site, unless there are significant functional reasons to do so.

Reason 2: We’d like to add social/video/games to keep the site current. Yep, gotta have that latest Facebook Connect, AddThis badge, Twitter integration, cool embedded YouTube videos, and maybe even a game or two to keep customers on the site.

Or not. Customers aren’t screaming for these features; they’d much rather talk to friends on Facebook and read their favorite celeb tweets on their iPhone; this doesn’t mean they want to be barraged by a ton of things on your single-purpose site–especially when those flashy new features get in the way of buying something.

Suggestion: wait until you have solid, functional reasons for a site revamp, then plan carefully what social features you want to integrate–preferably after running an exit survey to see if your customers even care.

Reason 3: We’re not getting enough traffic. Not enough traffic to the site isn’t the fault of the site; it’s the fault of your outreach program, or lack thereof. What does your outreach look like? Are you running ads? SEO/SEM? Direct? Sponsorships? Social? Creating content? If you answered, “none of the above,” don’t expect to have a high-traffic site.

Suggestion: don’t expect your site content to attract traffic by itself. Always budget for outreach.

Reason 4: We were told by another web developer/agency that we need a new site. Yeah, we bet you were. Web developers tend to pre-emptively dismiss anything they themselves haven’t done, and your ad agency will curl their lip at your site until it has been whipped into their latest brand recipe. So, of course you need a new site.

Or not. Go back to those qualitative analytics. If people are happy with your site, finding what they want, and converting to customers or leads, ignore the fact your site isn’t built with the latest HTML 5 gizmos, and the fact that your current campaign is taking you in a new brand direction. The site it doing its job. Leave it alone.

A suggestion: take a course on analytics, both qualitative and quantitative, to really understand how your site is doing relative to the competition. Then you’ll be ready to ask the hard questions when your agency starts pushing for “change for change’s sake.”

Reason 5: Our competition just launched a new site, OMGWTFBBQ! Yeah, and in other news, time marches on. Yes, your competition will launch new sites from time to time. That doesn’t mean they are in any better shape. In fact, they may have been railroaded into an ill-advised site redevelopment by boredom, an over-aggressive agency, or even the fact you caught them off-guard when you launched your last site, twelve months ago.

You know, the site you’re starting to grow tired of right now.

Now, of course, there are some really good reasons to redevelop your site. Look for those in the next post.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for this brief announcement.

Jason Stoddard, Centric’s founder and award-winning science fiction author, will be speaking at Digital Media Pipeline about the future of visual entertainment.

How will we enjoy films and video in the future? Will everything live in “the cloud?” What will instantaneous access to virtually every movie and TV series ever created mean to us? How will this affect work, life, and even culture? Jason will take a look at “the day after tomorrow,” or, some of the larger implications of this enormous change.

It’s going to be a fun talk. Please join us for:

DIGITAL MEDIA PIPELINE ’10 – The Business of Digital Entertainment

Skirball Cultural Center
Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
September 15, 2010

http://www.digitalmediapipeline.com