90% of B2B companies have the same product, the same offer and the same go-to-market as their competitors. Martin Zarian's argument is blunt: if you can't differentiate on product, you have to engineer the difference with brand, or accept that an inferior competitor will keep beating you. In this episode of Hacking Great Minds With LeeroyDotUK, Martin breaks down the difference between product and brand, why memorability beats visibility, and how he gets technical founders and finance-driven CEOs to stop dismissing brand as logos and colours. Martin co-founded Factory 39, a brand and software consultancy in Limassol, Cyprus, running a team of around 30 for global B2B clients. He's worked on FIFA, eBay and Dr. Oetker, and he's now moving the business towards agentic AI. This conversation covers the whole arc, including the years he spent making creative work with no strategic substance and hating every minute of it. WHAT WE COVER • Where the name Factory 39 comes from, and the factory idea behind it• Pairing a full-stack developer with a full-stack brand builder• Why the best software developers are lazy, and how AI changed that• Growing up between a doctor, an architect, Armenia and Estonia• The "black cave" problem with traditional agency creative work• Discovering brand strategy through Marty Neumeier, Mark Ritson, Chris Do and Rory Sutherland• Turning brand identity from decoration into a business asset• The weekend automation project that became a consultancy• Why Factory 39 is repositioning around agentic AI• Why consultancy that only delivers PowerPoints is finished• Product vs brand: the ticket to play vs how you win• Why product differentiation can't be defended• The Apple paradox: buyers who don't think it's better and buy anyway• Memory scarcity, and why 95% of your market isn't buying today• How to translate brand for CTOs, CFOs and sceptical C-suites• The "challenge me" slide, and the questions he asks back ABOUT MARTIN ZARIAN Martin Zarian is a full-stack brand builder and co-founder of Factory 39, a brand strategy and software consultancy based in Limassol, Cyprus, working with global B2B clients across tech, SaaS and MedTech. He is also co-founder of Balabook and hosts the Made in Cyprus podcast. With close to 20 years in the industry, he has built strategy-driven brands for names including FIFA, Dr. Oetker, SiGMA and SHARP. He started in traditional art and printmaking, moved through graphic design and brand identity, and now specialises in brand strategy for B2B. He is a LinkedIn Top Voice. Find Martin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinzarian/Factory 39: https://factory39.com ABOUT LEEROY Leeroy Powell is a serial founder based in Sheffield, running a portfolio of AI, search and publishing businesses. He runs MarGen, an AI visibility agency helping brands get found and cited inside AI search, and The CAIO, a fractional Chief AI Officer practice. Hacking Great Minds is where he digs into the minds of leaders pushing the needle in business, economics and the psychology that drives it all. CONNECT WITH LEEROY LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leeroydotukX: https://www.x.com/leeroydotukAI Visibility Strategies: https://www.margen.net Listen on Spotify: [SPOTIFY LINK] Subscribe for new episodes of Hacking Great Minds With LeeroyDotUK. #BrandStrategy #B2BMarketing #Positioning #AgenticAI #BrandBuilding #B2BSaaS #HackingGreatMinds brand strategy, B2B brand strategy, product vs brand, brand differentiation, B2B marketing 2026, agentic AI consultancy, Martin Zarian, Factory 39, brand positioning, memorability marketing, Cyprus startups, founder podcast UK