Why brand beats features for SaaS in the AI era

There’s a tension moving through SaaS companies right now. It doesn’t shout; it simmers. It dresses itself in roadmap reviews, product updates, and slightly-too-confident investor decks. A slow, creeping sense that something fundamental has shifted: features aren’t so special anymore.

The tools that once differentiated: those clever workflows, that sleek UI, the automations you were sure were groundbreaking, are now table stakes. Worse, they’re replicable. A clever prompt, a few plugins, and suddenly your entire value prop shows up in someone else’s product.

Not only has AI sped up competition but it’s made everything look the same. So what do you do when your product is no longer the thing that sets you apart?

You build a brand that does.

The great SaaS unbundling

As you’ll be aware, for most of the last two decades SaaS won through product skyscrapering. Success meant outbuilding the competition with one more feature, slightly faster execution or a slicker UX. But AI has accelerated feature parity to the point of absurdity. GPT-powered tools, open APIs, and low-code platforms mean many apps can be cloned, extended, or Frankensteined into a lookalike overnight.

That doesn’t mean product doesn’t matter. Let’s be clear, it absolutely does. But when features are no longer differentiators and speed alone can’t guarantee traction, SaaS companies need to look elsewhere for preference and long-term stickiness.

Cast your mind back to the early days of HubSpot. It didn’t win by outbuilding everyone else. Its CRM wasn’t as powerful as Salesforce. Its CMS wasn’t as flexible as WordPress. Its analytics weren’t as granular as Google’s.

Instead, it took a messy stack of tools and decisions and turned them into a coherent philosophy. It didn’t just sell software, it sold confidence. With a new language and a new framing of how modern marketing should work. It made people feel like they were part of something smarter, more current. That’s what brand does. And that’s what SaaS companies need now more than ever.

When features blur and functionality is no longer your clearest edge, brand becomes your first line of defence, shaping perception before anyone clicks “Try now.” It precedes the trial, supports the purchase decision, and keeps your team aligned when they ask: what do we do next to support our customers and deliver a better experience?

Of course, SaaS companies do care about their brand. But for many, brand has been somewhat absorbed into the product. The roadmap was the story and the onboarding experience was the tone. The product itself was the brand.

That made sense, until now. But in seismic moments like this, it’s worth recalibrating. Is brand still doing what you need it to do? Is it being treated as an active system or simply emerging as a by-product of your product roadmap, rather than something designed with intent?

What brand-building looks like now (and what to actually do)

This isn’t about replacing product with polish. It’s about building a second kind of utility: clarity. It’s about helping people choose you faster and stick around longer.

Here’s where to begin:

1. Uncouple brand from feature sets

Stop assuming your roadmap is your story and start mapping your brand like you would your product experience. Ask:

• What do we want customers to believe after 5 minutes with us?

• What emotional outcome do we deliver, beyond task completion?

• Where do we simplify their world, not just solve a problem?

2. Treat your brand like a user journey

 You already map features to user needs. Why not do the same with brand moments and decision-making points? Think:

• Mapping where trust is most needed (landing page, onboarding, first renewal)

• What clarity or proof need to show up at those moments?

• Asking what decision does this screen support, rather than what does this screen say?

3. Make your content a decision tool, not a knowledge dump

 You’re not trying to show off what you know. You’re helping people filter what matters. Start with:

• A “What to ignore” section in your whitepapers or blog posts

• Decision checklists (If you’re X, then start here…)

• Strong POV content: 3 things we’d never build into our product, and why

4. Infuse opinion into product UX

Some teams worry that guiding users reduces flexibility. But this isn’t about limiting control, it’s about reducing friction, especially for overwhelmed or under-resourced users. Try:

• Smart presets that reflect your philosophy

• Recommended paths based on use case

• Narrative labelling: Start here if you’re overwhelmed > “Main dashboard”

5. Show, don’t tell, your beliefs

 If you say, we simplify complexity, show that in every word, screen, and step. Try:

• Stripping homepage copy by 50%, focus on meaning, not features

• A “Why we exist” page that’s not a timeline but a lens

• Equipping your sales team to tell stories, not share specs

But can’t people just use AI to copy our brand too?

To some degree, yes. A competitor can copy your colour palette, steal your tagline, mimic your tone. But brand isn’t what you say once. It’s what you consistently demonstrate. It’s:

• How you respond when something breaks

• How your product feels after month three

• How your customers explain you to their boss

The lived experience of your product, your people, and your priorities? That’s what’s hard to fake, and exactly what makes it worth investing in.

Reframe the conversation

Sure, brand isn’t the only lever left. There’s pricing strategy, partnerships, verticalisation, community: these all still matter. But brand often works earlier. It’s what gets you into the room. Before someone even tests your features, they’ve already made a gut-level judgment. Is this for me? Do I trust it? Do I want to spend my time here? Now is the time to treat brand not as a one off project or a wrapper, but as infrastructure.

Because in the end, your best feature isn’t the one you just shipped. It’s what sticks.