I’m in the middle of reading Mavericks at Work and I ran across a quote that really hit home with me. The quote is from Dennis DeFlorio, the president of retail operations for Commerce Bankcorp. Dennis says:

Banking is a dead business. It’s a utility, like a gas company. We’re creating an emotional attachment with our customers. The world didn’t need another bank on the corner – and then we came along. We created a phenomenon, a buzz, around convenience, service, and the culture of our people. We’re wacky. The majority of people in leadership roles in this bank are on the lunatic fringe. We have to be. We’ve created a cult brand in a dead business.

If you think about it, a lot of online businesses are “dead” in the commoditised sense of the word. There are a million mortgage sites, a million shoe sites, and a million places to buy that sweet digital camera. Just like Commerce Bancorp did with banking, if you are starting up an online business in an established marketplace, it is more important than ever to be a purple cow.