Brandmannen

Brandmannen & Appalti

For this customer case we spoke with Jotham Marco, co-owner of Brandmannen, about the collaboration with Appalti in the field of strategic tender support.

Brandmannen is a full-service recruitment marketing agency that helps organizations become more visible as an employer and attract more (and better) applicants. They do this by developing employer branding, creating creative content, and running data-driven campaigns on the right channels, so companies reach and convince their ideal candidates.

brandmannen.nl

From strong content to strategically distinctive

Some organizations know exactly what they are good at. Brandmannen is one of them.

As a recruitment marketing agency, Brandmannen helps organizations become visible and attractive to talent. They build employer brands, develop campaigns, and make sure vacancies are not just posted, but actually filled. Professional expertise is amply present. So is ambition.

Yet there came a moment when they asked themselves an honest question: are we really getting everything out of tenders that is in them?

Tenders were becoming an increasingly important part of Brandmannen’s growth strategy. Not incidentally, but structurally. The potential was big. So was the competition.

Internally, people worked hard on submissions. There was knowledge, experience, and creativity. And yet doubt sometimes lingered. Sometimes a submission felt strong and still wasn’t won. Sometimes a question turned out to mean something slightly different than assumed.

As Jotham puts it:

“You often think: we already have this section. We wrote this down well before. But the question is always slightly different. And that is exactly where the difference can be.”

The problem wasn’t the content. It was interpretation, positioning, and strategic sharpness.

And that is exactly where Appalti came in.

More than expertise: a match in DNA

What made the collaboration special from the start was not just the substantive contribution, but also the click. Both organizations share fundamental traits. Entrepreneurship. Direct communication. Daring to be critical. A high quality bar. The ambition to keep improving.

There was room for substantive discussion, but always with the same goal: delivering the best result.

“It clicked not only on content, but also in how we work together. That makes the difference.”

That shared mentality meant Appalti never felt like an external party, but like a natural extension of the team.

From project-based to planned

Where tenders used to be handled per project, Appalti brought structure across multiple projects.

No more isolated submissions, but a well-thought-out approach. Questions were dissected against the evaluation criteria. Positioning was sharpened for distinctiveness. Evidence and substantiation were examined critically. Not just what is said, but why, and to what end.

What Brandmannen noticed above all was calm.

“Appalti feels like an extension of our team. They know our story, yet still ask the questions we no longer ask ourselves.”

Where assumptions were sometimes made internally, Appalti kept asking questions. What does the contracting authority really mean? What is being scored? What makes this answer maximally distinctive?

The difference between good and winning

An important insight during the collaboration was that a good submission answers the question, but a winning submission understands the underlying need.

That meant a shift in thinking. From describing what Brandmannen does, to strategically substantiating why their approach demonstrably fits better within the client’s context.

Strategy became at least as important as content. And that changed more than just the texts. It changed the commercial mindset.

Measurable impact

The collaboration delivered tangible results. A higher win rate. More consistent quality in submissions. Less ad-hoc stress around deadlines. More internal structure and clarity.

But perhaps more important still: tenders were no longer a source of stress, but a strategic instrument.

Internally, confidence grew. Externally, professionalism became more visible. Brandmannen now positions itself more sharply, more consistently, and with more persuasiveness in competitive processes.

Structural growth instead of incidental success

What began as external support on specific projects grew into a lasting collaboration.

Tenders are now a structural part of Brandmannen’s growth strategy. There is forward thinking. Deliberate choices are made. There is evaluation and improvement.

Not just to win, but to professionalize as an organization.

Reflection

If Jotham had to summarize the collaboration in one sentence:

“Appalti doesn’t just help us submit better bids, but above all think more strategically.”

Maybe that is the essence. External support is not a sign of weakness. It is an accelerator for organizations that know they want to grow and are willing to look critically at themselves.

For Brandmannen, Appalti was not temporary help, but a strategic partner. A critical sparring partner. A guardian of the process. And above all, an extension of the team.