What’s Changed At Fly [2020]
TL;DR A lot has changed at Fly, over almost 10 years. And more significantly so in the last 12 months. A brand, one that we’re still building, is so much more than just a name. However, to best reflect what we’ve achieved, the value we deliver and ultimately, where we excel, we’ve changing ours. […]
TL;DR
A lot has changed at Fly, over almost 10 years. And more significantly so in the last 12 months.
A brand, one that we’re still building, is so much more than just a name.
However, to best reflect what we’ve achieved, the value we deliver and ultimately, where we excel, we’ve changing ours.
We’ve dropped the ‘Development’ and are keeping just ‘Fly’; ‘MarTech Made Easy’.
Why?
Our clients tell us we’re more than just another ‘Web Dev’ agency with marketing technology expertise and we humbly accept those compliments.
In their own words, we “offer strategic, business thinking” backed with MBA-level marketing expertise. Our “ability to make tech accessible” and “translate needs to action” allows us to offer “super-charged modernity” that helps our clients “break through the glass ceiling” and “access the next level”.
In 2020 our existing clients will enjoy a series of initiatives designed to deliver even more value through our consulting and professional services. And we look forward to welcoming our new clients aboard for their journey.
Where We Started
Almost a decade ago, Fly began its journey (in my little bedroom) in South-West London.
At the time, Nokia was still the king of smartphones, you booked a taxi by dialling the number pinned to your fridge and, that same fridge had no chance of being connected to the internet. And let’s remain thankful for that last one. Nobody needs to quantify their ice cream habit nor have a replacement tub turn up automatically the next day.
And yes, this isn’t as long ago as facsimile or B.G. (before-Google), but long enough for plenty to change.
And our ‘space’ – in marketing and technology for SMEs and NFPs – is in many ways unrecognisable from that of 10 years ago. Those charged with running their organisation’s marketing function have had to adjust, and quickly.
The Backdrop
As modern marketers and business or NFP leaders, we know our clients now operate in a world where strategy and technology are inextricably linked.
It’s a world where striving for and retaining a competitive advantage, or satisfying stakeholder demands, relies on a solid understanding of an increasingly complex social, technological and legislative backdrop.
If you’ve ever seen the quite brilliant marketing technology ‘supergraphic’ from Scott Brinker you’ll have had a visual conception of how this complexity and growth has manifested itself.
In 2011 we had around 150 major ‘Martech’ solutions on the market. In 2019 we have 7000. Furthermore, this doesn’t capture even a fraction of the ‘mini-MarTech’ tools that, for example, drive efficiency and effectiveness on WordPress websites.
The very fact the word ‘marketing stack’ has entered the lexicon, also speaks to the challenge faced.
How do you select, implement and integrate the right tools, manage change and, drive ROI when one weak link alone can entirely disrupt your day to day marketing operations.
At best it causes frustration for your team, colleagues and clients. At worst it can completely derail strategy execution.
The answers are not easy and, without the right support, not forthcoming.
Back To Fly; What’s in a name?
This backdrop tells part of the story as to how and why Fly has evolved over the years.
Fly started life as ‘Fly Marketing’, because, well, we did a lot of marketing stuff. And for nearly a decade the team have demonstrated our in-depth understanding of this dynamic landscape.
During that time, we built recognisable capabilities and significant expertise in the very same business-critical technologies which have exploded onto the agenda of every marketer.
We’ve had great success with high-performance websites, end-to-end marketing automation tools and digital analytics, so much so they became our core competencies and today, our sole focus.
As a result, in 2018/19, we changed our name from Fly Marketing to Fly Development.
And of course, Fly Development wasn’t a wildly dramatic departure. It was a ‘straight-to-the-point’ name change that encapsulated much of what had evolved.
What we came to discover, however, through many more conversations with clients and stakeholders, was that the value they felt we delivered went well beyond just being another ‘web dev’ agency with MarTech expertise.
Technology empowers but it doesn’t necessarily enable. To really excel our clients needed, and have benefited, not only our technical skills but also our strategic guidance. That in order not just to integrate and manage marketing technology investments but to “grasp the big picture and the small details in equal measure” so that those investments become valuable assets.
So, to better reflect what we do (ref. our own client’ words above) we’re dropping the ‘Development’ and sticking with just ‘Fly’; ‘MarTech Made Easy’.
So, whether you’re charged with executing integrated marketing strategies for your organisation or your clients, or your wider strategic stance needs informing, we hope you’ll consider having Fly support your mission.
Onward and upward.
Tim De La Salle
Founder & Lead Consultant