English: 1948 telegram, Alexandria, Egypt.

Sometimes sticking out from the crowd doesn’t mean competing with other people or companies for the newest way of doing something. Sometimes the most unique ideas are the simplest ones. Sometimes the things that will make you stand out from the crowd have been around for years.

Take Zack Filler, a Canadian copywriter who decided to go back to basics after 20 unsuccessful job interviews. Filler sent prospective employers a telegram explaining a bit about himself. He was reported as saying: “I think it’s such an interesting medium to use,” says Filler. “It would show, not to sound really pretentious, my marketing savvy.” Filler’s move to make something old feel new again is genius. In an age where people have more tasks to do than hours in the day, there’s something to be said for making life as simple as easy as possible for them.

So what is the purpose of a telegram over e-mail or a phone call? Telegrams are messages which are registered with a company (like iTelegram) and then hand delivered as a print message. It’s not so much the literal presentation of a telegram which will necessarily wow Filler’s potential employees, but the very idea of sending his application for work in a way which made him stand out from the crowd – Filler even managed to get media coverage of his telegram stunt. Filler is also likely to gain unexpected brownie points for highlighting the effectiveness of a demoted communication method. According to iTelegram, telegrams can be sent anywhere in the world from busy cities to remote villages, so in communication terms they are more accessible than the telephone or email. What’s more, they are hand delivered, immediately adding a human touch. There’s definitely a lesson to be learned in making something old new again.