Stick with what you do best, just do it better

26 August 2010 | By Iain Tait

The condemnable term ‘tradigital’ appeared in a column in AdWeek a couple of weeks ago. Like most speculation around new media, it’s just another bit of blatant jargon-mongering; someone trying to own a term that sticks and hoping it ups their value on the circuit. Who knows, maybe they could get a book deal out of it: Dummies Guide to Tradigital anyone?

But sweep the clap-trap aside, get rid of the nauseating name, and there’s a nugget of truth at its heart. It’s about how we should look to fuse the best of traditional and digital advertising. But that’s hardly ground-breaking news.

Rather than trying to create a new kind of fantasy agency to service a new kind of fantasy client, shouldn’t we just look to play to our strengths? Not just agencies, but clients too.

Look clearly and honestly at the skills and talents of your company and the individuals who work there. Find the things that make you and them special and unique, and do more of those. And look at how the evolution of technology and society can make you better at doing those things than you’ve ever been before.

You can do all the stuff you’ve always done, but faster, cheaper, with more relevance, in more places and more often. And you can make your stuff more integrated with the things people are doing every minute of every day. But the wealth of opportunity that’s out there seems to confuse people, to make them greedy and somehow lose sight of who they are. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

If you’re at a place that’s good at making software, then make great software and distribute it in a new way. If you’re an agency that’s particularly ingrained in online culture, then use that to your advantage and get stuck in. Don’t start trying to be something you’re not. You’ll only muck it up and pay for it later.

If you’re a brand that’s has great customer service, then make it work to your advantage. Best Buy and its Twelpforce initiative proved it can work. It simply took its blue-shirted shop assistants and gave them the ability to talk to people online. And by empowering its customer service folks, Zappos continues to create legendary moments of online service in beautiful and simple ways. But if you’re Gucci, forget about it – service isn’t what you’re about. Never has been, never will be. In that case, do something stylish, desirable and just a little out of reach.

What’s exciting is that there’s nothing stopping anyone from doing any of it right now. The barriers to entry have pretty much disappeared. Whatever your niche, the tools are all there for everyone to play in your field, and the skills they might need to buy are all rentable by the hour.

It’s not a matter of being traditional or digital, or any of the shades of grey in between. The biggest pitfall to avoid is calling your company something that you’ll hate yourself for in six months’ time.

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