Dashlane Positioning | Software Branding

How Dashlane stakes a claim in the minds of their users.

When entering a space like internet security, you’d think that the best bet would be to rely on a stoic and staid brand. That is, of course, unless everyone else in your market is boring, difficult to work with, and doesn’t provide any emotional value to the customer.

Dashlane is a password manager (I use them personally so I don’t spend hours trying to get all of my passwords in a row). I’ve gotta say, having used their top competitor, LastPass, it’s evident what makes Dashlane’s positioning so potent: they made password protection snazzy and cool.

LastPass, the only major competitor to Dashlane, goes for $3 per month for the same features as Dashlane’s $4 per month premium personal plan. Something they seem to be totally ok with given that they are pushing for a higher-end experience.

Smart move, here’s why:

They win on a more refined experience instead of driving down prices within their market. Think about it, both of these softwares do the same thing, yet Dashlane earns an extra dollar over LastPass users. Sure, they might have less customers, but they earn 33% more money per user. In turn, LastPass’ 16M users at $3 per month earn $48M compared to Dashlane’s 10M users that earn them $40M in monthly revenue.

If Dashlane had gone the route of charging a dollar less their revenue would be cut in half. But by positioning the brand to be a premium alternative and an experience worth paying extra money for, they can compete. Clearly, there is some serious validity to playing up in a “downgraded” market.

With the numbers established, let’s take a look at some brass tacks: who is this brand for and why they care.

This is all speculation, but given that I’d seen ads for Dashlane on several design-related YouTube channels, I’m guessing Dashlane’s ideal user is someone in the tech scene with money to spare and willing to pay for an elevated experience. Why this matters to this user is the fact that they don’t have time to fiddle in run-of-the-mill tech like LastPass and instead yearn for something fresh and easy to use. They are neophiles with a taste for well-designed software. Paying the extra dollar is worth the boost in esteem and status. Dashlane built their brand around this.

Compared to the consumer LastPass attracts (the person looking for a conservative, affordable option), this tech-savvy user base allowed Dashlane level up the market.

Originally published at https://www.zstvns.design.