Everyone in your category sounds identical
Reliability. Speed. Quality. Read the homepage of almost any industrial business and you will find those three words, or a close cousin of them. Read your top competitor's homepage and you will find them again.
That is the problem. When everyone claims the same things, the claims stop meaning anything. A buyer comparing three suppliers who all promise precision and performance is not comparing brands. They are comparing prices. And a race to the cheapest quote is a race nobody in this room wants to win.
This year, some of the biggest names in industry decided to break out of the sameness. The lesson they are teaching is simple. Stop pointing the camera at the machine. Point it at what the machine helps someone build.
What Roland DG just did, and why it matters
In April 2026, Roland DG rolled out a global brand refresh built around a new line, 'Make Your Mark'. Roland DG makes wide-format printers and cutting machines. Deeply technical kit. For years its category sold itself on the same three points, reliability, speed and image quality, which left every brand in it looking and sounding interchangeable.
So Roland DG did the homework first. It ran customer research covering around 18,000 people worldwide. What came back pointed them away from the hardware and toward the humans. The new creative celebrates what people actually do with the machines, the signage, the wraps, the custom work, the finished output on the wall. The product story did not get thrown out. A human story got layered on top of it.
That order matters. Strategy first, then the design that carries it. They did not start with a nicer logo. They started with what their customers were trying to achieve, then built the identity to match.
The proof this works is not new
If 'humanise the brand' sounds like a risk, look at the businesses that did it years ago and are still cashing the cheque.
It is the core idea behind industrial branding: buyers remember the people and the result, not the spec sheet.
Caterpillar sells earth-moving iron. About as unglamorous and heavy-duty as industry gets. In 2014 it launched 'Built For It', and instead of listing torque figures it built the world's biggest game of Jenga using five real machines and 600-pound blocks. The point was not to show off a spec. It was to show precision and power in a way a human could feel. The Built For It Trials videos pulled more than 100 million views. Nobody watches a spec sheet 100 million times.
Maersk is the other one worth studying. Shipping containers are the definition of a commodity. Yet Maersk turned its social channels into a genuine storytelling machine, sharing the people, the ports and the journeys behind the freight. It shifted the story from 'we move boxes' to 'we run your supply chain', and the numbers followed, including the highest content engagement score in the supply chain category on LinkedIn. Same steel boxes. Completely different brand.
How to steal this for your business
You do not need Caterpillar's budget or Maersk's fleet. You need a change of subject.
Start with one question. What does the world look like after our product does its job? The bridge that gets built. The tender that gets won. The production line that stops breaking down at 2am. That finished outcome is your story, and it is one your competitors are almost certainly ignoring.
Then do three things. Photograph the output, not just the equipment. Put your customer at the centre of the case study and make them the one who looks capable. And write like a person talking to a person, not like a compliance document. Your buyers are human beings who happen to be at work. Talk to them that way.
Here is the honest bit. Spec sells the rational buyer, and you still need the specs. But the human story is what makes them choose you before they have even compared the numbers. It is the difference between being on the shortlist and being the obvious answer.
Your work is already impressive. Most industrial businesses we meet are better than their brand makes them look. The fix is not more features on the website. It is a sharper story about the people you help and the marks they make.
If that is the version of your brand you want, book a free 15-minute discovery call with us at https://www.nimcreative.com. We will show you where your story is hiding.
If you are considering brand or marketing services, view our products and pricing here.
Case studies
