With competition being fierce in almost any industry today, the most successful firms understand that when the goods or services being offered are similar, the way to stand above others is to ensure quality in every possible aspect, from finished product to customer service. This, however, raises a puzzling point: How does a company advertise quality when it applies to an intangible? Those familiar with the firm are one thing, but what about those who aren’t? How do you target them?

Ranier Corp., a Massa-chusetts advertising/PR agency, became the first agency in North America to receive ISO 9002 certification and faced exactly that question. “We had always stressed the idea of total quality and worked for a year to achieve the ISO standing,” says Phil O’Brien, senior account manager. “But we also realized that many might be unfamiliar with ISO, and we wanted to get the word out to the media, as well as our clients and potential clients. The idea was to stress that companies should demand perfection on their press and marketing releases and accept nothing but. And we wanted to do it in a way that emphasized our creativity in addition to our commitment to quality.”

The solution that emerged was a standard rubber stamp of the word “rejected,” accompanied by a red ink pad. The stamp bore a sticker with Ranier’s name, phone number and Web site address. The pad carried its logo and street address. Both were tied together with a black ribbon imprinted with Ranier’s name in silver. The stamp was selected, O’Brien notes, because it was unusual as well as cost-effective.

Accompanying the items was a letter explaining what ISO 9002 was and why Ranier wanted to achieve certification. The third paragraph explained, “Every new trail has its blazers, and in this case we think you’ll see other agencies follow Ranier’s lead. You should accept nothing less than the highest quality on everything you receive. Enclosed you’ll find a ‘rejected’ stamp. We encourage you to use it any time you receive press releases and/or other media information that falls below your standards – even if it comes from us.”

Several hundred of the stamp packages were mailed, not only to the media and Ranier’s current clients, but to a number of potential clients, as well. “The response was excellent,” O’Brien says. “We received lots of calls from clients and the media, and got coverage about the mailing in a number of industry magazines. We also saw a lot of activity on our Web site, and a number of potential clients called to say they didn’t currently need our services but loved the idea of ISO 9002 for an agency and the way we chose to announce it. We don’t know for certain if it brought in any business, because that wasn’t the primary purpose of the stamp, but we were definitely happy with all the positive feedback it generated. We don’t doubt it will prove helpful in our getting some accounts in the future.”