The story of our crazy website. Part 1: What is this?
There is a large sign on the wall in my office that features a quote from General Douglas MacArthur. It says, ‘You are remembered for the rules you break.’ That quote really resonates with me. Obviously. It is printed on the wall of my office.
I have always liked it when people break rules unapologetically. I like a rebel who insists on doing things his or her own way. They always make me wonder why more people don’t ignore the rules. Then I call up Colin Kaepernick. And he reminds me why.
The Exceptional Exceptions
I love the exceptions to the rule. Like short basketball players, doctors with clear signatures and Amish electricians. They inspire me with their unwillingness to be governed my the laws of the masses.
You Don’t Have To Do Anything
When I launched my advertising and idea agency everyone said you have to have a website. But I don’t put any stock in conventional thinking. In fact, just because everyone expected me to have a website made me not want to have a website. #RebelWithoutAurl
But there was more to it than that.
It isn’t as if I never wanted a website or never expected to have one. In fact, an important factor in deciding on the name The Weaponry was that TheWeaponry.com domain name was surprisingly available. Kinda like I was surprisingly available when I met my wife, Dawn. #youarewelcomebabe
GoDaddy Go!
When I secured theweaponry.com from GoDaddy for about $12, I had what I needed to launch our agency’s ‘@theweaponry.com’ email address. And that’s all I really wanted to do with it in the first year or so. However, I knew that people would naturally look at TheWeaponry.com to find out more information about us. So instead of leaving our little corner of cyberspace naked, I decided to have a little fun.
I Wanna Mock!
I created what is essentially a mock-website for The Weaponry. I put slightly more thought into the mock site than it may appear. In fact, before I created theweaponry.com I laid out 5 basic requirements of the site. I wanted it to:
- Appear as if it was plausibly a website for The Weaponry.
- Not offer a single bit of information about The Weaponry.
- Make visitors laugh.
- Make visitors visit every page and read every word.
- Offer a sense of our brand, even without any real information about us.
First Break All The Rules
At the risk of stating the obvious, we have taken a non-traditional approach to creating our business website. In fact, I frequently read lists of things you must or must not do when designing and developing your company website. And we are cleanly on the wrong side of every single point.
What You See
If you have not yet visited theweaponry.com, it features the words The Weaponry at the top of the page. Which makes it seem legit. However, the first words of body copy on the site are ‘This is not a legit website.’ It just devolves from there.
The home page features Laverne and Shirley from the classic television sitcom Laverne and Shirley. The Our Philosophy page simply features the lyrics to the Laverne and Shirley theme song.
More Than Meets The Eye
We admittedly send site visitors on what appears to be a wild goose chase. (What fun is there in chasing a tame goose?) But there is a method to the madness. What we are actually doing is entertaining and intriguing visitors. We are revealing an important insight about our agency. And we are demonstrating that we know how to shepherd a visitor through a website, all the way to the Contact Us. And many do.
Recruitment Tool
This faux website does a great job of attracting the type of employees we want to attract. Every week, creative thinkers, rebels, innovators and people who like to laugh share how much they love the silliness that is our website. As a result we have become an attractive option for those we are trying to recruit.
Key Takeaway
There are no hard and fast rules. Do things your way. Don’t be afraid to zig when others zag. Especially if zigging leaves you in an open space, away from the crowd. Because putting more space on the perceptual map between you and your competition is exactly what marketing and innovation are supposed to do. So do things differently than your competition. Take chances. If you simply do what everyone else does you won’t be remembered. General Douglas MacArthur taught me that.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message please share it with them.
#If you haven’t checked out our silly little website yet click here. (This link may or may not take you to our website…)
Originally published at http://theperfectagencyproject.com on September 24, 2019.