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November 24, 2025 - 6 Min Read Relevance beats competence

When technical excellence is no longer enough

There is a moment in our projects with industrial mid-sized companies that has almost become a ritual:
A CEO or Head of Marketing from a highly technical organization tells us about their impressive engineering performance and the technical finesse behind their products. And at the same time, we hear sentences like: “We’re actually superior to all the others, but the market doesn’t seem to feel that” — along with the concern of getting lost in the price competition of global rivals.

That’s when we offer a clear thesis: The winner won’t be the company with the best product, but the one that is most believable. And that doesn’t show up in data sheets — it shows up in attitude and brand leadership.

AI levels knowledge. Global competitors deliver solid quality. Consulting that used to be exclusive can now be generated by anyone in seconds. Many things that were differentiators yesterday become standard almost overnight.

And with that, the focus shifts — away from what many German brands have relied on for decades. It’s no longer about who knows more, but about what a brand stands for and why people can trust it.
Because when everyone can know everything, attitude becomes the true competence.

What a brand must make visible

The task of a brand is to convey everything that is not immediately visible in the product itself. What that includes, however, has changed over time. While it used to be about technology, processes, and quality assurance — aspects that are now taken for granted — today people look for something else: attitude, conviction, and responsibility.

This becomes a challenge for companies that are technically outstanding but have no distinctive brand behind them. They have plenty of know-how, but no credible know-why.

Because there is one thing AI (yet?) cannot do: build trust.

It explains, solves, and optimizes — but it does not create relationships. It may make us more efficient, but certainly not more human.

This insight comes directly from practice. From conversations with our clients, from strategy workshops, from communicating technological innovations. Time and again, companies face the same question:
How can we maintain our relevance in a market overflowing with technology and knowledge?

New differentiation required

The real competition no longer takes place on the product or performance level. It happens on the level of meaning and relationships. Customers want to know what you stand for. That is where the power of the brand begins.

Brand as a filter in an over-technologized world

People (yes, even in B2B!) don’t make decisions based on the 27th spec deviation in a data sheet. When they have to choose between products that are (technically) almost identical, other criteria matter — and it’s not always the price:

They want to know whether a company is reliable.
Whether behavior, communication, and promises align.
And whether the company stands by its values when a crisis hits.

Brand gives complex offerings a personality — one that ultimately determines success.

A strong brand answers questions that AI cannot

What matters to this company?
What does it stand for?
How will it act?

Humanity becomes a huge strategic advantage – because more than ever, we long for a real, trustworthy counterpart.

Conclusion

In our work with high-tech companies, we at SYNBRAND regularly observe how much potential and revenue is lost when the brand is not understood as a strategic lever. Companies hide behind their (brilliant, yet ultimately interchangeable) technology and fail to create an emotional point of differentiation. They struggle in the market because they cannot tell their story — yet that is precisely the decisive factor that determines whether customers will still choose them tomorrow.

This is exactly where Sense by SYNBRAND comes in. Our Brand & Market AI reveals where a brand is merely communicating competence but not yet generating true relevance. It consolidates market and brand information, identifies patterns in perception and communication, and helps leadership teams sharpen their brand commitments in daily practice.

In the age of AI, the winner is not the loudest company, not the most technically advanced, and not the one with the most data. The winner is the company that provides orientation while others merely provide information.

Still searching for your know-why?
In the first step, we identify together where you are currently communicating competence but lacking relevance — and translate this into a clear brand positioning that becomes visible both in your daily actions and your communication.

Author: Johannes

Johannes brings plenty of motion to SYNBRAND – as Team Lead, Head of Strategy and Operations, and as a passionate triathlete. Our clients benefit just as much from his extensive agency experience. For the disciplines of meeting marathons and organizational athletics, we award him the gold medal.

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