21 and counting

 

Most all agencies claim to be different from all other agencies. The truth is they believe in their heart of hearts their thinking and processes are different. The facts are truly being different as an agency begins with the vision of your leadership and the execution of your team. Seeing things differently, translating this to innovative and meaningful creative, and delivering outstanding and often unexpected results. This is how being different actually occurs and can is recognized. Knowing this and recognizing when and where there is a difference led us to creating the video and blog series “There is a Difference” where we interview the people that think and act differently. This series showcases how they think about business, marketing, and being a bit different where it counts. We are pleased to share we have interviewed and published twenty-one outstanding people (21 and counting!) that do things differently and there is more to come.

There is a Difference             

 

There is a Difference is a tagline we use at Draper DNA to describe our work based on how we, as a team and as a business, think and act. Our team is made up of highly experienced and accomplished people, there are no rookies on this team. We are fiercely independent and entrepreneurial. We believe and operate preferring the path less traveled where our experience and the confidence that comes with it takes us where others are afraid to go. Knowing who we are as a team allows us to recognize and appreciate others that think and act differently. This is the genesis of the video and blog series. A series of interviews with presidents, SVPs, marketing executives, creative directors, innovators, entrepreneurs, and business owners in which they show us there is a difference.

Women in Construction

 

We decided to try the blog and video series idea this past March for Women in Construction month. There is a big disparity of gender in the construction industry with women being incredible contributors across different segments yet still a minority. We began by interviewing the best PR person in the industry and PR Hall of Hamer, Kathy Ziprik. She was fantastic and the response to her interview was outstanding, so we continued to interview and publish blog and video interviews with a woman builder, remodeler, and architect to learn and see there is a difference. We were not disappointed.

Summer Experiment

 

Summer in the construction business is the time to be in field. As an agency in the construction business, we are on job sites and in the lab to learn. We refer to our lab work as the summer experiment since we use this time to pursue new ideas. This year (2021) we decided to expand the “There is a Difference” series to include a broader group of people to show us how they think and work differently. We interviewed Drew Hoolhorst, a creative director with Apple, Google, and AirBnB to learn how he uses his unique sense of humor to stand out with these big-name brands. We spoke to an entrepreneur about how she started her own online fitness business during the pandemic. We interviewed the owner and founder of Obvious Coffee to learn about acting big as a small business.

What we learned during our summer experiment is you must be brave and embrace your differences. Brent Gambill graduated from law school and then decided to follow the truth he felt inside to pursue a career with NASCAR. He began at the most entry level position to work his way to a leadership position. What makes you different is often thought of as a weakness by many but is actually your superpower.

We firmly believe anything worth doing is worth measuring. We have been tracking and reporting on the audiences, activity, engagement, and conversion of our efforts with “There is a Difference” series. We are continuing with the series because of the results it is producing. The experiment is working.

Fringe Benefits

 

The series is proving to have so many benefits to it. First, the chance to connect with friends, old and new, to have a conversation we call an interview is very fulfilling. Dean Horowitz and Dave Barista are longtime friends and unbelievable leaders in both media and construction. It was so insightful to turn the tables and interview them.

Next, sharing insights and best practices is a significant part of the mission of Draper DNA and the “There is a Difference” series is a perfect platform to fulfill this mission. We create and post new interviews at least twice each month. We promote what we learn from these interviews and the research we do in preparation for them every day across Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Take a look, you will see meaningful and actionable best practices for you and your business. Feel free to share.

Being active on social media and creating new content every week with “There is a Difference” is a strong SEO strategy. Andrew Prince, an SEO expert, was one of our more interesting and practical interviews talked about different ways to use SEO to your advantage. You guessed it, content plays a big role.

More to Come

 

We are excited by the people who have agreed to be interviewed in the weeks to come. 21 and counting is only the beginning for “There is a Difference” series. We hope you will take a few minutes to watch and read all of the interviews in the “There is a Difference” series. If you are interested in starting your own blog and video series, we are happy to talk with you about it. We certainly recommend you try conducting your own experiment with a video and blog series. It is making a difference for us, and it may do the same for you.

Check out promo video for this post – click HERE.

There is a Difference. Let us show you.