The web is maturing, SaaS business models aren’t new anymore. As a marketer, it’s harder to create differentiation than it was 5 years ago. So how do you create differentiation in a maturing industry?

Why not look to an industry that’s extremely mature – airlines. Not just any airline, Kulula Airlines, a quirky upstart from South Africa.

Compare Kulula’s “flight attendant speak” to that of a legacy carrier like United, American, or Delta. Which airline would you rather fly?

“To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don’t know how to operate one, you probably shouldn’t be out in public unsupervised.”

“There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to smoke, the smoking section on this airplane is on the wing.. If you can light ‘em, you can smoke ‘em.”

“In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child travelling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are travelling with more than one small child, pick your favorite.”

“Your seat cushion can be used for flotation; and in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments.”

“Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted.”

So next time you’re struggling to create differentiation, try a little humor. Most webapps and SaaS companies still have boring auto-reply emails, dry website copy, and stale marketing videos.

If the airline industry – which relies on safety and security to the Nth degree – can inject humor into their daily operations with success, it’s a no-brainer for the more relaxed web industry.

The real question is why so few internet companies embrace humor’s marketing power? Any great examples we can learn from?

VaultPress did a great job with their contact-us process. After submitting the form, there’s big huge text letting you know your message went through. Along with photos of their “safekeeping team” reassuring the visitor real humans exist behind the screen.

The next time you redesign your contact us page, consider making it a bit more personal. It’s an important, often overlooked part of the customer experience.

The Company

Founded by Will Critchlow and Duncan Morris in 2005, Distilled helps companies grow their businesses online through search marketing. They’re a team of enthusiastic internet marketers based in London, UK with offices in Seattle and New York. They believe in sharing knowledge through their blog, conferences, and interactive training. And they were kind enough to share a peek behind the scenes of their London office with us!

The Philosophy

Distilled is a (personable) geek at heart and has set itself the goal of being the best place for the best people to work. With that mind, when they’re not busy marketing their clients, you’ll find Team Creative and the SEOs enjoying a spot of lunchtime kick-about at the top of the office or competing fiercely in a customary Mario Kart session in the bean bag room. But it’s not all gaiety and mirth over at Distilled, they also have a keen grasp of the important when it comes to budget and company spends. Sure, Will and Duncan’s meeting room doesn’t yet contain a phone or table but there is a fully stocked “drinks” cabinet in charming globe form. Where else would they keep the whisky?

The Space

The Features

• The red room- the boardroom
• The green room- the A/V suite
• The blue room- the beanbag/Mario Kart room
• The orange room- Will and Duncan’s meeting room
• Communal music system- no Justin Bieber though please, although the 90s playlist is a favorite with the Events girls on a Friday
• Group dining area/Beer o’clock platform

What We Love

• Inspiring typography decking the walls
• Awesome view
• We call Luigi in the next round of Mario Kart!
• Large open space for collaboration

Always interesting to check out an office abroad! What part of their office do you like the best?

(Interested in having your company featured? Reach us at realperson@printfection.com.)

The Company

Founded in 2010 by Rajat Bhargava, Matthew Bellows, and Cashman Andrus, Yesware is an email tool for salespeople. With the tool you can easily track emails, create templates, CRM sync, and more. Yesware’s reports and analytics give salespeople unprecedented feedback about how their messages are being received. And as a result it helps sellers close more deals faster. They’re currently based out of south Boston with 13 full-time employees and are growing every month.

The Philosophy

Because Yesware puts a priority on productivity, their office is unique in that their environment is probably best described as being like a reading room at a University around exam time. The majority of the space is a huge open room, where a bunch of people are in close contact with desks next to one-another, but very focused on their work. In general they try hard to minimize interruptions and distractions. Meetings are kept to a bare minimum and usually only consist of two or three people interested in coordinating efforts and synchronizing development projects. Yesware is also working on the idea of improving the “modern work space.” Regardless of how nice an office space is, if employees are busy staring at computer monitors and using 20th century applications while actually doing work, most end up not appreciating the physical environment that much. So one of Yesware’s goals is to improve the experience employees are having on their computers by taking into consideration where their awareness is while they’re working, providing flexibility to the users’ activities. For example one way they’ve contributed to making said environment better is that their Yesware product is contextual- it has everything to do with what the user is doing, not with where the application is installed.

The Space

The Features

• In its previous lives their office was a sweat shop and an ad agency
• Located in a large peninsula-like building that sticks out into the street
• Gigantic windows on 3 sides of the building allowing for a lot of light
• Entrance hallway separated from the main open area by plywood permeable screen
• Large open space with desks
• Meeting rooms along one side of the building

What We Love

• Beautiful Yesware logo carved into the clever plywood wall
• A strong focus on productivity
• Their push for improving the modern work space

What a unique space based in a startup-strong city! What part of their office do you like the best?

(Interested in having your company featured? Drop us a line at realperson@printfection.com.)

The Company

Marketo uniquely provides easy-to-use, powerful and complete marketing software that propels fast-growing small companies and global enterprises alike.  Our vision is rooted in the idea that both the day-to-day jobs and the strategic role of marketing and sales professionals have been disrupted by repeated waves of change over the last decade or so: the Internet and World Wide Web; Google and search marketing; e-commerce; and more recently by social media and ubiquitous mobile computing. As a result, our mission is to build a great company – one that aids, but also changes the market with our technology innovation and thought leadership; one that delivers real value to our customers; one that delights our users on a daily basis with the experience of working with our software; one that creates substantial returns for our investors and employees; and one that is a special place to work.

The Philosophy

Marketo believes in an open office environment because it encourages employee collaboration and communication across teams and departments. Additionally, because there are no barriers, Marketo’s work space inspires relationship building and great team dynamics. The team is able to collaborate naturally and on a regular basis, and is also more likely to be creative and innovate freely.

The Space

The Features

• 4 separate floors totaling 50,000+ square feet
• High energy office with an open floor plan with lots of writable wall space and 35+ conference and sales demo rooms
• Large community kitchen stocked with beverages and an espresso machine, an adjacent lounge area for relaxation, game room with ping pong and foosball tournaments, fresh fruits and cereals delivered weekly
• End of month theme days showcasing employees’ creativity
• No shortage of food
• Employee shuttle service
• Centrally located with several amenities nearby, easy freeway access and access to public transportation
• Large monitors throughout all the floors in the office that rotate between sales standings and corporate announcements and news

 What We Love

• Staying true to their colors they have purple and orange throughout
• Ping pong sounds like a great way to unwind
• Writing on the walls- super handy and fun
• Based out of beautiful sunny San Mateo, California

We enjoyed taking a peek at this awesome and gigantic office! Do you have a favorite part of their space?

(Would you like your company to be featured? Drop us a line at realperson@printfection.com.)

The Company

FullContact is solving the world’s contact information problem. Their cloud-based contact management system helps individuals and businesses manage their contacts without the hassle of duplicate contacts, partial records, and incomplete records. They also provide contact management APIs, which are used by thousands of developers around the world to enrich contact data in CRM, marketing automation, and other apps.

The Philosophy

FullContact is passionate about building the startup community in downtown Denver - so naturally, they opted to place their office in the heart of Denver’s LoDo district. The 4100sf office is walking distance from Coors Field, hundreds of restaurants, and an always busy downtown. They’re also in close proximity to several other local startups – which made it convenient to host several events in their offices as part of the recent Denver Startup Week.

FullContact’s office is on the “Garden Level” – which is commercial real estate code for “basement.” They find the location fitting, since prior to this office they worked out of the founders’ basement and the TechStars bunker (conveniently located in the basement of a building in downtown Boulder). The office features an open floor plan that improves communication and encourages collaboration, two smaller conference rooms, and a giant meeting room called the Danger Zone.

Most importantly, they’re a startup – so the office is cheap (who needs a high-rise penthouse with air hockey tables and catered lunch? They’d rather spend their resources on hiring an amazing team and shipping world-changing products).

The Space

The Features

• Open floor plan (collaboration is key)
• Completely cube-less seating (no prairie-dogging necessary)
• Fully-stocked kitchen (coding is hungry work)
• One small conference room, one lounge room (they opted against a nap room, but maybe in the future)
• The Danger Zone – A massive meeting room big enough to play football (but usually just used for meetings and events).
• A framed picture of their CEO checking his iPhone next to the pyramids in Egypt (a reminder of the importance of getting off the grid)
• An abundance of FullContact t-shirts
• The Wynkoop Brewery a stone’s throw away (right across the street)
• Smack in the middle of downtown Denver (close to public transportation)

What We Love

• The open office space has an awesome flow
• Their emphasis on what matters most- great products and people
• Heck yeah Denver!
• The bike parking station for healthy commuters
• Seriously sweet t-shirts (but we might be a little biased)

What a lovely work space! Do you have a favorite part of their office?

(Would you like your company to be featured? Drop us a line at realperson@printfection.com.)

Well now that the leaves are falling in hoards, surely you know it’s that time of year again. The time you test your patience with an Exacto knife and pumpkin. I’ve gathered the most inspiring technology and startup related pumpkins (did you even know there was such a thing!? pumpkin marketing rocks!) for you to use as a roadmap when envisioning the masterpiece that will grace your (and your office’s) front stoop this Halloween.

1. The Steve Jobs Pumpkin via Rock Health

2. The Quora “Up-Vote” Pumpkin via Fahd Butt

3. The Twitter Fail Whale Pumpkin via Luke Bornheimer

4. Tell Apart’s Pumpkin via Tell Apart

5. The Foursquare Pumpkin via Jennifer Hodge

6. The Zaarly Pumpkin via Zaarly

7. The Pinterest Pumpkin via Justin Edmund

8. The Facebook Pumpkin via IT Business

9. The Android Pumpkin via IT Business

10. Artfinder’s Pumpkin via Mrlerone

11. And the scariest pumpkin of all, for startup web designers- the Comic Sans Pumpkin via Jesse Harding

Will your startup be pumpkin carving this year?

So we all know that analyzing data can help grow your business; the caveat is that it only works if you know what you need to measure. I think it’s important to set your goals first and tie trackable metrics to each step, rather than gathering all the data you possibly can and then trying to decide what to do with it. It sounds so simple but so many people rush to track everything and then get overwhelmed with the data, unable to make any decisions based upon what they’ve found.

Our goal is to increase sales to startups, specifically by increasing the number of purchase campaigns and giveaway campaigns completed each week. So we’ve been tracking data that will help us monitor those specific actions. However I’m finding that data in the B2B marketing environment can be particularly tricky to gather and interpret. For example:

1. Purchasing decisions are usually made by a bunch of people together. So finding a correlation between an individual’s unique marketing exposure and the purchase decision of the group is hard.
2. Sales cycles tend to be longer. Which means that months could go between the time someone sees a marketing message then makes a purchase, which makes it difficult to figure out the cause and effect over time.
3. Because of generally longer sales cycles, decision makers tend to get exposed to a number of different marketing messages before making a purchase- so it’s a challenge to tell which specific message promoted them to buy.
4. And the sales force tends to play a big role in closing (or not closing) the deals which makes it challenging to observe the direct impact of marketing on the B2B revenue.

If you’re targeting a B2B market as well, how have you overcome these problems in the past? I’d love to know!

We recently gave Twitter ads (their new DIY platform) a whirl for the first time and so far I’m not thrilled with the lack of transparency or the results.  We’ve tried both Promoted Account advertising (where they suggest folks follow your account under “Who to follow”) and Promoted Tweets advertising (where they display a Tweet of your choosing in other people’s feeds).

Promoted Accounts

I was pretty excited about Promoted Accounts because in our B2B sales cycle things typically take 3-6 months before the possibility of a sale exists. So interacting with someone regularly on Twitter, by being included in their Tweet stream (after they followed our Promoted Account) would seem to be a good way to stay top of mind. But to be honest, we have yet to woo any new followers from Promoted Accounts. Currently Twitter is suggesting a $1.88 minimum bid and I’m not sure a Twitter follower is worth that to us. For the fairly short amount of time that we’ve been tracking, we’ve only had 2 very qualified leads register on our site as a result of hundreds of tweets. And just because someone follows you doesn’t mean they’ll even see all of your tweets, because their stream could be going by too fast or they might not even be on Twitter at the time you send it out.

That minimum bid also seems high particularly because I can’t see the type of companies or people that our account is being promoted to. Are they showing it to our followers’ followers or to tech companies or what? I’d love to be able to narrow my targets according to interests, or keywords in profiles, or types of company’s they work for or follow- anything really would help. Of course because I’ve set my bid so low, our account has been promoted to only a couple of people, none of whom have decided to follow us, so we haven’t been charged anything either- meaning at least we’re getting a bit of branding exposure for free. Though maybe not even to the correct target market.

Promoted Tweets

The Company

Zendesk is the leading provider of proven, cloud-based customer service software. More than 20,000 companies such as Gilt Groupe, Box, and Disney are using Zendesk to lower their support costs, raise productivity, and increase customer satisfaction. Loved by both service teams and their customers for its beautifully simple interface, Zendesk is easy to try, buy, implement, and use.

The Philosophy

Zendesk moved into their 40,000+ square foot office at Sixth and Market in San Francisco in August 2011 as part of Mayor Ed Lee’s headline-making Mid-Market revitalization plan. The spacious, bright, open space encourages teamwork, social interaction and impromptu dance-offs. Boasting two fully stocked kitchens, a game room, theater space, free in-office yoga, and weekly themed happy hours, the always-present Zen theme encourages a relaxed and friendly atmosphere for employees and visitors alike.

The Space

The Features

• Completely open floor plan with standing desks, numerous lounge areas, and views of the heart of San Francisco
• Large fully stocked kitchens including espresso machines, fresh fruit delivered twice a week, and plenty of adult beverages
• Over 20 conference rooms named after objects their beloved mascot, Buddhy, might carry around, such as Satchel, Tea and Lantern
• Theater space for over 100 people featuring a stage, spotlights and a giant flat-screen for holding community forums or watching employees present at weekly lunch-and-learns
• Creative area for the creative team: think whiteboard and cork walls, idea-inspiring music and a huge felt curtain
• Customer service-themed library featuring authors from their Zen Masters webinar series
• Centrally located with quick, easy access to public transportation

What We Love

• Relaxed atmosphere with Zen pervading
• A healthy lifestyle is encouraged with their frequent yoga and fruit
• Impromptu dance-offs?! No need to say more, we’re huge Zoolander fans
• FIRE WITCH, the awesome marketing team fish, featured on the standup desk above
• The library for continued education
• Amazing location in San Francisco

What a gorgeous office in an exciting city! Do you have a favorite part of their space?

(Would you like your company to be featured? Drop us a line at realperson@printfection.com.)