Challenging the norm

June 4, 2015 Written by Holly Ellis

Here at Stand Agency, we like to do things differently, and as our name suggests, we’re certainly not afraid to stand out from the crowd.

We get the best results by finding a strategy that works, even if that means defying ‘normal conventions.’ We know what we want and we aren’t afraid to challenge the norms to achieve it.

Working with clients that are challengers in their industry and who contest the norm to make a difference is one of our passions and we love getting their voices heard.

That’s why when we saw this blog by entrepreneur Ed Reeves, co-founder of Moneypenny on Real Business we wanted to share it on our Newsstand and nod our heads with agreement:

I’m a great believer in learning from history, and the one thing it’s taught me as an entrepreneur is this: rule-breaking is a necessary part of innovation. 

Take a quick glance at some of the world’s most successful businesses and you’ll see that the one trait they share is a willingness to break every rule held sacred by normal convention. 

One of the best examples of this is perhaps easyjet. At a time when flying was still very much viewed as a luxury, in waltzed Stelios Haji-Ioannou with his bright, can’t-miss-it orange branding hoping to revolutionise the face of air travel. And revolutionise it he did. 

From offering passengers the chance to book directly over the phone to making seat allocation an optional extra, the aviation mogul realised there were a large proportion of holidaymakers who didn’t want to spend their money on free coffee refills. He literally rewrote the rule book, and boy did it pay off in the form of easyJet […]

For us, and for most successful businesses out there, each of the occasions we’ve deviated from the traditional route have been a turning point for us. We’re not always right, and we’ll possibly make some costly mistakes, but we didn’t go into business to survive, we did it to succeed. Now I enjoy it when someone says no or tells me something can’t be done. Why? Because I know it means there’s an opportunity lurking there. 

So, my advice to any business is this: by breaking the rules, by laughing in the face of “no”, you’ll create opportunity, and that leads to success. 

The above extracts are taken from a blog on realbusiness.co.uk written by Ed Reeves, co-founder and director of Moneypenny – a telephone answering service and outsourced switchboard provider: http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/30251-entrepreneur-ed-reeves-red-bull-airbnb-and-easyjet-show-why-rules-were-made-to-be-broken

If you want your brand’s name to stand out from the crowd or challenge your industry’s norms through PR, social media or public affairs, get in touch with ask@standagency.com to have a chat about what we can do for you.

Holly is currently enjoying learning the ropes as part of Stand Agency’s paid internship scheme. Find out more about opportunities at Stand here: https://www.standagency.com/stand-agencys-talent-programme/