This morning I ran across a display ad in Sunset Magazine; it was a tourism piece for the City of Portland, Oregon. Regardless of the ad’s merit, it does make a point that resonates well today: that most cities across the country lack much individual personality. Everything looks so mind-numbingly bland. The same strip malls, fast food restaurants and franchised national retail outfits. Our own Rancho Cucamonga is no exception. What was once a fascinating and quirky agricultural center has embraced that same blandness that now extends a full 50 miles to downtown LA.

I’m guilty of falling into that trap too. A few years ago I gave up our family business’ name for a moniker that sounds more like a national chain. In retrospect, that may have been a mistake.

Thinking back a few years and remembering some my earliest Alpert’s Printing customers, there are a few that still stand out in my mind, some 29 years later. They had personality. They didn’t need a six paragraph mission statement. Clarity and character is so lacking in today’s world of sameness. I’d be willing to bet a month’s phone bill that the descriptive name General Telephone is still easier to remember than the cryptic Verizon.

I doubt the corporate spin masters will be dropping their LGs, Altrias and Cingulars any time soon, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us need to buy into the blanding of America. If you want to get your marketing noticed today, perhaps try something that comes naturally: be yourself!