The League of Shadows

It’s been quite some time since I've posted anything here. It’s because I had trouble getting in the right mood to write. I am now working for a small company that is into marketing and branding. My job presently is to write content for things ranging from flyers and newsletters to websites and brochures.  The company however has some peculiarities and an air of mystery that can only be captured aptly by one nickname.

The League of Shadows.

The company  seems to be a loosely knit group of freelancers held together by its resourceful owner. It is actually a full-time company but the approach of its owner to work has given the company a unique character. For the sake of this blog, let’s call him Emperor Akihito. A cheerful, cherubic gentleman playing with some unconventional ideas.

The company works in B2B marketing and branding.  It has a rich and diverse clientele ranging from steel rebar makers, industrial dryer manufacturers to business intelligence consultancy firms. The Emperor’s approach to work plays a key role in how we go about interacting with the clients.  No matter whether it is a flyer, a brochure or a website, the Emperor insists that everyone in the team gains some knowledge of the company and the industry that we are working for. Hence, when the client calls Akihito, the whole team comprising Emperor Akihito, the graphic designer, marketing guy, and content writer (yours truly) pops up at the office of the client.  We then ask three key questions to the client firms:

1.       Why do you do what you do? –Why choose this particular business or product over others?
2.       How do you do it? –give us an idea of their production process.
3.       What do you do different from your competitors?

These three questions give us a brief idea of the company’s culture and we then design a website that reflects the nature of the company it represents. This is a great exercise because that way everyone in the team gets to speak to the client. The client knows who is doing what so he can directly call the graphic artist if he thinks design sucks rather than blaming the Emperor.

Anyway, once the meeting is over, everyone including the Emperor either disperses to work from the comfort of his or her own home or we just go sit in some cool café to discuss among ourselves the work ahead and then go home to work! We just suddenly appear wherever the opportunity is, and then disappear the next moment. That is why I call the little firm, The League of Shadows.

The League is an experiment in pull marketing. It relies on word-of-mouth marketing to gain clients. The website is minimalist, to-the-point affair. It is designed to incite curiosity and not to push for a sale. The site explains our “why”  “how” and “what” and the “why” again but does not tell you “who” we are.  Call that number on the site and will all meet face to face.

That said; I have come to like Emperor Akihito’s casual, almost do-what-you-want approach to work.  When I start my own company, (I know the “why” but I am still seeking the answer to “what” and “how”) I am certainly going to implement it. Right now, I have only one question:

How did Emperor Akihito get where he is now?

You guys must be wondering who this Akihito is.

He’s an old friend of mine. I will tell you who he is. The research for a new character, my dear readers, is on. :) 

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