"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"
Les Guêpes, January 1849
Thirty One
As we commit our Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations to warm memories of a hectic month, we turn our attention to January, 2016 and prepare to celebrate our 31st year at OffWhite later this month.
Since we started our company on a cold day in 1985, the evolution of OffWhite – and to business and technology in general – is staggering. While the pathways to our markets and client services have offered new dimensions in efficiency and accountability, our basic work remains the same. The more things change, the more they stay the same, right?
Yes and no.
In 2015 we continued to reinvest in the tools and technologies we need to compete in a global market. The substrate upon which we run OffWhite is as advanced and efficient as any in the world. While we work in an historic, bucolic college town on the banks of the Muskingum River in Marietta, Ohio, we are within reach of anyone and everyone on earth at light speed. We rightfully claim we’re in the middle of nowhere, and in the middle of everywhere.
The foundation for the OffWhite business model may be unique; we’re a relatively small firm specializing in technology marketing for highly specialized companies who we select as much as they select us. But our acumen runs deep. The details we seek, the weeds in which we live, the desire to learn, and the natural curiosity that drives us to peek behind the curtains of new technologies and business processes, make up the DNA of who we are and what we do at OffWhite. It is this curiosity that drives us to excellence.
Sharing Success
In 2015 we implemented our new business development program that brought us together with companies who share our values. These are companies that are making a difference in their industries and bringing true value to their markets. We committed to travel more frequently and to reach out beyond our borders while remaining tethered to the cloud servers that bind us together and host our intellectual property.
As a result, we are fulfilling the objectives of several companies who have put their trust in our entire team at OffWhite. These companies are located throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. No two are alike. The marketing services we offer don’t come off the shelf. And while our inventory walks out the door each day, we are always on the job.
The Need for Planning
The orchestration of a blended marketing program begins with a plan. We have gotten better at enforcing brand discipline on clients who are often too close to their own pivot points to understand the true context of daily decisions.
Accountability in the marketing investment has never been better, especially now that we have extraordinary analytics that reveal secrets of customer behavior in an instant. Knowing how to set-up this equation, and what to do with the information itself has become a centerpiece of our marketing strategies. Too little information, and we’re back where we started. Too much information and we’re paralyzed.
Staying Ahead of the Next Best Idea
The interplay between conventional marketing tools and continuously evolving innovations enabled by digital platform management reveals results that may be fascinating, but not always useful or productive.
At OffWhite, our first test for any program is “just because we can doesn’t mean we should”. And, no matter how we’re reaching our customers today, we know that tomorrow will bring another option, and the background noise will continue to rise. It’s our job to cut through it, at the right time and with the right people, so that a need can be met, a sale can be made, and a customer can be served. This basic equation applies to selling technology and perfume. One delivers a solution; the other promises hope.
Our Business Objectives
If you are our client, we will take care of you. We will give you our best work, on time and on budget. If we’re not sure, we’ll ask. If we think you don’t know, we’ll challenge you to find out. And above all, we'll do our own thinking.
If you are not yet a client, but think we would be a good fit under a mutually beneficial arrangement, we will explore the chemistry.
If you are a business partner or an alliance partner of OffWhite, we will continue to support you and seek your support in return. Our network of trusted advisors will soon span three decades and we will reward ourselves with the challenges and opportunities that have kept us together for so long.
If you are a sales, marketing or product manager, we will respect the confidence and trust you have placed in us; we know that your job, your reputation, is based on the outcomes we share. We’ve never phoned it in and never will. We will not let you down.
If you are struggling with the mysteries of search engine algorithms, social media drivers and the newest language of marketing, we will lead you on this journey while you focus on your business.
If you are a vendor, we will spell out what we want, but seek your counsel; we don’t know everything. When we’re done you’ll be paid as promised, quickly, as always.
And if you have something to say – and you must – we will find the words. Despite the changes we’ve absorbed over the last three decades, one constant is the one so many fear: Content. In content, there is nowhere to hide. In technology, there is no way to wordsmith an understanding of products, processes or services that remain critical to whatever industries you reach. At OffWhite, we exist to create content.
Behind the Curtain
Client service is not just what we do; it’s who we are. Service is why we come to work. People often ask us how we have survived in a volatile environment for more than 30 years. There are no secrets to this. We wrap our talents, skills, technologies and teamwork around our clients like a warm blanket.
Let's have a wonderful year, together.
