There's a great article in this week's Gazette by Chris Hinze of Hinze Communications (great name huh!!) on "How to stand out from the crowd".
He talks very lucidly about how being "different" is better than being "better" which is a view we share. Also he makes the point about changing the firm to be "distinctive" is a top down approach and something that must come from within the firm, not something you let a marketing agency do "to" you.
Standing out from the crowd - great article