Page 12 - Cyber Warnings

2. Difficult to Tell Customer Stories – Most companies do not reveal details of attempted
or successful cyber attacks. As such, it’s infinitely more complex to validate products and
services, as marketers don’t have success stories to tell.

3. Subject Matter is Inherently Fearful – Branding to FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt)
has become the default strategy for most cybersecurity companies, limiting opportunities
for competitive differentiation.

4. Education Gap Between Companies and Customers - Very few companies have
more than a person or two that speaks the language of cybersecurity, challenging how
marketers can showcase value and potential ROI.

5. Competition Requires Expedience to Market – $3.8 billion dollars was invested in
cybersecurity companies in 2015, according to CB Insights. With funding breads
competition and with competition requires an accelerated time to market. In doing so, the
best practices of brand building are often ignored or pushed to the side.

6. Perception of Highly Confidential Intellectual Property – Cybersecurity pros are
known for being paranoid about IP theft or product replication until patents are secured.
As such, constraints, sometimes significant, are placed on marketers to ensure
confidentiality.

10 Tips for Building a Cybersecurity Brand

Although challenges to building cyber brands exist, there are some companies, like AlienVault,
Digital Guardian, and Cylance, which have built memorable brands. For startups and growth
stage cyber companies in need of establishing or refining their brand, here are 10 tips to
consider.

1. Don’t Devalue Messaging– Messaging is one of the most important tactics of brand
building. Companies must effectively, consistently and concisely talk to value
proposition, key differentiators, and reasons to believe using language that resonates
among the different personas of the target audiences.

2. Website Should Engage First, Educate Second – Avoid too much industry jargon,
overtly technical language or FUD on the homepage, as you have less than 10 seconds
to connect with website visitors before they leave your site for good.

3. Visual Identity Matters – 65% of people are visual learners, meaning your brand’s
visual identify must convey the virtues of the value proposition. Recognize that some
revenue may be tied to visual engagement.

4. Fear the Overuse of “Fear” – Don’t let your brand become synonymous with FUD.
Differentiate by striking balance in the tone and style of your messaging and visual
identity. Endpoint Security Company Barkly does a good job of keeping things positive.

12 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – March 2016 Edition
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