Identifying irony in the way groups are marketed

How do design consultancy owners address the conundrum of new business development in such an expansive industry?

There were 3000 design consultancies in 1998 and five years on, this figure is fast approaching 5000.

The more competitive the market is, the more compelling and distinctive the new business proposition must become.

Unknowingly perhaps, many design consultancies are just paying lip service to defining their competitive advantages and invariably fail to differentiate themselves from rival consultancies in any meaningful way.

The irony here is a painfully familiar one – design consultancy creatives spend their working hours in the studio each day trying to differentiate their clients’ products or services from their competitors.

Yet, while there are many potential ways of differentiating a business, few design consultancies go to any lengths to achieve this for themselves.

As I see it, fundamentally changing stereotypical attitudes towards the dynamics, performance timescales and resource needs of new business development is, for many, where the journey begins.

Isn’t this all blindingly obvious? Well, maybe it is, but what are you actually doing about it?

Simon Teer

New business consultant

Steer

Bushey

Hertfordshire WD23 2ND