Stop Acting Like a Material Manufacturer.
Updated: Aug 21
Most material brands don't have a material problem.
They have a brand problem.
And most don't realize it.
For 25+ years I've worked in the material industry.
I've built products.
Sold products.
Marketed products.
Developed products.
Built brands.
And after all these years I've come to one conclusion:
Most material manufacturers don't have a material problem.
They have a brand problem.
Not because their products aren't good.
Most are.
Not because their quality isn't good.
Most is.
Not because their people aren't talented.
They are.
The problem isn't their material.
The problem is their material brand strategy.
They're trying so hard to look credible that they've become indistinguishable.
THE SEA OF SAMENESS
Walk any trade show.
Open any material website.
Flip through any product catalog.
Listen to any sales presentation.
You'll hear the same story.
Innovative.
Sustainable.
Design-driven.
Customer-focused.
High-performance.
Industry-leading.
Reliable.
Trusted.
Exceptional service.
Different logo.
Same story.
The material industry has become a giant copy machine.
Everyone is looking at the market leaders.
Then copying what they do.
The same sample programs.
The same trade show booths.
The same installation photography.
The same sustainability claims.
The same certifications.
The same CEUs.
The same brochures.
The same social content.
The same manufacturing photos.
The same language.
The same experience.
Different company.
Same playbook.
The industry has confused credibility with conformity.
THE COMMODITY TRAP
The moment everyone says the same thing...
Nobody stands out.
The moment everyone follows the same playbook...
Nobody gets remembered.
The moment everyone looks the same...
The category becomes a commodity.
Read that again.
The category becomes a commodity.
Not because the products are bad.
Because the brands are forgettable.
A SIMPLE TEST
Strip every logo off every material website.
Remove the company names.
Remove the colors.
Remove the product names.
Now ask yourself:
Could you tell who is who?
In many cases...
No.
And that's a problem.
Because if buyers can't tell the difference...
Why should they care?
THE LESSON THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Durasein brand messaging
Years ago I joined Durasein.
We weren't the biggest.
We weren't the oldest.
We weren't the most recognized.
We weren't the company with the deepest pockets.
We couldn't outspend the giants.
We couldn't out-history them.
We couldn't out-corporate them.
So we made a decision.
Stop chasing the category.
Start building a brand.
We stopped acting like a material manufacturer.
Instead of asking:
"How do we look like the market leaders?"
We asked:
"How do we become impossible to ignore?"
We started with brand strategy.
Positioning.
Key messaging.
Art direction.
Then identity.
Then experience.
We stopped talking only about material.
And started building brand.
IT WASN'T EASY
This is the part nobody talks about.
Everybody says they want differentiation.
Very few are willing to survive what differentiation requires.
Because differentiation attracts criticism before it attracts customers.
We got hit from every direction.
Production.
Sales.
Industry veterans.
Partners.
Board members.
Everyone had an opinion.
Everyone had concerns.
Everyone had reasons to play it safe.
Because building a brand requires something most material companies struggle with.
Courage.
The courage to be different before the market rewards you for it.
Because different feels dangerous.
Copying feels safe.
Differentiation attracts criticism before it attracts customers.
But here's what we learned:
Safe rarely gets remembered.
And memorable brands are rarely built by playing it safe.
THE REAL COMPETITION
Most material companies think they're competing against other materials.
They're not.
They're competing for memory.
They're competing for attention.
They're competing for preference.
They're competing for belief.
Because architects and designers don't specify every product they see.
They specify the products they remember.
Nobody specifies a brand they don't remember.
WHAT WE GOT WRONG
For decades the industry has focused on product.
More features.
More certifications.
More colors.
More performance claims.
More sustainability claims.
More proof.
More data.
More everything.
People don't build relationships with certifications.
They don't build relationships with technical data sheets.
They don't build relationships with recycled content percentages.
They build relationships with brands.
That's why some companies become preferred.
While others become interchangeable.
THE FUTURE BELONGS TO MATERIAL BRANDS
The next generation of winners won't necessarily have the best material.
They'll have the strongest brand.
The clearest point of view.
The most memorable experience.
The courage to stand for something.
The courage to be different.
The courage to stop copying.
Because the goal isn't to become another material manufacturer.
The goal is to become impossible to ignore.
To stand for something.
To be remembered for something.
To build something bigger than a product line.
Because the future doesn't belong to companies that copy the category.
It belongs to companies willing to challenge it.
Great materials get noticed.
Great brands get remembered.
And nobody specifies a brand they don't remember.
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