Recently, We were asked to present to a board of directors for a potential new rebrand client. We were competing against two larger firms that had experience within the client's field. One of the board members inquired saying, "You don't have much experience in our industry, why should we hire you?".

The answer to the question led me to realize you can have two types of focus, an industry niche or practicing discipline.

An industry niche focus is more of a traditional agency with the one-stop shop mentality, providing services across multiple categories, being pretty good at those crafts (a master of none) and well versed in a particular industry sector.

A practicing discipline focus is a more progressive model focusing on a specific craft and mastering it, then utilizing other master craftsman along the way to form super teams in order to accomplish the full spectrum of needed resources.

The industry niche says I know this market and how to re-purpose my problem solving skills with in it. Risking stifled innovation and differentiation this is a pretty safe option.

The practicing discipline says if you want the best in the world at my craft, regardless of your industry, come see me.

So our response to the inquiring board member? ‘If you want marketing experience in your industry then they are the ones for you, BUT if you want brand identity experts then hands down it is us.'

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