I’m scoping out what I think the competition might be to Names@Work. So I’m looking at lots of companies that do stuff that’s tangentially related. In my wanderings, I ran across the Zyman Group. A link to “Our Thinking” part of their site reveals an impressive affiliation with the “Zyman Institute of Brand Science”, which operates out of Emory University in Atlanta.

If this is the competition, I thought, I ought to be scared.

The Zyman Group site is full of photos of powerful, masculine guys in powerful masculine business suits, uttering powerful, masculine phrases:

“We don’t believe in thinking outside the box. We don’t recognize the box.”

and

“In our way of thinking, okay is not okay, and good is not good enough…. You won’t face any cookie cutters or clichés here.”

and

“The purpose of marketing is simply to ’sell more stuff to more people more often for more money more efficiently.™’”

(Note the ™ sign on that powerful, masculine quote.)

Forget for a moment that these quotes are nonsensical. These guys are organized, tough, connected, focused, driven, smart, not to mention masculine and powerful. It’s looking pretty bad for Names@Work. They’re going to eat us for breakfast! We’re sunk!

And then this:

“Our research-based approach reveals critical insights about your customers’ behavior. Their needs, hopes, desires. In the end, they are helpless. We put the right tools in your hands, and they buy the stuff you want them to. Isn’t that why you are in business?”

The italics are mine, but the thought (remember, nothing cookie-cutter here, they don’t recognize boxes) is entirely theirs.

It’s powerful, it’s masculine, and it’s ugly. It might have worked when TV was the only game in town, but for the Web, it’s dead wrong. Sigh of relief….

Sometimes I thank the heavens for the Web. Customers are anything but helpless. Now that they can (and do) find what they want, my bet is that companies will prefer to hire Names@Work, or others of a similar philosophy. to help them sell their products to customers.

Isn’t that why they’re in business?

Posted by Antony in: General, Media + Marketing