Stay Busy
As a brand consultant I routinely advise clients not to ask their new company name to work too hard, carry too much water. The first rule of naming is, “First, Do No Harm—nil nocere.” Then I read the original Hippocratic oath, that’s not even in the original oath; not only that, there’s something in there about “sharing without reward or agreement.“
The Zodiac Group.
So I trust my instincts, the name inspires me, and it precisely defines my idea. First, it has nothing to do with astrology. For what it is worth I am a Pisces, and a very giving person, just not as giving as the Hippocratic oath suggests I should be. “ Zodiac”, in this case, is a reference to a kind of watercraft. I do not produce or market watercraft, so I suspect I am safe relative to issues of intellectual property, but I am borrowing on some of the features and benefits of the Zodiac brand.
Efficient.
These are smaller, rugged inflatable boats that are relatively light and can be very fast, they can carry several extremely skilled professionals, just as many as is necessary, and they are designed for work. These are not picnic boats, there’s no place to sit comfortably and no cup holders. They are not designed to pull water skiers, but if that was the job they could do that. One doesn’t booze cruise on a Zodiac boat, it’s not even all that stable at slow speeds. Zodiac boats are built for practicality, functionality and speed, these are working boats. They get you and your team where you want to go without waste of time or materials.
Professional grade.
These boats are not easy to manage, in the absence of a knowledgeable driver; the Zodiac boat can be nothing more than an ungainly canoe, amateurs can get stranded or worse. But piloted by a skilled driver, outfitted with the right engines, anything is possible. People have said, “fast, good, cheap; pick two” for generations. That’s the general professional service proposition. The net message here is that all three are impossible to provide together. That’s just lazy. Of course you can have all three, you just need to hire a professional, one that knows how to drive.
The Group.
Having addressed the boat metaphor, a few words on the other word in the name—Group. Herd and Folks sound unsophisticated. “Crew” is too nautical; “Company” is a word that connotes everything wrong for us and “Associates” sounds like a group of strangers. We are a group of professionals, connected by our mutual respect for each other and each other’s work product. We are from categories such as Higher Education, Association, Hospitality, Agencies and Research Firms. We are researchers, brand strategists, marketers, writers, web designers and public relations and affairs professionals. We are what you need, when you need it.
The Driver.
I have been a hospitality marketing executive, a principal in an ad agency, a chief marketing officer for a billion-dollar public health foundation and a chief marketing officer for an elite research university; I’ve been a client and consultant brand strategist and an outsourced marketing expert for a diverse portfolio of organizations. If you are considering The Zodiac Group it is generally because you were referred to us, and we are proud of that. We don’t spend a lot of money on self-promotion, but if you have arrived at this site and are considering us, we always like to make new friends, and we can get you in touch with some nice people that you can talk to about us.
If you have a value proposition challenge, an unaligned leadership group, an incoherent message platform, an unproductive web destination, a membership or fundraising issue, we can probably help. There is one quick and efficient way to find out.
410-926-2015
Call. Talk to me. In 20 minutes I will know if we are right for you.
Chris Cullen
Founder
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