Five down this is number six. for many companies this is so hard to do and it is so tempting to do other things. This is what we have learnt in the last five years but slowly been introducing in 2010. Be excellent in one aspect of business (in our case design).

Niche is key to the future development of your business. If you can identify your key beliefs and values and only approach projects that fit this then in the long term you are going to be better off. Your projects will be more enjoyable and fulfilling, because you believe in it. They will also be of a better standard.

This is very appropriate given the weather today. With the ease of communications both on and offline, it is almost impossible not to get to the people who want to listen and talk to you. I have been trying to find out what the trains are like for the last 30 minutes no luck. Surely there is a good channel to access for this?

However what we would say is that it is very important to provision this aspect of your strategy. Do not set up a twitter account or facebook page if you are not going to have time to use it and respond to people's queries. It's not yellow pages where you put your advert in, because everyone else has one. It is about what you can offer and how your offer is unique and authentic. It has to be integrated within the whole brand and business strategy.

Number 4 in our what we have learnt is about guardianship and confidence. Brands are more and more being moulded and created by the user whether that be a customer of the brand or an employee as we learnt in a previous post. But what is key is to have ownership of your brand so you can develop it with confidence and without having to constantly be asking for assistance.

This ownership is key if a brand and brand strategy is to be embedded within a company. It was great to see this christmas card from the people of menter a busnes and to see how already within a month or so they are feeling confident enough to play and evolve the brand. They know we are always on the end of the phone so they are happy to play and experiment with their new brand.

Our third instalment in what we have learnt this year. Transparency and openess. In the social media scene it is no longer possible to hide behind a door. Brands have to be person and have opinions. The more open and candid you are the better.

By being personal you can react and evolve inline with your listeners.

This years biggest none listener was Steve Jobs and the infamous 'hold it differently' for the signal problems of the new iPhone 4

During this year we have been involved in a variety of projects. Some big, some small. Some print, some digital. Some brand, some not. But the main thing we kept on coming back to again and again was that branding is about people. And people are shaping your brand. From the employee of the brand to the user. It has to start from a person perspective.

Our first thing we have learnt this year is more like what we have introduced in 2010 and hope to continue into 2011 and hope to expand to involve other companies.

What we have learnt - Number 1
Introduce a time for skill transfer and knowledge exchange. We have played with a few versions of this in 2010, and are getting there. It's all about keeping on going and experimenting until it's right. So in 2010 we have introduced a monthly workshop or presentation where a member of Hoffi exchanges knowledge to the rest.



The video above is a very quick film created through a workshop this morning using After Affects. A bit festive snow for everyone.

I wrote an article recently on my blog about the Ryder Cup and whether a different marketing/advertising model should be looked at. And whether there are other ways of delivering uniqueness through niche as opposed 'big hitting' one off events? Having recently returned from an interesting discussion regarding the development of sustainable places in Wales, and also learning of the failing education system in Wales. There seems to be two words that have been repeated over and over again.

The words are RISK AVERSE, and a lack of confidence in Wales that seems to be hindering us from really developing new innovative structures, systems and companies for the future.

The concept of not being confident is a new thing for me. When we started Hoffi I was of the opinion that Wales was confident and had some great future prospects, and in fact a growing confidence. In some cases this was the confidence of youth and perhaps even a naivety on my part. Over the years however this has slowly been changed and eroded. The incremental change within Welsh companies seems unbreakable. Innovation and direction changes within companies being few and far between.

Internally we have created a number of self initiated projects that have been hugely successful, but not in the terms people would gauge success. We created a Creative hub called Naked Wales which brought together creatives to chat and get to know each other. We also produced a magazine which we managed to get people to write for and send in illustrations that we could add. So why did we do it? well firstly it wasn't about money. It was about helping people make connections, opening new collaborations. It also allowed us to test ideas and ways of working fundamentally it allowed us to FAIL. So we might SUCCEED earlier the next time.

So back to the risk averse. In the last ten years a certain company has become the richest in the world, and another being part of most peoples daily routine. While it most definitely about the technology making it possible it does seem that it is also the environment these companies came from. Silicone Valley has for years now been the epicentre of technology development.

IDEO - designed apples' first mouse

Apple

Microsoft

Google

Facebook

Sun systems

To name but a few. So are their ways we can bring this thinking and belief into Wales?? Would love to hear what people think.