Interview with Jordi Torrents (Collaborabrands)

Question: We are finally introducing Techsoulogy and the specialist brands to the world. What do you think will be the impact on both the industry and our customers? How do you expect them to receive it?

Answer: It is a brand that has a clearly defined USP – it communicates well and is and well understood. Brands that know how to explain their competitive advantage are always well received and Techsoulogy’s mission is clear at first sight.

Q: Getting here has been a lengthy process with a lot of research, benchmarking and interviews. How did you experience it? Did you know where you were headed from the beginning?

A: It was difficult at first to understand this sector which monetises services for publishers and performance for advertisers. Having to use English to be more precise is an indicator of the complexity of this market. But curiosity is powerful and we ended up grasping the importance of establishing a fair balance between the interests of publishers and advertisers and the way Techsoulogy companies put their technology and equipment at the service of this purpose.

Q: Out of curiosity, how long does the research phase usually take on average when defining a brand’s positioning?

A: In this case it was not only the positioning, but also the purpose of the company and its brand architecture.
On average it takes about two and a half months to do the research, identify the insights and define the story and the brand architecture. But then comes a period of refinement that lasts at least 1 month longer and in some cases even more.

Q: Confess, should more time be invested in that research or in convincing the CEOs of its importance?

A: The insights provided by the research serve to convince CEOs of the advantage of giving a superior response to the needs, unresolved tensions or aspirations of the target audiences, when compared with that of your competitors.

It is true that the product led growth approach which dominates in technology startups makes it a little more complicated to convince CEOs of the importance of knowing their audiences to give them the best possible response and thus be more competitive.

Q: From all this research work at Techsoulogy, several conclusions have emerged. Among them, that the main assets of the brand are its human team and its way of working. How does this become something differential with respect to the brands in our category?

A: The customers of the various Techsoulogy companies told us openly. The importance for them of a team that helps to get the most out of the technology, and how the service provided by Techsoulogy companies stand out in this regard.

Q: And does the archetype of the explorer, maverick and individual committed to continuous discovery also feed from the team or is it the other way around? What came first, the chicken or the egg?

A: In this case the egg, the DNA of the Group’s culture. We limited ourselves to defining a personality that was already there and was thus perceived by its customers.

Q: The Collaborabrands project led us to confirm our hypotheses of favouring an umbrella model with a corporate group brand and then various independent brands specialising in each business area. What advantages does this structure have over other possibilities?

A: In technology sectors specialisation is essential if you are going to be competitive and the Group already had specialised companies that functioned well in this regard. But they were perceived as small businesses in a giant environment. An umbrella brand was needed to give visibility to the true size of the brand portfolio and bring them all together. An umbrella brand that would capture the common point of view shared by the different specialised companies of the portfolio.

Q: How can that umbrella brand model help us meet our business goals?

A: It gives visibility to the size and complementary capabilities of the Group, promotes the cross-selling of services and saves communication costs, because when we communicate for a Group company we are promoting the entire Group.

Q: Your job is in a way to look for signs in a brand’s present so that it can win in the future. Do you have a crystal ball or something?

A: Listening to and analysing information objectively. This information is full of clues that you need to know how to see. Then you have to find the connection between the needs of the public and the assets of the brand. That’s what we do at Collaborabrands. The worst enemy of this job is wishful thinking or making decisions based on your illusions instead of reality.

Q: Between the what, how and why of a brand, what do you pick?

A: Always the why, because it is what gives meaning to the existence of the brand and this reason to exist is timeless. Especially in the technological sectors, where there is a lot of disruption and everything changes quickly, the why indicates the way in which you must adapt while maintaining the competitive advantage that makes you unique.

Q: When you finish a project like this, what is the biggest compliment anyone could pay you?

A: It is a cliché, but nevertheless true – the best compliment is customer satisfaction and the growth of their results.

Q: Thank you Jordi for helping us to know ourselves. Any advice on how to continue?

A: What Buddhists call impermanence. Everything is constantly changing and, in the technological sectors, this change is dizzying. Technologies change, demands change, the competition environment changes, internal teams change. When the first symptoms of stagnation are detected, it is time to review everything and evolve.