All right, welcome.Have you ever seen a small B2B brand take on the industry giants and win?Well, we've seen this and today I want to share one story about a brand that did just that.
They're battling against the largest competitors in their space and they were winning.But unfortunately, it didn't last.So today I'm going to talk about what they did to cause the decline and three steps you can take to avoid this.
Four years ago, we were brought in to do a marketing assessment for a B2B SaaS client.As always, we started our assessment with a competitive analysis, and the results were fairly predictable.
The big brands were dominating the market, but there was one smaller brand that was a competitor to our client that stood out.They were founded by industry veterans that built a brand and product that resonated deeply with their niche audience.
They used their expertise to solve real problems, and it worked.They were growing fast and taking on the industry leaders.But then fast forward to today, we're brought in to do another assessment, and once again, the big brands were growing.
But that smaller brand that had been growing, that smaller brand that was winning, they were now in decline.So what changed?
Since our last assessment, the company had received private equity funding, and they likely felt significant pressure to grow.
Reading their press releases and looking at their marketing, it's apparent they chose to dramatically expand the audience they were selling to and then rebrand to appeal to that wider audience.
In the process though, they lost everything that made them differentiated and distinct.They threw that all away. And what were the results of this?
Since their pivot and brand update, their share of search has fallen by 47% and they had to lay off almost 20% of their employees.Now we all want to be that smaller company battling those big brands.We want to win against those big brands.
But how do we avoid this situation where we end up declining?Well, there's three takeaways.One, Brand refreshes can go terribly wrong.It's always tempting to pull that rebrand lever to drive growth.
I mean, you think your prospects and customers are tired of your logo or you're creative.You have a new story to tell.You want to give it a new look.But do you really need to do this?
Building a distinctive brand can take years and you can wipe out your investment in an instant by rebranding.So you really need to thoughtfully consider whether a rebrand is a nice to have or something you really must do.
Two, a B2B challenger brand is better to be loved, it's better to be loved by a few than liked by many. Buyers are risk averse.They don't want to make any decision that's going to negatively impact their career or their company.
And so all other things being equal, they're going to go with the leading brand, even if it saves, even if they'll save a little bit of money with you, you have to give them a compelling reason to switch.
Trying to appeal to too many can cause a company to lose the aspects of their brand and product that provided that compelling reason to switch. Three, finally, don't change who you are to open new markets.
Opening new markets can be a great strategy to drive growth, but not at the expense of your identity.Growth strategy should build on your brand strengths, not dilute them.
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