In the automotive world, one brand owns the association with safety: Volvo. Ask anyone to name the safest car, and most people will say Volvo, even if they haven’t researched crash test ratings in years. It’s a masterclass in branding.
Now, imagine a hypothetical new car brand called “Aegis Motors,” which creates an ad campaign showing their car driving through walls without a scratch. It’s cutting-edge, visually stunning, and it screams safety. But what happens? People who care about safety are reminded of Volvo. They might compare Aegis to Volvo, research both, and ultimately, a significant portion of them will end up buying… a Volvo.
Why? Because Volvo doesn’t just sell cars—it owns the idea of safety. And when you own the leading association in your category, even your competitors’ efforts can elevate your brand.
This phenomenon isn’t unique to cars. It happens in SaaS too. The lesson? If you dominate your category, every successful marketing campaign in your industry can help you win. Let me explain how this works—and how you can harness it to become the Volvo of your SaaS niche.
Dominating the Category: The Key to SaaS Success
In SaaS, as in cars, users don’t just buy features—they buy solutions tied to ideas they value. If you can own the dominant association in your category, you position yourself as the default choice. Whether your brand stands for ease of use, scalability, or collaboration, dominating that association means every competitor’s campaign becomes an indirect boost for you.
Consider the project management space. Asana is synonymous with team collaboration. Even when competing platforms like Monday.com or ClickUp launch aggressive marketing campaigns, many users compare those tools to Asana. And when collaboration is top of mind, Asana often wins—not because it has the flashiest campaign, but because it already owns the idea.
This dynamic creates a flywheel:
1. Competitors invest in educating the market.
2. Customers evaluate options.
3. The market gravitates toward the leader associated with the category’s dominant value.
In other words, if you own the idea, you’re not competing within the market—you are the market.
When Industry Growth Lifts All Boats
A powerful campaign doesn’t just benefit the brand running it—it often grows the entire industry. Think of what Canva did for design software. Before Canva, design tools were largely viewed as complex, professional-grade solutions (think Photoshop or Illustrator). Canva’s marketing focused on making design simple and accessible, and their success didn’t just benefit them—it created demand for all design tools, from Figma to Adobe Express.
This isn’t a bad thing for competitors, especially smaller SaaS players. If your market is expanding, your job is to make sure your brand stands out. But if you dominate the leading association—like Canva owns simplicity—then even your rivals’ success will funnel customers your way.
How to Own the Association in SaaS
The challenge for SaaS companies isn’t just creating a good product; it’s attaching their brand to an idea so strongly that it becomes synonymous with it. Here’s how:
1. Find Your Category’s Core Value
Every SaaS category has a dominant value that users care about. For example:
• CRM tools = customer relationships (e.g., Salesforce).
• Collaboration platforms = teamwork (e.g., Slack).
• Cloud storage = simplicity and accessibility (e.g., Dropbox).
What value matters most to your users? Identify it and build your brand around it relentlessly.
2. Reinforce the Message Everywhere
Once you’ve identified your core value, every touchpoint—your website, ads, onboarding flows, and customer service—should reinforce it. Volvo doesn’t talk about speed or luxury; they talk about safety. In SaaS, the same laser focus creates clarity and trust.
3. Turn Competitor Campaigns into Your Advantage
When competitors launch big campaigns, leverage them to highlight your leadership. For instance:
• Use content marketing to compare their features to yours, emphasizing your dominant value.
• Create retargeting campaigns for users researching the category, positioning your brand as the leader.
If a competitor sparks interest in the category, make sure you’re the brand users find when they look deeper.
Owning the Market: The Shift from Demand to Loyalty
There’s a critical inflection point in every industry: when users stop searching for products generically and start searching for brands specifically. In the auto industry, Volvo has reached this point. People don’t just look for “safe cars”—they look for Volvos.
In SaaS, tools like Zoom and Slack have achieved similar status. During the pandemic, users didn’t Google “video conferencing software” or “team chat tools”—they searched for these brands directly.
Achieving this level of dominance means you’ve transcended competition. Your brand isn’t just a player in the category; it is the category. And that’s when your competitors’ marketing budgets start working for you.
The Volvo Effect in Action
Let’s go back to our hypothetical “Aegis Motors.” Their campaign to show indestructible cars might boost their sales initially. But long term? It’s Volvo that benefits most. They’ve already won the safety narrative.
In SaaS, the same is true. If you’re the first to own your category’s dominant idea, every subsequent campaign in your space—even from competitors—becomes a subtle reinforcement of your brand.
This is the power of branding done right. When you’re the Volvo of your industry, success isn’t just about how well you market. It’s about positioning yourself so deeply in the user’s mind that the market itself works in your favor.
Build a Brand That Owns the Narrative
The White Bear Phenomenon teaches us how not to think of a bear, and the Volvo Effect teaches us how to dominate a category. In SaaS, the lesson is clear: if you want to lead, don’t just sell features. Sell the idea that defines your market.
Because when you own the narrative, even your competitors’ best campaigns will drive users to your doorstep. And that’s not just great marketing—that’s industry leadership.
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