Behind the mystique of software branding

Why is it that almost any mid-market software company you talk to these days spends more time discussing their brand strategy than the functionality and technical nuts and bolts of their products? John Stokdyk looks at the example offered by UNIT4.

At the UNIT4 user event at the Celtic Manor Hotel in south Wales this week, market analyst Jyoti Banerjee offered a neat summary of the situation. The consolidation of the middle tier of the UK business software market into a small group of conglomerates - Sage, IRIS, ACS/COA Solutions, Infor, Access and Microsoft - was a natural progression, he explained. The customers served by these organisations have all bought their accounting software and in some cases are looking at second and third installations. “The trick for mature software buyers is to identify which developers provide the best match for their needs,” said Banerjee.

And whatever users tell you, brand plays an important part in this differentiation. “Software is like selling cars. They all have engines, tyres and steering wheels. So the manufacturers conspire to make them feel different,” Banerjee explained.

Until recently, business software companies didn’t need to worry about this kind of differentiation, but as the commercial dynamics of the software business changed, the focus has shifted from the underlying technology to the marketing proposition. “That’s what mature markets have to learn to do,” he said.

The UNIT4 event gave Agresso and CODA customers a chance to find out about what the new company brand meant to them as software users. Not a lot, it appeared. Almost as one, UNIT4 users shrugged their shoulders, agreed it was a logical move and looked to move the conversation on to more interesting topics.

Having overseen the UNIT4 rebrand, group marketing director David Turner was primed to expand on the subject. He was quietly pleased that the customer reaction was relatively muted - at least they weren’t screaming blue murder - but admitted that the internal debates about the change had been somewhat more heated.

“With any branding project, it evokes emotion,” he said and there were some executives who felt the change wasn’t necessary. The clinching argument in favour of the change was the confusion caused when people from the same company turned up and laid different business cards on the customer’s desk. “It’s only a small thing, but it’s symbolic of something bigger,” said Turner.

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