Page 11 - Cyber Warnings

The Challenges and Opportunities of Building a Unique and

Memorable Cybersecurity Brand

By Evan Goldberg, director, AR|PR

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As the dust settles from the 25 Annual RSA Conference, attendees with roots tracing back to
cybersecurity’s early days were again reminded of the event’s evolution from its origins as a
simple “forum for cryptographers to gather and share the latest knowledge and advancements
in the area of Internet security,” into a global tradeshow akin to the biggest of any industry. This
year, more than 500 companies exhibited their products and services in addition to the
numerous panel discussions, dozens of training sessions and high profile keynote speakers that
participated throughout the week.

Despite RSA’s popularity, many of the industry’s most seasoned veterans have begun to voice
concerns over the lack of both perceived and actual competitive differentiation among the roster
of cybersecurity vendors that the show attracts each year. As KPCB’s Ted Schlein told
Venturebeat in December 2015, “With the growth in the number of companies in this field
(cybersecurity), a lot of them start to sound the same.” More than $7.6 billion has been invested
in hundreds of cybersecurity companies since 2013.

From endpoint security, anomaly detection and email security to identity management,
situational awareness and anti-virus; to application security, cloud security, data security and
virtualization, there is no shortage in distinction of cybersecurity products and services. Yet, ,
many industry leaders, such as Mahendra Ramsinghani, the founder of Secure Octane, a
cybersecurity seed fund, argue that product differentiation isn’t projecting into unique brand
identity. As Ramsinghani told Techcrunch, “the security bazaar is noisier and messier than ever.
Every company sounds exactly like the eight others, and lines get blurred. Those that thrive will
do so on differentiation.”

With opportunity abound (Gartner projects the cybersecurity industry to surpass $170 billion
worldwide by 2020), why do so many cybersecurity companies either struggle to build or
devalue the importance of creating strong and memorable brand identities?

Unique Challenges of Building a Cybersecurity Brand

While cybersecurity companies would be well suited to pursue some of the brand building
strategies that help companies in other industries thrive, there are some unique challenges that
complicate efforts. These include:

1. Distrust of Marketers – Cybersecurity entrepreneurs don’t always see eye-to-eye with
marketing, especially in early stages in which engineers and developers are highly
engaged in brand development.

11 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – March 2016 Edition
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