Back in 1995, Steve Jobs was being interviewed and the interviewer asked him what he thought about Microsoft.

If you know anything about technology history you’ll know that Steve and Bill Gates were not the biggest fans of themselves but Steve still gave Microsoft props for how opportunistic and resilient they were.

However, his problem with them was that they made products with no soul (my words, not his).

In his own words:

“The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste.

They have absolutely no taste, and … I don’t mean that in a small way.

I mean in a big way, in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas, and they don’t bring much culture into their product.”

And then he went on to say:

“And so I guess I am saddened, not by Microsoft’s success – I have no problem with their success, they’ve earned their success for the most part.

I have a problem with the fact that they just make really third-rate products.

Their products have no spirit to them, their products have no sort of spirit of enlightenment about them, they are very pedestrian.”

And the lack of spirit (as Steve puts it), is even more true in small businesses than it is in large, multi-billion dollar companies like Microsoft.

Everyday, there are new businesses rising up, but for the most part, they are all the same. No differentiation, no innovation, nothing unique. Just a copy of a rehash of what everyone else is doing. Very little soul in them.

This is even getting worse with the proliferation of AI slop (which is trained on mass mediocrity btw) with which most businesses are using to run their operations.

Nobody has soul anymore.

So I want to ask you:

“Do you have soul?”

Is there a striking difference about your business? A unique flair that you bring into the market place? An approach that feels new, refreshing and exciting in the sea of sameness in your industry?

Financial profit asides, why else are you in business?

Functional benefit aside, what impact does your business have on people’s lives?

This is your company’s soul.

Btw, nobody figures this out on day one. It’s an ever evolving journey. Something you’ll be unveiling throughout your business career. But it’s first of all a mindset you must have.

A mindset that you would NOT build a commodity brand.

If you have this mindset, then you’re the type of person we want to work with at IKON Media.

Nothing is more boring, creativity-killing and joy-sucking than a client who wants to create “same old” designs, overbloated marketing promises or hypey-sales pitch with no depth.

The fresh, different and new is not only more challenging (which we love), but also more exciting, more motivating but also, more profit-making for you.

If you have a brand that is distinct, edge and fresh, and you are looking to develop a new web interface, then let’s have a chat.

For more articles like this on marketing, sales and copywriting, check out my website: https://ikonmedia.net/

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Fola