The SaaS Brand Strategy Show

When capital markets get puckered (that's a technical finance term), CEOs and founders second instinct, after cutting headcount, is to cease advertising as most CFOs and even CEOs treat advertising as a cost rather than an investment.

While that might seem like a good idea in the short term, in the long term it will damage your position, your sales, your ability to recover, and in the end your ability to raise more money. Several studies done on the 2008 recession and the more recent COVID crisis confirm the importance and benefits of maintaining or even increasing your advertising during a market downturn.

In this episode of The SaaS Brand Strategy Show, Mike and Dustin discuss the study discoveries and the real-world applications as they pertain to SaaS start-ups. The big take-away: Downturns are a good time to build market share through a balanced mix of brand building and sales activation. 

Seem counterintuitive? Listen to the Show to get the goods.

-DRMG

What the hell happened to Clubhouse, the world's first Social Audio app? 

Instead of owning the Social Audio category, Clubhouse has surrendered category queen space and made Social Audio a product-feature on every other social media and technology app (Twitter Spaces, Facebook Audio Rooms, Spotify Green Room...). With audio still considered one of , if not the, next phase of immersive digital experiences, is it too late for Clubhouse to recover its top spot?

In this episode of The SaaS Brand Strategy Show, Dustin and Mike discuss what worked in the past, what works now, what definitely doesn't, and what are potential next steps for the company, given its brand name recognition and first mover advantages (if they still exist), and what we would do if/when they hire us. 

For more information on the SaaS Brand Strategy Show and DRMG, visit drmg.co

Four of our current/recent clients that have established market traction and are realizing message-market fit from our work with them are now plotting next steps to activate their category and their positioning into the larger market.

Driven by their need to increase awareness among a larger group of prospects (plus some pressure from the board), and after realizing the limits of demand gen, content, and SEO-driven thought leadership, PR ultimately comes up as a relatively cost-effective alternative to paid media campaigns.  This is brand-level thinking (which is why we’re talking about it).

In this episode of The SaaS Brand Strategy Show, Mike and Dustin dive into the top 6 FAQs they receive about PR, including:

And, much more, including some memory-lane tales on how we got Backcountry.com into The Wall St. Journal, Forbes, and others. 

To read the full article on the topic, go to https://www.drmg.co/blog/is-it-pr-time-yet

-DRMG

When an early stage company pursues a new category design strategy, leadership in the Sales, Product, Marketing, CS, and Development departments response can be summed up as, "Great, now what?"  Now What is the gap jump between strategy and tactics, between idea and action, and it can feel massive and intimidating.

Bridget discusses her experience in leading category design strategies, including:

Bridget's answer to "Now What?" is to take it step-by-step, prioritizing initiatives in terms of impact and priority, and not assuming there is a master plan work plan that will make sense to everyone. It's a great take on a tricky execution.

Thanks to Bridget and PFL for the insights. 

Finance people are notoriously skeptical when it comes to anything associated with the word brand. In their world view, something as esoteric as brand had better be supported with concrete KPIs to back up the investment.

As veterans of Palantir's FP&A department with a big idea for a new SaaS product, the Mosaic team were convinced that they had solid product market fit, but they were also acutely and painfully aware that they lacked a compelling way to tell and sell their story to investors and the market.

On this episode of The SaaS Brand Strategy Show, we sit down with Mosaic co-founder Joe Garafalo to discuss the company’s road to their Series B round, which they just announced.

This is an audio case study on how a start-up can go from 0 to $46 million in just over 12 months through clarity and commitment, to an idea and a strategy.

Their story is a confirmation in the power of brand strategy, even/especially for finance people. Except now they refer to themselves as Strategic Finance people.

Congrats to Joe, Bij, Brian and the entire Mosaic team. Proud and psyched to be part of the success.

- DRMG

Positioning your company through the lens of your product is limiting. It creates a narrow focus for your customer to approach your company through; one that over-indexes on product features and benefits but never raises above that level. Product positioning is crucial for product marketing, but to impact the rest of the business and build a brand, SaaS businesses need to focus on leveling up.

Brands are built on potent ideas planted in the mind of the consumer through market penetration and repetition. If you're changing your story every six months, as some product positioning experts recommend, consistency is lost and so are consumers. With a brand strategy, you gain differentiation through your strategy and not just your products, so when competition comes after you, they copy your strategy and not your product.

And it’s really hard to commoditize a strategy. We talk about the difference between brand strategy and product positioning, plus a whole lot more, on this week's episode of The SaaS Brand Strategy Show.

About DRMG:

SaaS Brand Strategy (SBS) isn’t about the colors you use, or the typeface you choose. It’s about the category you design and the story you tell.

DRMG exists to help SaaS businesses find their magic bullet, load it, and fire it into the market.

The companies we work with come out the other side with differentiation, defined categories, and the messaging to back it up. They’re organizationally aligned, inspired, and ready to tell a better story—and win.

Own the brand that drives demand. With DRMG.

Send us an email at: [email protected]

Learn more at: drmg.co

Last month's Super Bowl featured more new advertisers than any Super Bowl before. And of those new advertisers, we saw the most B2B companies we've ever seen, ponying up the cash for their first ever ad in the big game. On this week's episode of The SaaS Brand Strategy show, we take a look at a handful of the most intriguing B2B brands that prioritized a Super Bowl as part of their strategy this year.

We talk about the ads, who hit, who missed, and discuss the strategy behind the play. Without the segmentation of digital marketing and advertising, what is each brand trying to accomplish by placing brand to business ads on television in front of 100 million football viewers? Did the creative support the strategy? Did the strategy make sense from where we sit? And will the big investment pay off?

We ask all those questions and more, this week, on The SaaS Brand Strategy Show.

About DRMG:

SaaS Brand Strategy (SBS) isn’t about the colors you use, or the typeface you choose. It’s about the category you design and the story you tell.

DRMG exists to help SaaS businesses find their magic bullet, load it, and fire it into the market.

The companies we work with come out the other side with differentiation, defined categories, and the messaging to back it up. They’re organizationally aligned, inspired, and ready to tell a better story—and win.

Own the brand that drives demand. With DRMG.

Send us an email at: [email protected]

Learn more at: drmg.co

We've worked inside, outside, and all around organizations of varying sizes for a combined several decades. And in recent years, particularly in the world of software, we've witnessed firsthand a continued rise in a culture of collaboration. In software, it makes sense. Many organization start out flat, with founders coming into leadership roles by virtue of their ideas. Decision-making becomes a team exercise, and collaboration thrives.

In most cases, collaboration is helpful. Two heads are better than one, they say. But even more recently we've come to wonder—has the startup culture of collaboration gone too far? Are there ways that collaboration can actually become detrimental to a brand and a business? How do you know when there's too much collaboration going on in your business? And how do you solve for making sure you're an agile business moving decisively and quickly—but also listening and bringing your team along with you?

We talk about all things strategic collaboration and a whole lot more on this week's episode of The SaaS Brand Strategy Show.

About DRMG:

SaaS Brand Strategy (SBS) isn’t about the colors you use, or the typeface you choose. It’s about the category you design and the story you tell.

DRMG exists to help SaaS businesses find their magic bullet, load it, and fire it into the market.

The companies we work with come out the other side with differentiation, defined categories, and the messaging to back it up. They’re organizationally aligned, inspired, and ready to tell a better story—and win.

Own the brand that drives demand. With DRMG.

Send us an email at: [email protected]

Learn more at: drmg.co

Strategic thinking requires looking into the future. We're no savants or soothsayers, and we (unfortunately) don't actually have a crystal ball. But at DRMG we're always looking ahead and keeping our ears to the ground, in an effort to continually help our clients skate to where the puck is heading.

In this week's episode we predict the continued decline of the CMO role, the death of the ebook, we examine the birth of the B2B creative Cannes Liones award, discuss B2B businesses leaning on their brands more as their data changes, and a whole lot more. Tune in this week to hear what we see coming, and keep tuning in as the year goes on, to put our clairvoyance to the test...

About DRMG:

SaaS Brand Strategy (SBS) isn’t about the colors you use, or the typeface you choose. It’s about the category you design and the story you tell.

DRMG exists to help SaaS businesses find their magic bullet, load it, and fire it into the market.

The companies we work with come out the other side with differentiation, defined categories, and the messaging to back it up. They’re organizationally aligned, inspired, and ready to tell a better story—and win.

Own the brand that drives demand. With DRMG.

Send us an email at: [email protected]

Learn more at: drmg.co

A series of tweets from a young SaaS founder made its way across our desks this past week, and we couldn't help but comment. Because in that series of tweets was a declaration that product market fit comes from saving people time and money. An emphasis on efficiency as the best way to frame, position, and message yourself for succeed in your market. And to be frank—we wholeheartedly disagree.

On this week's episode of The SaaS Brand Strategy Show, we dissect a common misconception we regularly run into: the idea that leading with messaging on saving time and saving money will set your brand apart. Nearly every product claims to do it—and some, if not most, actually do! But in an undifferentiated world of products and services, time and money messaging is a game of inches that you'll always end up losing.

We discuss the misconception itself, why we believe we continue to see it so often (and why companies rely on it so heavily), and why and how to avoid this type of language, in your business's pursuit of growth. So you can sell different, and set yourself apart.

About DRMG:

SaaS Brand Strategy (SBS) isn’t about the colors you use, or the typeface you choose. It’s about the category you design and the story you tell.

DRMG exists to help SaaS businesses find their magic bullet, load it, and fire it into the market.

The companies we work with come out the other side with differentiation, defined categories, and the messaging to back it up. They’re organizationally aligned, inspired, and ready to tell a better story—and win.

Own the brand that drives demand. With DRMG.

Send us an email at: [email protected]

Learn more at: drmg.co