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Case N°3

HERO Software

EXEC. SUMMARY

A fast growing software company that had outgrown its own brand. Interim brand direction until the incoming Brand Director took the seat.

Interim Brand Direction

Berlin & Remote

Q1 2026

EXEC. SUMMARY

A fast growing software company that had outgrown its own brand. Interim brand direction until the incoming Brand Director took the seat.

A group of people around the table with their laptops.

THE SITUATION

HERO was hiring a Brand Director and needed the work to move in the meantime. We started with a one week status analysis instead of a long commitment: what works, what does not. The finding was typical for a company growing at that speed. Brand ownership sat with several teams at once, so the story shifted depending on who told it. And in a category that argues over features, nothing set them apart that a competitor could not claim by next quarter.

THE SITUATION

HERO was hiring a Brand Director and needed the work to move in the meantime. We started with a one week status analysis instead of a long commitment: what works, what does not. The finding was typical for a company growing at that speed. Brand ownership sat with several teams at once, so the story shifted depending on who told it. And in a category that argues over features, nothing set them apart that a competitor could not claim by next quarter.

THE APPROACH

Clarity before creativity.
Clear the table first. Together with the founders and the marketing director I consolidated what already existed into one brand foundation, then built a messaging framework on top of it with a clear hierarchy for when to use what.

Differentiation that is not a feature list.
Nobody wins on features for long in this category. So the differentiation had to be emotional, and it had to be true to the company rather than invented for it. We landed on a territory the team recognised itself in immediately, and that no competitor can credibly take.

An architecture they can grow into.
They were sprinting ahead: new products, a new tier structure, and one launch already being treated like a brand of its own. So we built the order behind it and the rules that go with it. What gets its own name, what does not, and where each new thing belongs. The test was not whether it works today. It was whether it still works when the next category arrives.

THE Outcome

Simon took what we'd already been thinking and discussing internally and turned it into something clear. He asked the right questions, applied the right pressure and got us to decisions we hadn't been able to articulate before. The result is a positioning that genuinely holds. An emotional core that landed internally right away. And an architecture we can actually use: in our communications, in the product, in conversations with the team. That was the work we needed.

JP Stein

Director Brand & Communications @ HERO Software

One architecture for brand and products, in use across communication, product and internal conversations. A positioning the category cannot copy. The launch shipped on time. And the Brand Director started with a foundation instead of a blank page.

1 One architecture, adopted across teams

JP Stein

Director Brand & Communications @ HERO Software

THE WORK

Status analysis of all existing brand material / Brand canvas covering vision, mission, descriptor, audience, positioning and emotional territory / Messaging framework with umbrella message, strategic pillars, reasons to believe and usage hierarchy / MVP tone of voice / Culture map separated out into north star, ambition and values / Master brand, product tiers, feature categories and feature brands mapped end to end / Naming decisions including turning a standalone product brand into HERO KI / Website and navigation mockups showing the system in practice / Headlines and copy for trade show assets and ads / Landing page copy and structure for a launch with changed name and pricing / Sparring for the internal Head of Brand and Design / Supported the Brand Director hiring and interviews / Onboarded him and carried decisions until he was in the seat / Finished the launch together

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