How do I get onto early shortlists beyond our flagship product?

A flagship product can create recognition while obscuring the wider organisation. Teledyne e2v was strongly associated with magnetron technology, but wanted to expand its products and services by building recognition for its broader expertise. Its response was a brand platform that retained the technical grounding of the business while moving away from specialist language and providing a flexible basis for messaging, campaigns and content.

The same issue affected Strategy Object. Its SOClass platform was widely respected, while the company behind it was comparatively invisible. The work brought the platform and organisation together under a shared purpose, helping communicate the company's expertise, innovation and role in global trade. A broader story should therefore connect known products to the capabilities, expertise and outcomes that make the wider offer relevant.

A broader offer feels credible when it explains what technical capability enables, rather than replacing technical substance with vague purpose. Tata Technologies shifted its narrative from engineering systems and machines to the business and human outcomes its engineering could help create. Its website then organised content around customer challenges and industry needs rather than service listings.

Teledyne Healthcare took a similar approach by uniting separate technology businesses through the patient journey. Its messaging connected technical solutions with partnership, healthcare advances and patient scenarios. This approach gives nontechnical audiences a route into complex expertise while preserving the proof points that matter to technical stakeholders. The story should make the link between capability, customer challenge and meaningful outcome explicit.

Brand research should establish whether external audiences understand the organisation's intended position, not simply whether they recognise its name. For Yokogawa, stakeholder interviews, a global quantitative survey across four markets, competitor research and desk research tested whether an existing platform could carry a stronger sustainability meaning. The work identified that customers wanted a partner with a clear vision on sustainability and that the existing idea had room to stretch.

For complex technology businesses, this means testing the narrative with audiences that need to understand, explain or advocate for the organisation. Look for whether they can describe the broader offer, distinguish it from alternatives and connect it to their own priorities. Use the findings to refine the story before scaling it through brand communications.

Awareness can indicate reach, but it does not establish whether buyers now understand the wider organisation or prefer it for a broader set of needs. Measure the associations audiences hold before and after the work, including the capabilities they connect with the brand, whether they understand its relevance beyond the flagship product, and whether the organisation has become more distinct and credible.

Campaign metrics can complement this perception work. UST's Boundless campaign reported more than one million video views, a 60% year-on-year increase in website traffic and 30% year-on-year growth in LinkedIn followers. These are useful indicators of visibility and engagement, but they should be paired with audience research when the goal is to prove changes in understanding, reputation or consideration.