Finding the One

Just finished reading Zero to One, a deceptively simple read by one of the founders of PayPal, Peter Thiel.

I say deceptively simple, because there really is only one central thought in the book. That is, to really have a successful business, you need to create something new.

The reason, Thiel argues (successfully in my view), is that being in-competition, being in a competitive marketplace, simply erodes margin and is effectively zero-sum.

Creating something new, and owning a significant slice of a small market, puts you in a monopolistic position where good margin and good growth is a more likely outcome.

And it’s the pursuit of that monopolistic position that really drives progress, not competition.

Monopolies drive progress, drive technology, are in themselves a good thing.

Which I thought was a bloody interesting position.

And it got me thinking, what is the one that our industry is creating?

Or are we just all shuffling from the same deck?

From my experience, the ad industry loves chat around difference, but rarely deliver on it.

Getting very excited about being agile and lean as if they wrote the book.

Creating culture, when really they’re just appropriating it.

Fetishising technology without creating new ways of using it.

With competition at an all-time high, and both networks and independents trying to work out which way to point, the need to create more one’s in our industry is greater than ever.

Not just for ourselves, but for clients too.

Helping them find new avenues for revenue.

New products, new services, new customers.

An additive approach to their business that doesn't pay lip-service to moving them forward, but delivers on real accelerated growth by helping them build the next generation of their own business.

And we can help them do that, but only if we really dedicate ourselves to finding the one in every brief.