If plucking nostril hairs is a 5 on the international pain scale, writing your own marketing stuff is a solid 10.
So there we were. A new design agency (but kinda, sorta not really a design agency) with a new website. And a whole load of word-shaped gaps that needed filling.
We knew we wanted to be brave with our tone of voice. Then again, we wanted to be taken seriously. We knew what we offered was worth any client’s investment, but we also wanted to have a ton of fun promoting ourselves.
Fun? Serious? Fun serious? Serious fun? No one said it was going to be easy.
Anyway, after lots of umming, ahhing and keyboard tapping, we did it. We landed on a voice that sounded just like us, and we loved it.
Turns out lots of other people did too.
Of all the un-design agencies in all the world…
Earlier this year, the ‘Fully Saturated UK Design Agency Positioning Audit’ came out.
This 80-page report was painstakingly knitted together by Brand Strategist, Emily Penny, and Creative Consultant, Joel Stein (two free range eggs of the highest order). Its purpose – to ‘present a map of the UK design sector (and) showcase the most interesting branding agency propositions’.
Fully Saturated scrutinised over 300 websites from agencies of all sizes around the UK. They then put the 150 best of those agencies through the wringer, and 25 rose to the top, because of ‘…the strength and clarity of their points of view, and the distinctiveness of their language’.
Pass the smelling salts, Mum
As you might imagine, we were as chuffed as a catering pack of Old Ma Chuffington’s Dry Roasted Chuff Nuts, to find out dollop was in the top 25. Especially when we read, ‘From the name onwards, this is copy that drips with personality… There’s not a single line on the site that feels phoned-in’.
A couple of months later, I was invited to join a Fully Saturated online masterclass, with a gaggle of other agency owners. This is what fell out of my mouth: “A lot of agencies like to project a mirage of one big, happy, payrolled team, all under one roof. But in reality, many depend on freelancers to get the job done. We own that truth and all the messaging opportunities that come with it.”
Top 25, eh. That’s the top 8.33%. Check us out.
Luckily our hats still fit and the world keeps spinning.
But if you fancy a slinky slice of personality-packed tone of voice for your brand (serious, fun, or whatever), we’d be well up for a natter.
