How to address, combat and (sometimes) ignore your competitors

I called Mike Volpe this week to talk about sales and marketing alignment, but we talked first about competition.
Mike is chief marketing officer at Cybereason and speaking next week at the Zoominfo Growth Acceleration Summit.  Like many industries, cybersecurity is red-hot and highly competitive.  Incumbents, newcomers, wannabees – all trying to get a finite number of prospects to pay attention.
I asked Mike to talk about how they differentiate and stay above the competitive noise.  Here’s what they’re doing (with lessons and implications for all of us):
Differentiate on brand image:  Marketers who focus primarily (or exclusively) on measurable marketing ROI might miss this opportunity, by Cybereason leverages image, trade show booth presence and other channels/opportunities to bring their brand to life.  “Words are easy,” Mike said. “How we say them and what the visuals are, the embodiment of the brand, we focus on that.  It matters.”
Happy customers generate positive word-of-mouth:  Anytime