The Brand Story Blueprint: How to Get Specified by Designers
Thrive In Design Podcast — Season 9, Episode 7
There’s a quiet frustration happening across the interior product industry.
Brands are visible. They’re attending the right events. They have strong products.
And yet… they’re still not getting specified.
This episode with Adam Kubryk and Brooke Taylor, co-founders of Vendor Bootcamp, gets to the root of the problem—and more importantly, the solution:
Specification doesn’t come from exposure. It comes from clarity, differentiation, and story.
The Real Gap: Visibility vs. Memorability
Most brands believe they have a visibility problem.
In reality, they have a memorability problem.
They’re showing up—but they’re not sticking.
And as we see time and time again with Thrive In Design clients, this is exactly where brands feel stuck:
- “We’re doing everything… but nothing is converting.”
- “Designers see us, but they don’t specify us.”
- “We’re blending in instead of standing out.”
This aligns directly with what we know from the market:Brands don’t lack effort—they lack positioning and story clarity.
Why Most Vendor Conversations Fall Flat
Adam and Brooke built Vendor Bootcamp out of frustration with one core issue:
The industry keeps having the wrong conversations.
Instead of focusing on what actually drives specification, vendors are stuck in surface-level topics:
- Trends
- Aesthetics
- Generalized “innovation”
Meanwhile, buyers are asking something entirely different:
“How does this help me deliver a better project, faster, and more profitably?”
There’s a disconnect—and it’s costing brands real opportunities.
The Truth About Getting Specified
Let’s simplify what this episode makes very clear:
1. Differentiation Is Non-Negotiable
If you sound like everyone else, you will be treated like everyone else.
And in a crowded market, that means:
- You’re compared on price
- You’re easy to replace
- You’re rarely remembered
As Adam shared, brands that win are the ones that can clearly answer:
“What do we do differently—and is it different enough to make someone stop and listen?”
2. Designers Are Not Your Buyer
This is one of the most important mindset shifts from the episode.
Stop selling to designers.
Designers are not the final decision-makers—they are advocates.
They are:
- Translating your value
- Presenting your product
- Selling your solution to ownership, purchasing, and brand stakeholders
Your job isn’t to convince them.
Your job is to equip them.
Give them the tools, language, and clarity to sell your product for you.
3. Your Brand Story Must Be a Business Case
Beautiful products are expected.
But specification decisions?They’re often made in spreadsheets.
As Adam explained, every product ultimately ties back to:
- Revenue generation
- Cost savings
- Risk reduction
- Operational efficiency
If your story doesn’t connect to one of these…
You’re just another option.
The Hardest (and Most Important) Differentiator
Here’s where it gets deeper—and more strategic.
In many categories, especially custom or hospitality-driven products:
You can’t differentiate on product alone.
So where does differentiation come from?
Your Process.
Brooke highlights this as one of the most overlooked—and most powerful—levers:
- How easy are you to work with?
- How fast do you respond?
- How intuitive is your sampling process?
- How much time do you save the designer?
Because here’s the truth:
Designers are under intense time pressure—and they remember who makes their job easier.
The Hidden Opportunity Most Brands Miss
One of the most strategic insights from this conversation:
You are not just selling a product.You are part of a multi-stakeholder system.
That system includes:
- Designers
- Purchasing agents
- Ownership groups
- Brand standards teams
The brands that win understand:
Every stakeholder has a different definition of value.
And the most effective brand stories don’t just speak to one audience—they translate across all of them.
The “Say Less” Principle
If there’s one tactical takeaway to implement immediately, it’s this:
Say less. Show better.
Too many brands:
- Overload their websites
- Show every variation
- Dilute their visual identity
But in a visually critical industry:
More is not better. Better is better.
As Adam put it:
Showing too much can actually hurt perception—and cost you the specification.
The Future: AI, Search, and Specification
The conversation also touches on something every brand needs to be paying attention to:
AI is changing how designers discover products.
Designers are already:
- Using AI to analyze images
- Generating descriptive prompts
- Searching based on language, not just visuals
This means your brand must evolve:
- Your content needs to be searchable in new ways
- Your product descriptions need to be intentional
- Your digital presence needs to align with how AI “reads” your brand
Because the question is no longer:
“Do designers know us?”
It’s:
“Will we show up when designers search differently?”
Final Thought: What You Need to Unlearn
To stay relevant—and specified—over the next few years, this episode challenges two deeply held beliefs:
1. “If we show everything, we’ll appeal to more people.”
→ Reality: You dilute your brand and weaken perception.
2. “Marketing is what people see.”
→ Reality: Your process is your brand.
From your website to your quoting system to your follow-up—every touchpoint shapes whether you get specified again.
Start Your Journey
If this episode sparked something for you, here’s where to go next:
- Listen to the Thrive In Design Podcast for deeper insight into positioning, storytelling, and real-world specification strategy.
- Book a Discovery Call - If your brand is visible but not memorable, it’s time to take action. Schedule a discovery call with CEO Nicole Lashae (Ben) Hall and get a clear path to specification growth.
- Explore Spec Ready™ - Get a strategic snapshot of your brand’s positioning, sales alignment, and designer perception:https://specready.co/
- Join the Conversation — AI in Design Summit. If you’re thinking about the future of specification, this is where the industry is going next.Register here: https://tidsummit.com/
